Alpenglow Is the premier paddle sports shop serving Boise, and all of Idaho with the best sales, service, and demos of rafts, kayaks, technical clothing and footwear.
Chuck's new Villain was the showcase piece of the Jackson Kayak booth at the Outddor Retailer show at the Salt Palace convention Center last week! Jackson built the boat to show off the new graphic possibilities for 2011. When it was built, EJ and the staff thought it was so cool, that they put it on a stand in the middle of their booth.
When I saw it there, I was psyched! It also has the Alpenglow Logo on the bottom of it. I know that I'm not a good enough boater to show off, but it's good to know that anyone will be able to order the boat of their dreams next year. I'm going paddling on the South fork or Canyon to break it in tomorrow. When you come in, check it out.
On another note, the new Hero Prototype looked really good. Making changes similar to the Funs' and Stars', it is shorter but faster, it will surface on drops quicker, be even easier to roll and be more comfortable.
Jackson Kayak is a great company to partner with. They are still family owned, have great employees, they are putting a ton of time and effort in to R & D, which is really paying off, and most importantly, are striving to make the sport of kayaking better by putting the customer first.
The Movie is only a few days away. Do you have your tickets yet? Remember, tickets are free, but you need one to get a seat.
Make sure you open up you wallets and get some specials on food and drink from our friends at Whitewater Pizza and Pasta as well as winning raffle prizes that benefit the Idaho River Kids.
Remaining tickets are available at Alpenglow, McU Sports on 9th & Jefferson, and Whitewater Pizza and Pasta.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The boys from Clear H2O productions are at it again. They are on the finishing touches of their latest production, 'Hotel Charley V: 1st Descent'. With 1st. Descents in the deepest canyon in North America, India, and Brazil, look for some crazy paddling.
Alpenglow will be hosting the Boise premier of Hotel Charley V on Saturday, June 12th. Tickets will be on sale starting May 25th at Alpenglow.
In addition to the '1st. Descent' premier, Stone and Water Productions will show the first teaser of 'Campfire Stories': from Mike Copeland, who brought the video of Exploring Idaho to rave reviews in 09'.
Mike gave a great review of the large Villain loaded on a multi-day South Fork Salmon trip in Idaho. Check it out. Paddles great with or without extra gear!
Villain Review by Mike Moser
I was able to take the Villain down the SF Salmon for a multi-day trip this last weekend. In my original plans, I was always going to take the Super Hero, my current creek boat. Chuck Cremer called me up and told me that he got the large version in and I should come by and take a look. I stopped byAlpenglow on my way home from work the next day and got very excited about how it looked. I was anxious to try it out on the water, so I called him up and asked if I could take it out that weekend for my multi-day. He was kind enough to say yes.
First let me say that this boat has a ton of room in the back for all my gear. Usually I like to pack my weight all around me and I was actually able to fit a couple more dry bags right behind my seat than I usually can. My float/dry bags that I put into the stern of the boat fit in really easy without any hard pushing. There was plenty of room up front too, but you have to either unscrew the foot pegs or put small enough items in around them. Someone told me that Jackson had put a different type of foot pegs in the Mega Rocker which enables you to flip them up to put items in. I wish they had those in this boat. As much as I wish they had those, it still wasn’t too bad.
When first starting out with this boat, I felt a bit shaky. I was used to the flat hull like the Super Hero has and not a semi-displacement. I was also concerned a bit about how long the nose was. Once I started paddling it down some of the first rapids, the shakiness and the concern for the long nose quickly disappeared. The tracking on this boat is amazing, I would point it where I wanted it to go and it would go there without much need to paddle. It crossed lines with authority and gave me confidence that I had wished that the Super Hero had given me.
This boat was super fast at making moves. There were multiple times where I was above a huge hole and easily made the move around it at the last minute. When I did have to run them, the boat was able to fly through them without much effort. I found that it somewhat auto-boofed across the holes when I wasn’t trying.
On the paddle out on the Main Salmon, I was able to catch quite a few big, green waves. The thing caught waves that I thought for sure that I was going to miss. It was so fast that I found it accelerating down the waves. The boat handles well too. It was easy to surf it from edge to edge and stay on a good wave for a long time.
The other thing I liked about this boat was the secondary stability. I found that I could put it almost completely on its side and not have to brace at all. That helped me too when I was shaky in the beginning, because I didn’t know how to use the boat in then and it helped to keep me upright. Speaking of upright, I didn’t roll the whole trip, so I finally gave it a try down on the Main Salmon. It rolled like my old Huka, which rolls extremely easy.
Overall, this boat impressed me. I am still going to give it another demo on the Upper and Middle of the North Fork Payette to see how it handles up there, but I think it will do better than I could ever expect. I am extremely stoked about this boat and look forward to paddling it again soon.
Alpenglow just received the Large Villain from JK a few days ago. Here is the first review from Micah Kneidl, regional team paddler. Sounds awesome!
This last week I got a much anticipated phone call from Alpenglow, our local Jackson kayak superstore informing me that my Villain had arrived. I was very excited and rushed down to the store to pick up my new boat. I chose to order my boat with custom colors blue and yellow, and I must say, it looks SICK! The following days I had planned on testing the boat on the North Fork of the Payette. As I took my first paddle strokes, I asked myself if I could attain a small section of rapid. A few paddle strokes later, I had completed the attainment. I was now convinced of one thing - the boat is FAST! I have been paddling the Super Hero and have always liked the security I have in paddling the boat. The Super Hero is stable, it holds a line really well, and it gets along well with eddies. But recently I have been craving some of the characteristics found in more of a creek boat design. Don't get me wrong - the Villain is a full on creeker. This means that the Villain boofs everything, has a forgiving shape that deals well with the rocks, and recovers well if you find yourself off line. But I was so surprised and pleased with it's ability to hold a line, it's speed, and it's stability (particularly it's secondary stability) - all features that I loved in the Super Hero. Perhaps what I like most about the Villain is that it truly is a hole punching machine. The bow has a tendency to resurface in a manner that pushes the boat downstream and towards the surface. I found that the Villain would easily bust through any reversal I could send it through. The Villain likes to find itself in a battle against intimidating hydraulics. I look forward to seeing what kind of holes I can send it through as our high water season approaches. It goes without saying that the Villain is like all Jackson Kayak models so it's very easy to roll, the outfitting is simple and comfortable, and it is dry. In summary, the Villain met and exceeded all of my expectations. It has the security that I've always loved in the Super Hero, mixed with the forgiveness I like in a creeker, making it a kayak that delivers the best of boat worlds. It's versatility combined with It's speed, stability, and ability to handle large hydraulics make it my new favorite kayak!
Alpenglow has just received the Prijon Pure creek boat. It looks like it will continue with the time tested standards of quality that we've come to expect from Prijon. With no pillars, the Blow-molded plastic will be awesome for Idaho self supports while maintaining integrity for the steepest of creeks. Great outfitting as well. Stop by Alpenglow to check it out.
