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We’re finally back in the land of waterfalls, expensive beer and cheap Jam.

After touching down in Oslo, a long train ride to Otta, and a bit of a warm-up on The Aamot Gorge; it was time to pick up the clients for the second Liquid Satisfaction / Tom Parker Coaching Norwegian adventure.

Ruth Loeffler running the first drop on Stor Ulla

From big volume class 3/4 to the tight technical slides and drops on the Upper Ulla, the course covered technique, safety and leadership on the fabulous range of white water which Norway has to offer.

Emily Bayne on Ulla Slide number 2

Learning how to slide using laterals, waves and cushions effectively is fun whatever the weather.

Max demonstrates the cautious line above the Class 6 waterfall on the Lågen Canyon

And at the end of a fun introduction to Norwegian drops and slides, it’s never a bad idea to impress your clients by running a trio of classic waterfalls on the Upper Ulla.

Less impressive but just as fun: the annual pimp ‘n’ ho night at the only pub in the Sjoa valley. For some reason, there were far fewer hos here than the last pimp ‘n’ ho night I attended on the Hairy Lemon, Uganda.

Photos by Sarah Nash and Luke Farrington

Max’s Spring Round-Up

July 4, 2008

Max Bilbow coaching and courses, Events, Liquid Satisfaction, Me, Norway, Uganda, UK Boating 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I posted anything of substantial content and yet so much is going on in the world of Max.

Max gives a talk

In March, Adam Dumolo, Chris Easterbrook, Tom Parker and I ran the BCU Student Safety week in Scottland; helping current university canoe/kayak clubs with the important safety and leadership skills that help produce such persistent university bread boaters.

Good times.

Let’s not forget the NSR and the first official DVD released this year.

Plastic Fantastic at the Washburn! Liquid Satisfaction are helping to product the PFAKS DVD for Canoe Kayak magazine.

The Future

So what for the future? What’s my next step? Well it’s going to be quite a relaxed summer for me; only 3 weeks in Norway and 3 weeks in Uganda. A little repetitive but a good rut to be stuck in, yes?

Norway’s a no brainer; not just for the courses Tom and I are running – a continuing Tom Parker Coaching / Liquid Satisfaction venture – but it’s been a while since I had a good creeking hit and Norway is a Mecca for spectacular gnar-boating.

The call of the Nile was not unchallenged by the screaming rationality of my bank balance. However it will be worth it simply for the first time I lead Adam and Tom down Silverback; “It’s just a big wave train” I’ll say nonchalantly, with a look of inane smugness on my face, as they follow me down down deep into hell’s jaws and wonder how long it’s been since they last took a breath.

Means of Production

And then there’s the DVD. That’s right, we’re making a literal DVD that I hope will be at least half as good as Dave Manby‘s Everest DVD.

The film will contain footage from the last 2 years of kayaking around the world and be chock full of extras including a behind the scenes ‘making of’ documentary. View the trailer at www.mopmovie.co.uk.

The Real World

And then I have to bite the proverbial bullet and take one small step closer to the real world. On September 1st 2008, I will begin a 1 year PGCE course in Mathematics and Outdoor Education at Bangor University. Not only is this a very exciting course for me to take part in but, living in North Wales, it looks like I will be getting in a fair amount of terrestrial boating over the next academic year!

Photos: Chris Eastabrook, Paul Wilkinson

Order your NSR DVD now!

April 5, 2008

Max Bilbow Events, Liquid Satisfaction, videos Leave a comment

National Student Rodeo 2008… The Movie! is available to pre-order now… on the Liquid Satisfaction website.

Spread the word and order yours so that we can make next years video even better!

National Student Rodeo 2008 DVD Trailer

March 13, 2008

Max Bilbow Events, Liquid Satisfaction, podcast, UK Boating, videos, Zambezi 2 Comments



 National Student Rodeo 2008: The Movie! Trailer 1 [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (18)

 National Student Rodeo 2008: The Movie! Trailer 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7)

 National Student Rodeo 2008: The Movie! DVD menu screen Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7)

The official NSR 2008 DVD is set to be released at the beginning of April, at a price to suit students, and will be chock full of extra features.

Somehow we managed to cover every event and not break a single ankle running about the place!

See www.NationalStudentRodeo.org.uk for more information.

National Student Rodeo 2007 Promo Videos

March 25, 2007

Max Bilbow Liquid Satisfaction, videos Leave a comment

The NSR has been growing exponentially in both size and reputation. To illustrate this, we (The Liquid Satisfaction team) decided that we would make a series of promotional videos for the event. The short films were directed and edited by Nick Horwood and myself.

Episode Guide:

The Trailer – This short film was a sneak preview of the more elaborate videos to come. Much credit goes to Nick Horwood and Mat Morrissey who, while I was buried in coursework and exam revision, went out onto the Yorkshire mores to film hills and things.
Episode 1:The Showdown – Filmed at the home of Tom Laws’s parents’ house in the wild west of England, This exciting saga sees Matt Renolds and Owen Jackson battle it out at sunrise.
Episode 2: The Ho-Down – Big thanks to Danny at Desperate Measures for use of his shop. This scene (a barroom brawl in a kayak shop) was extremely difficult to choreograph (yes, we actually did some planning!). As they say in show business: Never work with children, animals or lazy kayakers whom you ain’t paying.
Deleted Scenes – This is a short montage of some clips that never made the final cut; mainly because they were completely random and pointless. The video starts with what should have been episode 3. Episode 3 was meant to continue with a big explosion followed by an elaborate chase through the streets of Nottingham and down the National Wite Water course at Holme Pierrepont. However time restrictions and bad weather prevented this cinematic masterpiece from being finished.