Matt

Name?
Matt Mears (39)

How long have you been a club member?
Club member 4 years

Where do you stay ?
I live in Renfrew

What made you start kayaking or canoeing?
Started kayaking as a different way of  seeing countries whilst travelling 

What do you enjoy about the sport?
I enjoy the places/cultures you get to see from being on a river and the mental side of the sport e.g overcoming nervousness by attempting a rapid/river you were initially apprehensive about and the feeling of accomplishment from doing it. 

Is it different to what you expected?
I  didn’t realise how much you had to keep your skills current when paddling. You can’t just take months off then expect to step back into it at the same level you were paddling before 

Where all have you been kayaking?
I have kayaked in UK, Uganda, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia

What’s been your favorite trip so far and why?
Favourite trip would be kayaking the Kali Sarda on the border of Nepal and India. A village on the Nepalese side was having a festival and as we floated past all the Buddhist prayer flags. People from the village ran along the banks watching us going through the rapids which felt very surreal.

Have trips gone to plan?
A trip where it didn’t go to plan was when I was on the Tamur river in Nepal. I had just started kayaking so was rafting at the time and during the first couple of rapids the gear raft flipped resulting in us losing all the rum. Not what you want at the start of a multi day trip! 

What is your most memorable “oh shit” moment?
A memorable moment of panic whilst kayaking I had was on the Tana river in Kenya we were near a section of river where a couple of hippos liked to hangout. With the sound of the whitewater I thought I heard someone shout ‘hippo’ from the raft. My heart sank and I paddled as fast as I could to get on to the closest raft, only to find out no one had said anything about hippos, much to my relief.

Do you have a “special move”?
My special move would be the ‘seagull brace’. If things start to go wrong and it looks like I might tip over I high brace from side to side, resembling that of a seagull trying to take flight.

What’s the one kayak skill you’d like to learn?
At the moment the skill I’m trying to learn is a space godzzila which is a loop with an aerial cartwheel

What does the ultimate kayak trip have for you?
Ultimate kayak trip would be a multi day kayak trip with camping, warm water and big waves like the Zambezi

What’s been the most challenging trip you’ve been on?
The more challenging trips I’ve been on are actually some of the Scottish rivers, just due to the rapids being more technical and consequential, than some of the paddling I’ve done abroad.

Where else would you like to kayak?
I still have lots of places I would like to paddle just a few would be Ottawa river in Canada, Grand Canyon in USA, Futaleufu in Chili and the Zambezi in Zambia