Snow is Gone - Winter of 2010

Well that's another winter over and I won't be forgetting it for a while. We don't normally get to talk about snow here in Ireland but this winter was the coldest in 50 years. It's all relevant of course but we were regularly breaking ice off our gear and the drive to the river was an extreme sport in itself. The boating has been feast or famine for the past few months. Monstrous floods hit in November which devastated many of the towns in the west and south of Ireland. My home town of Ballinasloe was swallowed by the River Suck for the first time in 120 years. This was followed by a month of temperatures regularly falling below -10C and snow falling in places that had not seen snow in decades. We are so inept at dealing with snow that the country came to a halt for a week, schools and businesses closed, and the minister for transport went on holidays!

The River Suck in Flood, Nov 09. EH Photo.

It wasn't until I got back to help out my neighbours with the sandbags that the scale of the damage hit me. I felt very guilty going paddling the next day while my friends desperately pumped water out their front door. Karma struck though and I took my first swim ever on my home run, the Boluisce River. I decided to attempt the left line on the main falls but landed on my side and ended up in the "Throne Room". Ooopssy daisies! It took half an hour before the boils spat my bruised boat out. While going over the drop I noticed camera flashes going off in front of me. I later discovered they were flashes of lightning!

 Top Drop on the Boluisce. Seanie Byrne Photo.

After Christmas I'd planned to go to Kerry for the new year celebrations if there was any rain. The water arrived in the form of heavy snow showers and the rivers were up briefly for a few days of meltwater paddling. This was the coldest weather I had experienced paddling in Ireland and definitely warranted buying a set of pogies. We managed to run both the Clydagh and the Roughty twice and had a look at the Slaheny but it wasn't up. It's certainly one for next time with some enticing drops cut down through the bedrock. Some snow boating in the sun, speeding down the hills near Kilgarvan, rounded off another great trip to the south west.

The new year brought with it more cold, foreboding, dark weeks at work but bright crisp weekends where I was free to explore. I spent most of these in the Wicklow hills, finding my way to the more remote rivers like the Source of the Liffey, not that there was any water to paddle it. The rains did finally arrive one Friday afternoon and we were on our way at sunrise, eating porridge in the car, lest time be wasted with breakfast! There were a few nice runs on the Annamoe in glorious winter sunshine as the snow melted slowly from the hilltops. What I enjoyed most about those weekends were the smiles and woops from the new guys in the club, stoked on nailing their first runs down Jackson's.

 Sunday morning mass. Eamonn Riggs Photo.

February was so dry the grass turned brown and the crops withered to dust. There was little whitewater to be had. A fun morning run on the Boluisce during the inter-varsities was it. There was still plenty of grade II paddling and instructing to be done, whether it was in the luxury of the swimming pool or on the gentle waters of the Boyne, it was enough to keep me sane. After a bit of tree clearing on the Boyne the Wall Hole was re-opened for business again and is building a solid client base. Fingers and toes crossed that we get some rain soon! In the meantime I think I'll have a look through the Ryanair website again...

 The Wall Hole on the Boyne. John Bewley Photo.