Peter Csonka & Nina Halasova

Uganda 2012

2012-01-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

Unfortunatelly last time the pictures didnt upload so here we are ...

Our winter session seems to be over because we already start paddling and training in Ugandan White Nile where we use to go every year to get ready for the season. We decided to spend one month as a nice start to the 2012 season. We met here lot of friends as always which is very nice because you don’t get bored too soon. As usual we spend all the time on the waves at the Hairy lemon Insland. This tent from Husky is our new home now .

The levels are very high maybe also because of the dam. The Nile Spetial wave is running whole day without rope and also Malalu wave downstream is an option to go almost every day. What to say, maybe just lets say a paradise. This time we could not wait to go here because Vajda kayaks made a new shape with me so me and Nina we was the first who test it on big wave. I love to kayak that boat. Its fast really stabile and it jumps huge!

Now we are in Jinja to eat and surf on internet more. Unfortunately all prices went up so some thing feel a bit too expensive now.

So far it did not happen something else so just enjoy the pictures.

See you

Winter is here!

2011-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

The winter season is here, the white water course in Slovakia stop to work at 15 november and its really cold to kayak somewhere close in Europe. For us it definitely doesn't mean free time, be honest I have even less time as few week ago... We started to prepare for next season in Gyms , Gymnastics gyms , Running in the forest, paddling on the flat water or on the paddling machines inside when its too cold. So basically now we are spending lot of time on the sport facilities mostly 2 times a day. Personally I kind of hate to have this brake and not to use my new kayak which we build for me for next season. Its like pain in my ass to have it in garage without kayaking it! For me every time I get a new prototype and of course it must be a good one it kicks me so much to the front in trainings because I am not focusing on trainings but on the boating with it and its not boring anymore. I love that new boat really, I cant wait to kayak it in Uganda again. Nina will also have one specially made for her!

Except the training we have also the film festival season where we are presenting our movies. After the really great time on the film festival Hory Zonty where we got some nice prices, we got an offer to take a part on the film festival in middle of Slovakia called Hory objektivom. This time the quest was Nina. Nina was taking part on our last journeys so she was a perfect lady quest in between all the guys. Except the interactive show and the story telling she was also asked to make the raffle :) The Cinema was really full with people and they really was curios about what we are doing and asking many questions and it had really nice atmosphere.

For next few weeks we have to train hard and wait till the 11th january for the sunny nice Africa.

See you

Peter

ARF cup Pilsen video

2011-12-01T01:19:00.000-08:00

FILM FESTIVAL HORYZONTY

2011-11-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

by Nina Halasova

Last week we were invited to a film festival in Trencin, where Peter had two movies, from Zambia and Norway. It is a festival about nature, outdoor sports and traveling. We were pleasantly surprised with hall full of people.

There was a small talk show insert after the movie from Zambia. We talked about this trip, about our experience, troubles, funny times. It was nice to see people being so interested in our stories and we got lots of questions from them. We saw many good movies from climbers, bikers, and travelers. In one group they pooled professional movies and in a second group all amateur movies. We were competing in the latter.

After the screening there was a final ceremony during which the judges declared the best movie. And Peter won first prize! We were very surprised and very happy. It was a wonderful weekend. We met lots of great people, heard interesting stories, saw awesome movies and had good times with friends.

A few days later the organisers announced the results of the spectator voting for the best film. And guess what... Peter won 1st and 2nd place for his movies! We were thrilled! I think this success will encourage Peter to film and edit even more.

See you
Nina

Go Pro HD Hero

2011-11-21T04:45:00.001-08:00

Here is a short video made just with gopro camera in past season.

A NOTE FROM NINA

2011-10-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

Kayaking season is almost over.

The season is almost over, so now we have more time to relax... Not! This was the plan but actually with this life style it is not possible.

Our last freestyle event was ARF Cup and Slovakian championships in Cunovo, Slovakia. We were a co-organizers of this event so it was a very busy weekend for us. I am so happy that everything went well and we had a nice event with good party, raffle, free drinks and with so many people joining us. It was an international event so we hosted kayakers from Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Czech, Poland and Slovakia. I was quite nervous during my rides, because it is strange feeling to be in your home spot and to be watched by your parents and all your friends but after all I ended up on first place with very good ride. Freestyle wasn’t the only event, we had a side events for all kayakers like a fun slalom and kayak cross. I didn’t take a part in it because I was too busy that weekend.

After this we went to Oetztal valley for legendary adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Campionships. I really like this event. I think it is the best organized event ever. It feels like being on holiday even if you need to compete. Ok, it is maybe because I am not a guy :) I agree they have a big competition and especially this year it was really tough. Guys were very strong and well-prepared so not only the final was awesome to watch. It was nice to paddle with the girls and I need to say some of them were paddling better than some of the guys.

Peter & me stayed in a pretty cool apartment (as last years) and adidas was taking very good care of us. First day we had a short meeting and such a good BBQ. Steaks, sausages, salads, beers and a good time with our team buddies. Some of them we hadn’t seen for a longer time so it was nice to chat together again.

On the other days we had dinner with all the other participants. We had a movie night, were we saw many interesting movies like stuff from Olaf and Jared.

We were very lucky and had good water level and weather. I just love that part of Austria and to have a competition in such pretty nature is awesome. The Wellerbrücke is very good river section to race. It is not easy to have the fastest run but once again our adidas mate Sam Sutton did the best and won his second gold in a row.

So the events are over and we don’t need to focus on this again until the next year. We should relax but our whitewater course is still running so we are still paddling. It seems it will run on at least till december so we still have more than month on the water. It is quite hard to stay motivated to paddle in this cold weather at the end of season, but if I stay home I feel strange. I think I am addicted! So we still keep training on the water plus we go to gym and do some other activities as biking, running, climbing. I love to stay outdoors. I am happy that we have this opportunity to have a perfect gear for sport. If it is kayaking, biking, climbing or running we can stay warm and dry. So I would like to say thank to adidas for taking care of us and supporting us in what we do.

Thanks for the pictures made by Manuel Arnu ADIDAS-Sickline , Hanka Bubnikova ARF cup

Best regards,

Nina

5th ARFcup / Slovakian championship

2011-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

This was our last freestyle event of this year where we took a part. Cunovo White water course have really much to offer for organizing a event. There is everything what you can wish for, course with awesome white water, very nice area for relaxing, Hotel, restaurant, many option for sport and so on. This year we organized Slovakian championship again together with ARFcup. I would really like to thanks to all the organizers- Bryan for all the results, organization, band... Nina for helping by organizing the freestyle event, Capko for funslalom, Tomas for the kayak cross and also a huge thanks for our sponsors The rafting union of Slovakia, Hotel Divoka voda, Sandiline equipment, Paddler shop, Vodak shop, Champ gear shop, Redbull, Vajda for make it all happened.

We had 2 days of competition and one day of free trainings. We wanted to organize this event for everybody and not just for pro kayakers so we prepared a side events like funslalom and kayak cross. This “fun” events are for kayakers who aren't interested for the freestyle event but want to take a part too. Together for all disciplines there were more than 100 competitors from Slovakia, Czech, Poland, Austria, Germany.

At saturday morning we started with funslalom. Capko was in lead by organizing this part of our event. I must say it was really fun to watch all the people doing the rolls on gate 4, or taking a tube across some other gate. The best was trowing the paddle over a gate in the middle of stream. Here are the final results from funslalom http://www.kayak.sk/download/Cunovo_2011/Fun_Slalom_Results_Cunovo_2011.pdf

When funslalom was finished we start the main discipline kayak freestyle with the qualification in all the categories. In K1 men I took the lead second was Tomas Andrassy and third was Bartosz Cauderna and all of us were paddling the Vajda boats! In woman category Nina won on second was Eva Filova, third was Alexandra Cisarova.

During the night party with live band we had also raffle with nice gifts like the season tickets for our white water course.

On sunday we had kayak cross organized by Tomas at the morning. He manage to change the course for this event so nobody knows the lines. We had classics concept of cross competition where were starting 5 people at once. The winner was Pavel Andrassy from Slovakia. Here are other results http://www.kayak.sk/download/Cunovo_2011/Kayak_Cross_Men_Cunovo_2011.pdf

Straight after it were the freestyle finals. In old bastards the winner was Alexander Meindl (AUT), in Juniors take a medal Tomas Burian (CZE), women category won Nina Halasova (SVK) with super nice ride, in C1 was the winner Lukas Cervinka (CZE) and in K1 men with very nice ride won Tomas Andrassy (SVK). Results are here http://www.kayak.sk/download/Cunovo_2011/final_results_ARFC_cunovo_2011.pdf

So again I would like to thanks to all the sponsors and also to the competitors for nice time spent during this event in Cunovo.

Pilsen - 4th ARF Cup

2011-10-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

From Lipno we went to Plattling for few days even though we are a bit sick of Plattling since we spend too much time there already. So we didn’t go home and returned back to the Czech Rep. for the freestyle ARF cup in Pilsen.

The event went well for us. During the qualification on Saturday Nina became second even with not such good rides. I finished first in the quali and also first in the semi finals.

On Sunday the freestyle finals took place. Nina managed place 1, which means she won the whole Czech Cnawr Cup. I also finished on first place. It was a super organized event with really good prices.

After 3 weeks on the road we went home to have get some rest and to start preparing for the next events. The World Championships in Slalom were organized on our white water course at home, so we could just paddle on flat water, working out in the gym, biking etc. but it was cool to take a rest from freestyle paddling.

Results

K1 men

Peter Csonka SVK
Tomas Andrassy SVK
Bartosz Czauderna POL

K1woman

Nina Halasova SVK
Lucie Horka CZE
Mila Martinkova CZE

Lukas Cervinka CZE
Jakub Micka CZE
Philipp Hitzigrath DE

Full results here.

See you at the Cunovo Final ARF Cup.

Peter

SOPAC SOMER FEST

2011-09-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

There is a play spot in Sopotnica, which is very different to others. This one is probably the only one of its kind because it is all mechanical.

Few years ago the Spindler Family realized they needed a spot for training so the only chance was to build one. I am not going to tell you the history but still it is an awesome story how they managed to build that monster machine for making a nice training spot in the middle of some kind of pool.

Because I had to teach a kayak lesson and we would have liked to take part in two festivals, however, we decided to go for this competition instead of the one in Prague.

We went there from Wednesday onwards because our white water course was closed (still is) for the upcoming slalom worlds.

I need to say, that the organizers were very friendly and tried to make the best of this event. Party every evening, good mood - just awesome.

Paddling the hole was quite difficult because it was a bit flashy. During the competition we did well, in the qualification Nina ended up on place 1 and I won the qualification as well. In the evening there was also a big ramp and a slope-style contest and after that there was an extreme swimming contest to the hole upstream, where the winner won a composite boat!

Feel free to check out the video by Jan Spindler.

On the next day after a nice party the finals took place. Nina had some troubles with sticking some moves so she ended up on a good 2nd place. I won the men’s category because my second best ride was scored better than the one from Jan Spindler and Bartosz Czauderna from Poland made it on the 3rd place. In the C1 category local ambassador and current European Champion Lukas Cervinka won the title.

We had a really nice weekend and we are now ready to roll for some more.

See you,

Peter

Many thanks Jan Spindler for the pictures and the small video of the event.

ARF cup Cunovo

2011-09-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

English version

Program:

Friday 23.9.2011

free trainings in afternoon from 4 pm (maybe also sooner ) for paddlers registered over Facebook or registracia@kayak.sk

registration possible till 19pm

Saturday 24.9.

7.30 registration
8.30 Fun Slalom competition ( entry if you don't want to compete in other competition will be 6 eur )
11.00 Freestyle quali + semi / free paddling!
20.00 Awesome party organized by Paddler for also non kayakers with band “Con Spirito”

Sunday, 25.9.2011
8.30 Kayak Cross + Freestyle finals
14.00 price giving
free whitewater course paddling till 19.00

Entry fee:
15 EUR – ARFC Freestyle, Fun, Cross, Party and camping
6 EUR – Fun, Cross, Party and camping
Party 0 EUR
Paddling on the course will be possible just with bib number , deposit for number will be 10 eur.

Party with action for free!

More info at

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126214564112496

Slovakian version

Predbežný program s orientačnými časmi:

Piatok, 23.9.2011
8.00 voľné tréningu už od rána pre tých, čo sa zaregistrujú včas cez facebook alebo na registrácia@kayak.sk
15.00 registrácia a voľné tréningy.
19.00 prerušenie registrácie a koniec tréningov

Sobota, 24.9.2011
7.30 registrácia
8.30 Fun Slalom pretek
11.00 Freestyle kvalifikácie a semifinále, možné voľné jazdenie na kanáli!!!
20.00 Párty pre priateľov a kajakárov s koncertom “Con Spirito”

Nedeľa, 25.9.2011
8.30 Kayak Cross pretek a Freestyle finále
14.00 vyhlásenie výsledkov
voľné jazdenie možné až do 19.00

Štartovné:
15 EUR – ARFC Freestyle, Fun, Cross, Party and camping
6 EUR – Fun, Cross, Party and camping
Party 0 EUR
Jazdenie na kanáli bude možné iba so štartovým číslom, ktoré dostanete pri registrácii. Záloha za štartovné číslo je 10 EUR.

Párty s akciami a nápojmi zdarma!

Viac info pripravujeme.

Pozri http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126214564112496

DEVILS EXTREME RACE – LIPNO

2011-09-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

The region around Lipno’s dam is well known as a Czech holiday destination. It offers plenty of activities such as biking, swimming, hiking, canoeing and it is close to the Austrian border so you can go whitewater rafting or canoeing to the Inn River. But not so many people know that Lipno is the best Czech whitewater river. The dam is holding the water so most of the year this river is dry. Once a year when it’s possible to kayak the dam releases water. It is the biggest Czech whitewater festival and you can meet there everyone who has a raft, kayak or canoe at home. You can just relax and enjoy the river or you can take part in events like whitewater slalom, rafting or extreme kayaking.

Peter and me participated in the Devils Extreme Race this year. My first time on this awesome river was last year and I was really looking forward to kayaking there again.

It was as good as I remembered it from 2010. We ran it a few times on Friday. Saturday we spent the day at the race course. There we met our team mates and friends, Sam Sutton and Markus Hummel. It was quite a big and international event so you could meet many excellent paddlers from all around the world. The race started from the ramp and the course was segmented the following way: 500m for slalom and kayak cross, 1000m for sprint and 5000m for team race.

Girls only had to paddle 500m so it was much easier for us than for men. This competition is not like the others, there are many kayakers all the way down so you need to paddle between them. It happens sometimes that they paddle into you or you can’t get into the eddy, where the banner is to touch because it is full of paddlers.

This can sometimes drive you crazy, especially when you lose your leading position because of this, but on the other hand this is what it’s all about.

The river flows just 3 days a year so everyone wants to be there and enjoy this awesome river so you can’t be angry about it. You can feel the good vibrations from the smiling paddlers and it makes you happy, too. So it doesn’t matter whether you succeed in the race or you miss the gates, you are smiling anyway.

Sunday was the last day. Peter had a team race with two other Slovakian guys. It took about 12 minutes to paddle the whole course that went through the rapid “Bloody Hands”, which we used for portage. It is not very difficult but it is so narrow that if you can’t follow the proper line you’ll injure your hands very easily.

I think our Slovakian Team ended up just 4 seconds behind the New Zealand Team that finished as 3rd.

This was like a warm up before the adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship, which we are really looking forward to.

Check out the video by Peter Kaspar.

So see you,

Nina

Film z Norska

2011-08-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ahoj tu je film z Nórska v HD kvalite.

Tak isto ďakujeme Ta3 tv za odvysielanie nášho filmiku.

http://www.ta3.com/sk/playlist/reportaze/183397

TWO WEEKS IN NORWAY

2011-08-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

First time we went to Norway two years ago. We trained on the Skjak Wave for the Worlds 2009. We had a great time there, but we didn’t see much from the country. This time we planned to discover more. We took creek boats and freestyle boats and started our trip.

Our way to Norway started from Friedrichshafen, where we were on the Outdoor Show. By the way the show was really good! It was even bigger than last year. We had a barbecue party at the adidas booth and met many friends.

But back to our Norway trip. We had over 2000 km ahead us when our car started to do strange noises. After few hundred kilometers, close to the Denmark border it started to be serious so we had to find a car service. It was a Saturday morning and there was just a small chance that we find an open service, where they have what we need. We were very lucky because after a few shops, where they told us, that would we need to wait four days, we found one where they were able to repair in a few hours. It was something with the tire.

After a few hours delay we were able to continue our journey. We went through Denmark over a few bridges. The view was amazing, but the strong wind on the bridges was scary.

Sunday evening we finally got to the Sjoa. We met up with our Slovakian friends and the next morning we started our creeking mission. We are not use to creek much so I was quite nervous and wasn’t sure about my skills especially because the first river in our plan was Jori, which is class V. We did just two first rapids of it because it had not enough water to continue. I really liked that river so I hoped that I have the opportunity to run it again sometim.

Then we moved to Rauma. It is a nice river with one waterfall called Litle Huka. After the two rivers I started to feel more confidence in my long boat. The guys did also the lower Rauma, which I think is a very difficult part. I saw some rapids from the side and it seemed really crazy to me to paddle it down.

From Rauma we moved through Trollstigen, which is the most amazing way, I ever seen. We did a few more rivers but one of the best was a Landelselva. It was a big surprise for me. It looked any special from the road. I didn’t go and was waiting for the guys. Once they arrived they smiled and told me that I have to go, too. This river lies down in a narrow canyon and it has many drops and slides. I enjoyed it so much even I crashed on the last rapid. Don’t worry nothing seriously happened.

When we got back to Sjoa the water was very high. We tried Jori again and we were lucky – enough water. We paddled the Upper Jori and the rest of the river, where we haven’t been able to paddle the first time, it was as good as the first two rapids I liked so much.

The day before our departure the water in Sjoa dropped and so we could have a freestyle session on the Sjoa Wave. I can say that it was a great ending of our Norway trip. That wave is one of the best waves in Europe and we were really happy, that we could paddle the best level of it.

Now we are home and thinking where we will go next. But I think we will have a rest from traveling at least one week and train in our spot. But in middle of August we are planning to go for some Czech freestyle competitions and extreme races and for sure the adidas Sickline! This is what we are looking forward to.

Thanks to photographers : Matej Fabianek, Vladimir Cako , Tomas Andrassy

See you,
Nina

Chillout after Worlds

2011-07-28T01:45:00.000-07:00

It was very hard job to keep train for Worlds. We were on the water every day almost 365 days a year! We were really looking forward to have it over. It is not easy to go for holiday for us because we just can’t lie on the beach. So we decided to go to Soča. We took our “long” boats instead freestyle kayaks. Soča is beautiful place and well know in between kayakers. We spent there few day and had a beautiful weather. Did some sections like Srpenica, Slalom course, Otona and even we went hiking to Kanin. We took a lift up there. The view there is awesome and you have a few options where you can go. We choose to look for Oko, which looks like window in the rock. I think it is about 2000meter so it was quite cold there. I guess it was just about 12 degrees and down in the valley it was about 25! Big difference :) Peter, like the most skilled one, took our non kayaker friend to Topo Duo kayak. It was a big fun! The only difficult think was to portage it down to the river. It was very heavy and long. Last day we went for quick run but it took for us more than we expected. We went just with one car so Peter drove it down and tried to hitch-hike. We were waiting in the put-in. I was worried because it took him quite long and after half and hour, when he showed up, I couldn’t believe that nobody took him. He run 12 km just in flip-flops and people, most of them were kayakers, ignored him! After his run he sprint down to gorge to river with kayak on the shoulder. I don’t know how he did this but me and our friend Capko, we barely walk (after the day before) and next day we had the biggest soreness ever...except Peter :)

2ND AT WORLD CHAMPS

2011-06-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

You probably know that we were preparing a lot (the whole season) for the World Championships which took place last week on the famous Plattling wave.

This year I spent almost all the time I could in Plattling. Still, I think there were few people living there for half year, which was, I think, a little tot crazy. Funny is also that for the most time there were very low water levels. Nina and I decided not to be there at too low water levels , not just because the composite boats are suffering then, but also because the hole is really horrible and almost unstickable.

It was funny, we were hoping that at the Worlds we would have great levels so all the time when it was low we were training at home or in other similar holes. It was definitely worthwhile, because in the end we almost had flood.

After the competition in Lienz we went strait to Plattling to train, because we knew that sooner or later it would start to get crowded. Then just about one week before the competition started, we went home for a few days. Nina had to take her final exam in the school - by the way she passed her state exam with excellence. Unfortunately straight after she finished she lost the “student” status so now she will be able just to focus for kayaking. I used this free time between the training for regeneration like massages, sauna and so on. After her exams we went back to competition mood. We still had few days of team trainings.

Then there was the first day “D” of the competition. Nina had some great rides and took the 5th place. My qualification rides were little more funny, I came 25th, which was the last position before the cut to the quarterfinals. I actually wanted to be somewhere in towards the bottom, but not the last one. Ufff it was really close. Gerd had the 12th position and Nick took 4th place. Markus Hummel came in 10th in the C1 category.

We also had the quarterfinals on the same day, which was a bit stressful, but in the end the whole adidas team made it easy. Me 1st , Nina 6th , Nick 4th, Gerd 8th.

In the semifinals, Markus didn't had his day and ended up on 6th place, which is still awesome between whole the C1 paddlers. Nina became 4th, I finished 1st, Nick was 2nd and Gerd 4th.

Friday was a rest day! We spent almost all day in the apartment where we stayed during the entire event. It was nice to have a proper accommodation during the event, because you can rest much better, not just physically but also mentally.

Saturday was the final day!
3 rides with the best counting. The top 5 kayakers were really strong. It was more about who will have the perfect day! I had 2 good runs, but was only on 4th position, so I was really focused on my last one. It needed to be the winning one! I made my ride really good and I was so surprised that I made so many moves! When I was leaving the hole I was sure that this was the one. Unfortunately I didn't get the score I should :( I mean it is definitely the subjective sport art, but after watching the other runs I still believe that it had the winning ride....

You can watch the best rides of each of us at this linkhttp://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15612139<http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15612139>

Nina was also competing very strong and came in 4th which is really awesome!

So here are the final results :

K1 MEN
1st James Bebbington GBR
2nd Peter Csonka SVK
3rd Stephen Wright USA
4th Nick Troutman CAN
5th Gerd Serrasolses ESP

K1woman
1st Claire O Hara GBR
2nd Emily Jackson USA
3rd Ruth Ebens CAN
4th Nina Halašová SVK
5th Haley Mils USA

All other results please follow this linkhttp://kanufestival.de/results.php5

So the peak of the season is over, thanks to everybody for supporting us!
Next big event are the European Champs 2012 in Vienna.

Thanks a lot to adidas for all the support and making our dreams come true and also to the Slovakian adidas subsidiary for supporting our Slovakian team with team outfits.

See you
Peter

Pictures by Tomaš Andrassy and Vladimir Cako

Plattling combos

2011-06-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

FREESTYLE KAYAK COMPETITION, LIENZ

2011-06-14T07:14:00.001-07:00

Last weekend the Austrian Championships in freestyle kayaking were held in Lienz. This is our favourite freestyle event in which we participate every year. Last year they organized the European Championships there as well.

We came Wednesday evening. Two days training were enough for us because we know this play spot quite well. It is not that easy and especially beginners face problems. Peter and I were doing well during the competition and ended up on 1^st place taking home the prize money. We were also working as judges so it was quite a tough day.

I don’t know what is easier to judge your boyfriend or paddle the final. The men’s had a very exciting final and all of them did well. I was very happy that Peter won of course. I was also very satisfied with my final ride. Last year during the European Championships I had really bad rides so I wanted to do much better this time. With my first final ride I scored the phonics monkey air loop and cartwheel, which was very good for that hole.

We were very happy to be both winners. This event was considered as preparation for the “big event”, the World Championships. Now we are in the Platting training for it.

Keep your fingers cross. I pray, that we will be as successful as we were in Lienz.

Check out the video.

See you in Plattling.

Nina

Nina Halasova in Lienz- movie clip

2011-06-12T12:27:00.001-07:00

Hi I made small movie clip from Lienz before the competition.

KADAN, PLATTLING, GRAZ

2011-05-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Finally I’m back home after more than a week tripping around spots and competitions. My past 3 weeks were a little exhausting because I became pretty sick. My doctor gave me some antibiotics to take for 7 days but I felt like I had to train so I didn't rest at all, which definitely was a mistake because my arm started to hurt as well (infected ligaments).

Preparing for the World Championships

2011-05-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

The World Champs are slowly coming! We still have a little bit than one month for our preparations. We are training for this big event the whole season, which we started quite early by training twice a day. It is hard to stay motivated so you need to change places quite often. We spent a few weeks in Plattling, where the World Champs will take part.Now we train at home in our local playspot in Cunovo. The hole here is quite difficult, which means an advantage for us. If you learn how to do moves here it will be easier in easy spots. The water level in Plattling is very low now. It is the lowest level in last few years. I don’t remember such low water. It is not possible to train there. It is quite big problem for now, because many kayakers are coming there to train. But we hope that it will rise.Tomorrow we are going to Czech for a freestyle competition. It will be a good experience before the World Champs. Next week we plan to go to Graz, Austria. It will be the first event of the Alpin River Cup.The next three competitions will be in Slovenia, Czech and Slovakia. We are looking forward, because every year Graz is one of the best competitions: friendly atmosphere, good event and awesome party is what you can find in Graz.We will make new update from these competitions so stay tuned. Keep your fingers cross for rain to have water to paddle on.

Slalom competetion movie clip

2011-05-09T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hory a mesto festival -article

2011-04-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had been able to show our latest movie of our trip through Zambia at the biggest outdoor film festival in Slovakia.The "Horyamesto Festival" took place in the Palace Cinemas in Aupark, which is a big shopping center with a few big cinemas inside. That means lots of advertisment and visitors. Thanks to the great orga team, which made all that happen. We had also been able to join some interviews with newspapers and radios, which is great because we are pushing very hard to make this sport better known in Slovakia and I’m sure this is the right way to present this great sport to the media and of course to the people.adidas as one of the festival sponsors showed three movies including its athletes paddling. Out of four best movies one was picked as the "water movie night".First movie shown was from Redbull (first descent in Tatras) second one a movie from Jared Meehan (king of the legends) full with adidas athletes, who did a great job with the expedition and the editing, the third one was our expedition to lake Kariba and the last one was "White Water", which won.After this fantastic evening with a full theatre we had the after party as always downtown including many friends.On Sunday there was the repetition, which we missed because we went to kayak again.What can I say, another succesfull weekend for us. I am verry happy because we managed to show the whole movie on TV as well and over the year it is going around all the Slovakian and Czech movie festivals.

Again a big thanks to the orga team and to adidas for making our dreams come true!
See you!
Peter & Nina

Hory a mesto v Bratislave

2011-04-04T02:55:00.000-07:00

Ahoj,

týmto by sme Vás chceli pozvať na premietanie nášho filmu na festivale Hory a mesto , ktorý sa bude konať v Auparku 6-10.4. 2011

V piatok a v neďelu budeme premietať náš posledný film z Expedície na jazero Kariba, takže ak ste ešte nevideli náš film, alebo si ho chcete pozrieť opäť, radi Vás tu uvidime.

o filme

program filmov

Article in TV OKO

2011-04-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,I was able to write an article for the most sold magazine in Slovakia (SME). tv oko consists of some articles and a weekly tv programme.The cool thing is they gave me the cover this time!!! Read more.

Have fun reading in Slovakian.
Peter

Spring in Kuchl

2011-03-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

Last week we had to go for Kuchl even we knew that the temperatures would not rise more than 7 degree. Over the night we had even -4 which is cold for sleeping in the car. We are very lucky that one of our sponsor ( Ateso ) helped us with the car heating which makes the sleeping very comfortable over the cold nights! The waves was working pretty late this time , they started around 12 so we had lot of time in the morning and we could wait for good temperatures, because as you can see on the picture there was freezing also in the morning and I cant say that we left the car too early. We used 2 session each day, it was awesome! Only one time Nina didn't count with freezing cold water, so she didn't wear as many clothes as she should and got supercooled. The point is when this happens to you, you need to change the clothes and quickly get some heat. She slept and cry in sleeping bag for an hour or so and she was alright. During the time we were not kayaking we was outside so we needed to keep our muscles in warm and ready for next session. I need to thanks Adidas for the awesome gear, which they support us with. The gear definitely works , keeps you warm and comfortable. So even the spring is coming very slow to middle Europe we still are able to kayak and travel in the mean time.

This friday I need to stay home because I will be tested in our National Sport center for the bio chemistry and functional sport tests. Its gone be a hard morning for sure!

Than we had plan to go for Plattling but unfortunately there is no water at all , seams that the winter wasn't very pleasant for us.

So again thanks a lot for the support which allows to work on 100% on our trainings.

Here are some pictures from Kuchl taken by Nina.

Millau - small movie clip

2011-03-07T06:58:00.001-08:00

Here is a small movie clip how we had trainings on the slalom course in Millau.

Enjoy

Millau by Nina Halasova

2011-03-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

Our week in Millau was awesome! The weather was “kayak friendly” so we could train two times a day. The temperature during most of the days was about 10 degrees so we could sleep in the car and didn’t need accommodation. Sometimes we even ran around in short sleeves and got sunburn. Simply amazing!
The hole in which we trained in seems easier than it is. You need to push very hard to manage a trick and stick it. I think it was a very good training especially for the upcoming Championship.
On the first day we had little starting problems but the day after we were getting better. We could see the improvements in our rides. It was a very powerful hole and you need to do all the tricks fast and with 100% physical strength.
On the sixth day I took a break because my back was quite sore. It was very painful and I was not able to sleep. Saturday I paddled again but was careful not to hurt myself even more.
I discovered new skills and hope to apply them soon. We really enjoyed the training there very much and we look forward to visiting this place again.
After one week we went back home for a while to fill us up with new energy but now we are already thinking of other places to go...

See you on the water!

for gallery click here

Millau-France

2011-02-20T04:51:00.000-08:00

From day to day we decided to leave our freaking cold country. There wasn’t an option to go kayak around Slovakia , it is still snowing and bellow 0 degree . So me, Nina , Capko we decided to go somewhere where is not that cold and possible to train every day.

read more here!

Uganda 2011-movie clip

2011-02-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

So we are back from Uganda and finally I was able to finish the movie clip from there. How I sad many times Uganda is my favorite winter destination. The waves , rapids , life there is awesome. Its easy just eating kayaking and enjoying the vocations there. Ok so we spoke a lot already about Uganda in the past articles ... just watch the movie clip.

Pool session

2011-02-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

Video from the pool session with the Gopro HD Hero.

I love that cam.

Check out the video

Expedicia Lake Kariba- trailer

2011-01-17T01:07:00.001-08:00

Uganda update 2

2011-01-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

After one great month spent in Uganda with kayaking on White Nile we needed to come back home. I am happy to be home again but I can say I already miss this nice sunny country too.
This year it was our fifth time there. I would like to share my memories of this trip with you.

Vianoce v Ugande

2010-12-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Tento rok sme oslávili Vianoce v teple, v Ugande. Tu sa síce oslavuje až 25.decembra, ale kvôli nám pripravili slávnostnú večeru už 24. večer. Ráno sme išli kajakovať na Club wave a poobede sme sa pomaly chystali na Vianoce. Paul, majiteľ kempu, nám vystrojil parádnu hostinu. Grilované teľacie kotlety, páročky, šalát, pečené zemiaky a perfektný banánový koláč. Samozrejme , že nesmel chýbať ani vianočný stromček, ktorý sme vyrúbali priamo z kempu. Na druhý deň sme oslavovali Vianoce podľa ich, tzv. amerických tradícií. Ráno nás čakali výdatné raňajky s vajíčkom, páročkami, toastmi a ovocím. Na obed boli pripravené slávnostné stoly, aj s prestieraním a juhoafrickými vínami a k tomu grilované kuriatko.

Po pár dňoch strávených surfovaním na vlnách Club wave a Nile Special sme sa vybrali na pár dní do Bujagali falls splavovať deň 1. Máme šťastie, že ešte tečie, lebo o mesiac ho nadobro prehradia a všetky pereje zaniknú.

Maťo, Honza a Ondra tento úsek idú prvý krát. Počas sviatkov púšťajú pomerne málo vody. Perej hump vyzerá trochu inak ako predtým a tak Maťa posielame radšej bezpečnejšou cestou. Bujagali falls prechádzame všetci v poriadku, až na Maťa, ktorý má menšie problémy, no nakoniec to zvládne. Na silverbacku Honza vystupuje na brehu, aby nás natočil. Vedeli sme síce, že tam je zakázané vychádzať, ale Honza to riskol. Pracovníci elektrárne mu síce dovolia natáčať, ale keď ide hliadka=vojak so samopalom okolo, nechce Honzu pustiť späť k lodi a chce mu zobrať kameru. Honza sa nedá a ide preč, no vojak začína strieľať do vzduchu. Po hádke a dohováraní Honza nakoniec v poriadku odchádza dole. Na brehu nás čakajú motorkári a vezú nás späť krkolomnou cestou späť do kempu.

Teraz sedíme v reštaurácií a tešíme sa na pizzu. Máme pred sebou už len 10 dní tak sa ich snažíme využiť naplno.

Pozdravujeme domou

Peter , Nina , Mato, Capko

Ahoj z Afriky

2010-12-17T01:17:00.000-08:00

Ahoj.

Tak po komplikovanom príchode na letisko Entebbe sme zistili, že Nine neprišla loď. Po vyjednaní ceny so šoférom sme sa vydali nočnou Ugandou do Hairy Lemonu.

Hneď nasledujúce ráno sme sa ponáhľali na raňajky aby sme mohli ísť konečne surfovať na vlny. Vlny sú super každý deň chodíme prevažne 2x na vodu. Nininú loď sme boli vyzdvihnúť 2 dni po prílete a všetko bolo v poriadku.

Predvčerom sme dokonca išli pozrieť super hole, čo znamená , že sme išli prvý krát úsek deň 2 a Maťo si vymodlil aby sme po ceste stretli hada. Bol to nejaký druh kobry a mala asi 2m pričom jak nás zbadala sa zdvihla a roztiahla krk. My sme sa tak zľakli, že tak rýchlo som ešte nikoho pádlovať nevidel .

Inak neviem, čo by sme ešte písali lebo zatiaľ okrem toho, že si tu užívame slniečko a vodu sa tu nič moc nedeje a dokonca aj jedlo je super v porovnaní s min. rokmi.

Dnes ideme do Jinji aby sme mohli tento článok uverejniť a určite sa stavíme na nejaké dobre jedlo.

Pozdravujeme všetkých

Peťo, Nina, Vlado, Mato.

Till the end

2010-11-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

In one of my latest updates I mentioned that the kayak session is over. WRONG! Fortunately the owners of the white water course in Cunovo decided to keep the water running due to great weather conditions so we were still able to use the course till it started to freeze.
Our usual course has a certain hole that we love to hit but that section was closed. Fortunately the second course also had a play hole and sometimes when they released more water we could also ride a nice small wave.
We are very lucky that we can manage trainings till the end of November. In December we will continue in Uganda. Uganda is our favourite training place. The river lies 1000m above sea level which is perfect for endurance training. We usually spent there every day including two training sessions. This time we plan to pay as many visits as possible to the hole called “super hole”.
So this is probably the very last update from the cold winter in Europe.
Enjoy the small clip from the training.

Movie night weekends

2010-11-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago we had the premiere of our new movie from Zambia. We decided to arrange a huge party including Nina's birthday party. We held it in the boat house called “Dunajcik“ which has a long canoe history in Slovakia. After a few months of editing the movie it was finally ready...We showed the whole section of the Victoria Falls and the lake Kariba taken in January. We were lucky and managed the whole section as we wanted, and over the top we captured it all.Thanks to Nico Chassing who helped us to make that happen.We had a private premiere with about 60 people ( just our friends ) and after the movie Nina’s big birthday party began. Thanks to everybody for the support with this super nice party.Next plan is to play this movie at all the outdoor movie festivals in Slovakia including the most famous one called “Hory a mesto“ where the movies are played in Aupark Cinema infront of thousands of people. Awesome weekend!!!

Last weekend was another film festival called “HoryZonty“. It is the second famous film festival with about 3000 visitors each year showing outdoor movies in Slovakia. We are proud that also one of our movies (Damming the heaven) was shown there and also won 3rd place. Thanks very much to the organizer of this event.
More info.
You can watch the whole movie

A big thank you to all the sponsors that helped us to make this happen.

See you!
Peter

Kuchl session started!

2010-10-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last week started Kuchl sessions! The water dropped and waves started to run almost the all day long. We came there friday afternoon. Wave was a bit high for surfing with kayak.

Read more!

Kuchl video

2010-10-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

Adidas Sickline world championship

2010-10-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of October every thing was prepared in Otzal for the event to start. The the Adidas Sickline extrem World Championships are held in Otztal’s beautiful valley every year. For a weekend became this tourist well know area full of kayak fancy. Some come to take a part and some come with the goal to win and take home gold and of course prize money. But winner can be just one of the 150 paddlers from all around the world.
We came to the Oetz Wednesday evening. Like the last years we were acomodate in beautiful Feel free resort apartment for what we thank a lot to Adidas and specially to Axel. Thursday morning we went to check the race course. Famous Wellebrucke section has change after big water and it was quite different from last year. Every year this event is situated at same part of river but every year it change a lot. From my point it seems to be little bit less dangerous. This time the qualification started with the last rapids on Wellebrucke. I never run this part because I am not really keen in class V. I was afraid because of waterfall and rapid above it but actually I run it quite nice except one time when I did two rolls right above the waterfall. But any way I was really happy to run it because this year I sit in my creek boat just once. Peter did well on the training and run it several times. The event started at Friday. I ended up in qualification but I beat at least 11 guys :) Peter ended in his first run on 38 place. He wasn’t lucky with his second run and didn’t make it through quarterfinal. I think he was fast enough but unfortunately he sticked in “Champion killer”. Never mind. We could enjoy the time in Oetz and cheer for our friends. At Saturday morning was the final day. Best 50 paddlers from friday compete in head to head system. It was interesting to watch who knocked out who. In the final we could see a few really very interesting runs. Some good and some bed. The best one was from our team mate who we were cheering for Sam Sutton. He did it under one minute and as the quickest one won and became a WorldChampion. The award ceremony this year was held in area 47. After tasty dinner in Lake side restaurant, we moved to River Haus, where the winners were announce. After all the Champions party could start!

Video from GoPro camera

some pictures from Gopro camera

ARF cup video

2010-10-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I had some time to edit the movie clip from the last and final cup from Alpin freestyle cup.

Thanks again to all participants and also to our sponsors: Adidas, Vajda, Paddler, Red Bull, Divoka voda

Trencin - video

2010-09-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

Few week ago we had the strong rain falls in Slovakia and the waves in Trencin was working again. From 20 cumics in second to 1000 in one day. The dam just did release all the water.

So enjoy the clip.

Alpin River Cup Cunovo-Final event

2010-09-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend of september was held the final event from the series of Alpin River Cup. We hosted it in Cunovo- Slovakia, in our local playspot. Paddlers from Austria, Germany, Poland and Czech were gather during the whole week. Friday evening all the participants had free training on the slalom withe water course. Me and Peter we were quite tried from the trainings before and as the organizers we had too much work to paddle. We were beg for nice weather at least for not raining. Saturday was quite nice day.

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup-results

2010-09-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hi so here are the results:

ARFC preliminary and semifinals

ARFC finals

Kayak cross results

Slovak championship/ARF cup

2010-09-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Event program

Friday, 24-th

free trainings from 13:00 till 15:00 and 19:00-20:00 in between 15:00 - 19:00 it is strictly forbidden to paddle.

Registration from 18:00-19:30

Saturday, 25-th

Registration from 8:00-9:00

qualifications + cross qualifications from 9:00 till 19:00

party from 20:00

Sunday, 26-th from 8:00 till 17:00

semifinals and finals

+ final race of Slovak Kayak & Canoe Cross 2009

Individual trainings

Individual trainings will be possible. Days, times and prices please check on the www.divokavoda.sk

Official training
Official playspot trainings from Friday 24. sep, from 17:00. Prior to official trainings playspot available too. Area is perfect for bike, inline skates, beach volleyball. Sauna, fitness and club available at „Paddler Hostel** , Divoká voda hotel"

Starting Fee
15 EUR, registration via internet

20 EUR, At the place

Kayak & Canoe Cross

0 EUR, anyone who pays fee for freestyle

10 EUR, any other registrations.

Deposit for start number 20 EUR.

Playspot
22 km from town center, one of the best artificial whitewater course class up to WW-IV with unique playspot. Facilities for world rank professional events such as World Slalom Championship, World Cup, Rafting Eurocup and many more.

Freestyle hole remastered in 2008, hosting national freestyle events since year 2000.

Safe shore and stream bed, clean water, both holeside eddy with easy access to hole with any move and tricks possibility.

Registration
Registration via internet will be possible on www.kayak.sk. There is also possibility to register over http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143307525682187

For the registration on the place look on the schedule of the event

Accomodation
Bed:

Paddler hostel & cafe

http://hostel.paddler.sk/

cc 20min from the course.

Hotel divoká voda

www.divokavoda.sk

Camp:

Hotel divoká voda

www.divokavoda.sk

Event sponsors

Flood waves in Trencin

2010-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

This year is the weat
her a bit crazy in whole Europe. Slovakia isn’t a exception. We had floods from early spring in many parts of country. Even at such a places where they never had this problems before. We are so sorry because many people lost a lot...but we were lucky and found something great.

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup

2010-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup Majstrovstvá Slovenska v Kayak Freestyle Kayak & Canoe Cross

24. – 26. September 2010

Informations about the Event / Informácie o preteku

Lipno Devils extrem race.

2010-09-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Lipno festival is the biggest kayak event in Czech republic. This small calm area became for one weekend a year overcrowded by kayakers and rafters from all around the europe. Lipno is small creek witch flows trough national park. There is not enough water for kayaking but once a year at the end of summer they release water form dam and this small creek became a wild river. You can find there many rapids, holes and jumps. Mostly it is class 3plus-4 but there is also one class 5 rapid. This river is very nice and not much dangerous while you sit in kayak. As soon as you are up side down or you swim out from your kayak it start to be quite dangerous because of many rocks under surface. The most known rapids are čerťáky, škvíra and vrata. We portage škvíra because it is very narrow place where it is easy to scrape hands or hit head or do something more serious. This river has quite big gradient so there are not many eddys. It flows fast so you can run it more times a day because it is not long. From top it takes about 45min-1hour to get down. You can run river just for fun with your friends or you can compete in various competitions such as extrem race, rafting, slalom or down river race. But you need to be very careful because same time as you are on the water there are hundreds of paddlers with you. It make it way more dangerous but as same point way more safety because if something happen every one is keen to help. This year wasn’t an exception and there were some accidents. Fortunately nothing serious happened just some dislocated shoulders, scratches and some swimmers. It was my first time there and I enjoyed it so much. I met there many good friend, who I could paddle with and of course party! I am realy looking forward to go there next year.

Peter starting kayak cross from the ramp

See you Nina.

Reichenbacher & Plattling movie clip

2010-08-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is a small movie clip from The Reichenbacher wave and Plattling by big water.

Paddlers :

Nina Halasova

Peter Csonka

Peter Scherfel

Simon Strohmeier

Vladimir Cako

How we were first time on Reichenbacher wave

2010-08-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we drove to Plattling. Water level was quite high so we except to have a nice small wave there. When we got there the water was somewhere between hole and wave. We were surprised how many people we met there. During the night it was heavily raining.

July summary

2010-08-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

After European championships we could rest from serious competing and enjoy kayaking once again. This year are not any others big freestyle competitions on the schedule so our plan for rest of the season is just kayaking for a pleasure.

We spent some time with training in Plattling. We been there already twice. We had nice weather so we could also enjoy bathing in river.

Read more!

Vajda boats on white water course Cunovo

2010-07-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Its hot weather so we decited to make small movie clip again, but now taken from the water view . This time we used the waterproof camera GoPro HD Hero. All the futage is taken from this camere while we played in our spots in Cunovo.

Cunovo White water course with GOPRO from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

My Steath S promo video

2010-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Short video from my paddling on my new boat Sealth S from Plattling, Augsburg and Lienz. Hope you will like it!

Stealth S promo video from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Nina

2nd Alpin cup- Wildalpen

2010-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

There wasn't long break after Europeans until the second Alpin cup. This time the competition was in Wildalpen on the famous river Salza. The hole called “Heli wave” was made by the owners of the campsite there , so that is awesome job they made.

TA3 - 21.6.,22:30 talk show

2010-06-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

After the European championship TA3 TV .

Date 21.6. , 22:30

TA3-sport + 19:30 , 14.6.2010

2010-06-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to TA3 for the streaming in sports news called sport+

date : 14.6. , 19:30

2010-06-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jirka Slapak CT4 used our footage in the TV streaming for the program Vertikalny.

date: 18.8 , 16:00

European championship Lienz finals

2010-06-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

This month was one of the hardest but also one of the best in my life.
After the World cup where Nina finished 1st and me on the 2nd place we went home. The Plattling competition was canceled because of the high water levels. If there is lot of water you can find there the big waves. Unfortunately and it was breaking my hard we couldn’t stay there for surfing because we needed to go home, because I was finishing my studies at the same time. I had just 2 days in the school to finish everything and than we left for the European championships which was situated in Lienz.

Lienz - Opening ceremony

2010-06-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the Europeans are starting with categories like K1W, K1JM,OC1 , C1. So from tomorrow is the competition full on.

Lienz - The training before the Europeans

2010-06-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

After the last World cup which was canceled we went home for few days. Nina and me we are still studying so we need to be sometimes also in school.

TA3 news from about the World cup

2010-06-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

World cup finished

2010-06-05T23:48:00.001-07:00

The World cup is already over and with success for the team Vajda.
There were 2 World cup events this year, one was in Augsburg where Nina finished on the first place in woman category and Me on second place in men category. The next world cup was situated in Plattling. We arrived there at monday. The weather was bad and it was raining whole week.

Read more!

Augsburg World Cup finals

2010-06-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend was held a First event of World cups in Augsburg. Many people traveled there from all around the World. We come here in Sunday morning and started to train.

Read more!

First competition day-Augsburg worldcup 2010

2010-06-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

Hey so here are the first results from today

Quali men :

1 James Bebington (composite boat)

2. Eric Jackson

3. Peter Csonka ( composite boat)

Augsburg Worldcup

2010-06-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

We picked up my new boat right from factory at Saturday morning and headed to Augsburg. I was so excited to try it so we stopped in Plattling. It was quite late but I needed to test it. After fixing all the things I sit to my brand new boat for first time and jumped to the hole.

Read more!

Video from Trencin in TV Matkiza

2010-06-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hi we had our movie clip from Trencin in TV Markiza check it out. http://tvnoviny.sk/spravy/som-reporter/rozvodnene-vlny-vahu-kajakari-prirovnavaju-k-rieke-v-zambezi.html

Movie clip from Trencin

2010-06-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

Damming the Heaven

2010-05-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

If you still didn't saw the movie Damming the Heaven you can watch it on here in HD version.

Enjoy the movie

Damming the Heaven from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

European championships info

2010-05-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some informations about the European championship.

Date : 16-19.6. 2010

Pictures from Trencin on Markiza

2010-05-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Tv Markiza publish our picture from Trencin on their web page www.markiza.sk

Trencin big water

2010-05-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

For the end of the week we had a plan to train in Plattling and Augsburg. We wanted to have just a small practice before the World cup will start. We wanted to leave Friday morning but I was a bit lazy and also a bit tired so we decided to stay in Slovakia. We change the plan went to our white water course in Cunovo where are also good options to have nice trainings. So on friday we spend a day at the course but not on freestyle boat but on slalom boats. It was nice to have a break from freestyle. Saturday my friend from Trencin Peter Scherfel called my to come to Trencin because there is flood and awesome waves are on the rapids. Actually there were minimum 2 waves on 300m section. On saturday there were cca 380 cubic and the best waves in Europe at that moment. First wave was small and stabile. Everything was possible there.

Graz freestyle event

2010-05-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend was in Graz first event from series of Alpin Cups. Me and Peter we traveled to Graz in Wednesday to train. The forecast wasn’t very optimistic for these few days but we were praying for nice warm sunny weekend. When we came water level was higher and playspot was more like wave-hole. It was quite difficult to paddle you needed power to rotate all the tricks. During the evening it started to rain and in the morning water was higher. It was now a nice wave where all the tricks are possible. Morning riding was really nice but is level is very good also for surfers so afternoon we had to wait in the line too long. Water was still rising so Friday it started to be quite flat and slow. We were very tired from training so we had just one short training this day to get fresh for competition.

Pisen Czech quali movie clip

2010-05-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here a small clip from the Pilsen ( CZE ) where was the qualifikation for the Czech kayak freestyle team.

It is awesome how the boat works in the holes!!!

Plzen Czech qualifikation for the Europeans from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Training for World cup and Czech qualification for European championship

2010-05-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we packed all the kayaking gear and headed to Plattling. We arrived at the evening but there were still many Germans paddlers in the water. They were preparing for next day because they had a qualification for European championships at Saturday.

Kuchl session movie clip

2010-04-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the freestyle clinic in Kuchl for Austrian kayakers. This year all the big events will be in holes, not in waves. Unfortunatelly the weather went bad again, was aslo snowing a bit, so the levels on the rivers droped again.

Early spring trainings

2010-04-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we came home from sunny Uganda. The weather in Europe wasn’t very nice, but we didn’t stay at home very long. This year, the competition season starts quite soon so we can’t wait for warm weather.

Vajda freestyle new web launches

2010-04-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

We already finished the new web page for the Vajda freestyle kayaks. This page is the best designed kayaking page ever !!! Big thanks to my friend Peter Scherfel and his company exot.sk for the great work.

SO CHECK IT OUT !!! WWW.VAJDAFREESTYLE.COM

Peter

Uganda - Gopro video

2010-04-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Uganda-GOPRO HD HERO from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Hory a mesto festival

2010-04-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ahoj ,

budúci týžden bude náš posledný film DAMING THE HEAVEN odprezentovaný na najznámejšom filmovom festivale na Slovensku HORY A MESTO v Auparku.

Viac info o festivale horyamesto.sk .

Tak sa tam na Vás tešíme.

Stealth in Augsburg - movie clip

2010-04-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we was in Augsburg to kayak and test the Vajda Stealth in Augsburg. The boat works awesome , so watch the short clip to see more.

Stealth in Augsburg from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Ranný magazín STV1 31.3.2010

2010-04-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Expedícia Zambezi v Črepinách plus

2010-03-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Stealth test on Plattling - movie clip

2010-03-23T01:52:00.000-07:00

2010-03-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Hi.
This weekend we (Me and my friend Vlado) spend on the famous Plattling hole. Famous because next 2 years its gone be busy with big competitions like World cup and World championship. After longer time the weather started to be nice again so we had good chance to test our new Stealth also in Plattling. The boat feels incredible in the holes and reacts very quickly on every stimuli of the kayaker. It allows you to do the moves quicker, faster and also stays in the holes very easy. Phoenix monkey and MC nasty is so easy to do as never before. I couldn’t be happier how the boat works.I can’t wait to go kayaking again.

See you
Peter Csonka

Old movies 3

2010-03-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Worlds 2003 from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Ekvador - Hazard team from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

ENSS 2003 from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

World championship Graz 2003 from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Graz 2003 big water from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Gymnastika 2003 from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

2010-03-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

Every year we spend some time in sunny Uganda. This year we spent one month on White Nile. Peter, our friend Tomo and me, we traveled there early February. After we spent one month in cold Europe it was the right time to leave.

We arrived at 8.30 pm and after a misunderstanding with our driver, who actually wasn’t there to wait us, we found one guy who took us to Hairy Lemon. It is very difficult to get there without the right guy because no one knows where it is. After 6 hours driving and two long stops (our driver still needed something like go to service for one hour) we finally got there. But we didn’t know that they have started locking the boat. So we had to paddle in our small kayaks with all the bags on the other side of the river in the middle of night. It was a quite scary experience ;O).

Next morning we woke up to sunny day. We were excited and hurried up to paddle. In the morning the water was quite low but good enough for club wave. In the evening the Nile special was running but only with the rope.

Peter was the most excited of us. He brought his new boat to Uganda for testing it there the first time. He designed this boat himself for Vajda canoe&kajaks company. After his first ride he was so excited that he was talking all the time just about the new boat!

We had training twice a day but after one week we needed to make a break. Peter got sick - I think he brought it from cold Europe - and I also got sick because of him. We moved to Bujagali and stayed there for while. Each day we did one section a couple of times and enjoyed the local cuisine. I was very happy and surprised that I met there so many African friends and they still remembered me.

After few days we got well again and could move down to Hairy lemon again. We trained and enjoyed the waves every day. I learnt and improved some new tricks and I was very happy about it. Unfortunately our friend Tomo got malaria so we were a little bit worried about him. But the next day he was fit again like nothing happened ;O).

We have been in Uganda three times before but we never had such a strange weather there. The island used to be very sunny and untroubled by rain, even if it was raining in whole Uganda. This year we had one week of rain and storms. It was strange but it didn’t take away our passion for paddling.

After one month of great time spending on this amazing river we had to fly back home. Quite sad we left this paradise but next year we will be back again for sure!

Cheers

Nina

Old clips 2

2010-03-16T08:18:00.001-07:00

Old movie clips

2010-03-16T08:14:00.001-07:00

Hi here are some old movies. It is so cool to watch how we changed over the years.

Pool session - long time AGO from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

European trip - 2005 from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Vajda - Stealth promo video

2010-03-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

Hi
Here a short video from our new boat '' Stealth''.
Enjoy

Vajda - Stealth promo video from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Peter

Stealth – freestyle gun

2010-03-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

The future of freestyle sport is definitely composite materials and costuming the boats. Composite materials allow building the boats lighter, faster, stronger … So why to not use the best materials to go big? Vajda group have over 20 year experience with composite constructions and also the best technology on the market. So we decided to build new freestyle kayaks which have the best performance for waves and holes so far. The weight, the stiffness and the shape allow to go bigger and faster than it was ever possible before.

If you want to spin , cartwheel , blunt so easy and quick like never before than this is the right choice for you. The Stealth from Vajda will be your dream boat for sure.

Design:

The boat was create specially for the future competitions like Worlds on Plattling or Europeans in Lienz.

Front hull shape

• Designed for speed in surfing and for big pumps in the wave.
• Slightness facilitate all the hard moves like MC nastys or Phoenix monkeys

Bottom

Back hull shape

Comfort, technology

Costuming

Price

• Only Racing Pro construction • Price is 1420.- € (without VAT, Exwork Bratislava) • Simple 2 colors designs are included in the price, custom color design will be charged

Designer notes:

Peter Csonka with help from Vajda group designed this boat specialized for competing and for people they want to go bigger as ever before. This boat is the gun for future competitions. It is opening a new era of freestyle kayaking. We tried to build a boat which you try once you don’t want to paddle any other boat and we made it!!! So enjoy the boat like the boat designer, World championships silver medalist Peter Csonka..

See you

Peter

Uganda #2

2010-02-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

Ahoj všetci , tak konečne sa znovu ozývame po dvoch týždňoch. Minulý týždeň sme strávili pár dni v Bujagali. Zajazdili sme si trošku úsek deň 1 , ukázali sme Tomovi skoro všetky pereje.Trosku oddychu od freestylu nám určite nezaškodilo. Nabrali sme silu v miestnych reštavráciach a doplnili trosku bielkoviny ( mäso ). Tento týždeň sme boli celý čas v Hairy lemone. Mali sme šťastie a jazdili sme na len v malej skupinke a nemuseli sme čakať vo vracáku. Vlny sa nám stále striedajú a to ráno Club a po obede Nile spetial čo je super. Keď už nevládzeme tak nás Tomo učí chodiť po lane.
Teraz sme práve opäť v Jinji pretože internet v Lemone už nie je. Je to celkom problém pretože Tomo si chce prebookovať letenku aby neodlietal tento piatok ale o 2 týždne s nami. Tak uvidíme ako to dopadne a či to ešte bude možné.
Majte sa pekne.
Peter, Nina, Tomo

Uganda #1

2010-02-11T00:58:00.000-08:00

Piatok ráno sme odleteli už po 4 krát do Ugandy. Ja , Peťom a Tomo ktorý je tu prvý krát. Let prešiel rýchlo a ani sme sa nenazdali a pristáli sme v Ugande. Dúfali sme že náš objednaný odvoz bude čakať na letisku, no bohužiaľ asi na nás zabudol. Asi hodinu sme hľadali taxík ktorého šofér by vedel ako sa dostať do Hairy lemonu a do ktorého by sme sa pomestili . Nakoniec sme našli kombíka dosť veľký pre nás 3 al bez záhradky. Kajaky sme teda naložili priamo na strechu a dosť preťažený sme si to namierili do campu. Cesta miesto pôvodných 3 hodín trvala asi 5 hodín, lebo náš šofér si po ceste zmyslel odskočiť domou a ešte aj zastaviť v pneu servise a to každé na hodinu. Na miesto sme dorazili o 2 v noci. S čelovkami na hlavách chalani prepravili asi na 6 krát batožinu cez rieku. Ja som strážila veci na brehu. Dosť som sa o nich bála lebo voda bola vysoká a s ťažkými batohmi na kajaku to zvyšovalo obtiažnosť, ale zvládli to na jedničku. Keď sme prepravili všetko na ostrov , postavili sme stany a ľahli spať. Áno sme nedočkavo bežali na raňajky a potom rýchlo na vodu. Ráno býva Club vlna a po obede voda nastupava na Nile spetial. Tomo bol zo začiatku pokakaný, lebo sa bál , že sa tu bude nudiť. Objavil v sebe však freestyloveho nadšenca a teraz dokonca ani nechce ísť domov.
Peťo testuje svoju novu loďku a je z nej nadšený. My musíme stále počúvať dokola aká je úžasná a ticho závidieť jeho 7,5 kg loďku.
Dali sme si deň 2 aby sme Tomovi ukázali aj ďalšie pereje. Bolo dosť málo vody no napriek tomu sa odvážil skočiť Kalagala Falls . Teraz sme v Jinji na internete a chystáme sa na steak.
Takže sledujte našu stránku a my sa pokúsime dať čo najskôr ďalšie novinky.
Nina , Peter , Tomo

Pár fotiek:

Expedícia Zambezi - Ranný Magazín STV

2010-02-03T02:25:00.000-08:00

Ahoj,
Dnes sa nám podarilo dostať do Ranného magazínu STV1.
Pozrieť show môžte nižšie.

Main news report about Zambezi expedition on TV JOJ

2010-01-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

TV JOJ has on Sunday 31.1 in main news a short report about our Zambezi expedition. You can check it out.

Reportáž o expedícií zo Zambezi v hlavných správach TV JOJ.

2010-01-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Televízia JOJ odvysielala v nedeľu 31.1 v hlavných správach reportáž o expedícií zo Zambezi. Uvidíte tam mňa aj Peťa v krátkom rozhovore. Môžte si to pozrieť na http://televizia.joj.sk/tv-archiv/noviny/31-01-2010.html je to 9 min a 38 sec.

Nina

Bungee Jumping -video

2010-01-22T02:02:00.001-08:00

Hi
Probably you saw some pictures from the famous Zambezi Bungee Jumping before.
We jumped from there too and it was awesome.
Enjoy the movie clip.

Bungee Jumping -Zambia from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

Peter

Zambezi - GoPro HD hero

2010-01-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a clip from the Zambezi rapids made just from the GoPro HD Hero camra.

www.gopro.sk

Zambezi - Gopro HD Hero from Peter Csonka on Vimeo.

So enjoy .
Peter Csonka

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup

2010-01-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

English version :

Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia founded a new Freestyle Cup, called Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup (ARF Cup).

There will be four venues:
Graz, Austria (8.5.2010); Wildalpen, Austria (26.6.2010); Tacen, Slovenia (24.7.2010) and, last but not least, Čunovo, Slovakia (25.9.2010).

Ratet will be persons who participated in at least three of the four Freestyle competitions. Points will be added up, which means those who participate more often will have higher chances to win the Cup.

Winners will not only be awarded the honour of being the very first winner of the ARF Cup; in addition, they will also take home the absolutely beautiful, glittering cup. Apart from this there will, of course, be numerous other prizes!

What is more, there will be an additional “Old Bastard” class, to also tempt more experienced paddlers to take part in the competition.

Wildalpen, formerly largely famous for its White Water facilities, offers a spectacular venue on the “Heli Welli”, (hole). Don’t worry! This is not the hole next to the campsite, which usually sees a lot of swimmers. Another venue, Tacen, was last year’s talk of the town because of the smashing party-organization. This year this is due to another reason: they expect to meet competitors with a newly designed playspot.

So, pack your boats and – off we go! Looking forward to enjoying a fresh start in 2010’s season with lots of motivated competitors!

Slovenska verzia:

Rakúsko, Slovensko a Slovinsko uvádzajú do života nový seriál freestylových pretekov “Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup” (ARF Cup).

Program ARF Cup 2010:
8.5.2010 Graz, Austria
26.6.2010 Wildalpen, Austria
24.7.2010 Tacen, Slovenia
25.9.2010 Čunovo, Slovakia

Do celkového hodnotenia vstupujú tí účastníci, ktorí sa zúčastnia najmenej na 3 pretekoch. Sčítavať sa však budú body zo všetkých 4 pretekov, takže výhodu budú mať tí, čo radi cestujú.

Prvý víťaz ročníka si domov odnesie pekný pohár, zaujímavé a hodnotné ceny budú pripravené samozrejeme aj pre ďalších účastníkov.

Popri klasických kategóriách sme sa rozhodli zatraktívniť preteky aj pre skúsených mužov a ženy v špeciálnej kategórii “Old Bastards”.

Viac informácií prinesieme priebežne.

Zdroj www.kayak.sk

Národný park Chobe a Silvester

2010-01-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Výlet na safari do Botswany bol opäť zaujímavá akcia. Keďže nie všetci sme si tento výlet mohli dovoliť tak preto ja Nina a Šnorchel sme ostali v kempe. Vlastne to bol veľmi jednoduchý trip pretože stačilo zaplatiť 130$ a ráno chalanov a Sašu čakalo auto ktoré ich odviezlo do Botswanského parku Choba. Je to len jedno dnová akcia pretože park sa nachádza hrozne blízko hraníc so Zambiou. Keďže som tam nebol, tak moc podrobne to opisovať nebudem ale chalani hovorili, že na začiatku išli výlet loďou a potom safari autom. Priniesli odtiaľ nádherné fotky tak by som skôr nechal o tomto výlete rozprávať obrázky.

My sme sa boli pozrieť na krokodíliu farmu, kde nám poukazovali rôzne plazy.

Keď prišli z výletu už bolo všetko prichystané a boli sme pripravený to poriadne osláviť.

Ďalší deň sme mali na pláne splaviť pereje 1-25 čo je celo denná akcia. Capko vravel že je to zhruba 40 km perejí. Už sme to podstúpili a preto sme sa rozhodli odchádzať už o 7 ráno. Nebolo to ľahké pretože zväčša Silvestrovská noc býva ťažká. Bolo to opäť super a voda stále stúpa. Večer sme išli absolútne vyhladovaný do reštaurácie na steak a Saša na zeleninu. Už dlho som si tak jedlo neužíval a určite som nebol sám.

Pomaly sa nám už schyľuje ku koncu nášho pobytu v Zambii. Mame už iba posledný deň a využívame na nákup darčekov. Dokonca sa nám podarilo presvedčiť Sašu skočiť Bungee jumping aj cez jej strach z výšky. Ani sme sa nenazdali a sedíme na letisku, čaká nás dlhý let a návrat do stereotypu.

Ďakujem Janovi Rusnákovi za fotky.

PF 2010

2009-12-31T02:38:00.002-08:00

Ahoj prajeme Vám všetko naj do nového roku 2010.

Peter , Nina , Mato , Jano , Snorchel , Capko , Sasa

Peter Csonka & Nina Halasova

Uganda 2012

Winter is here!

ARF cup Pilsen video

FILM FESTIVAL HORYZONTY

Go Pro HD Hero

A NOTE FROM NINA

5th ARFcup / Slovakian championship

Pilsen - 4th ARF Cup

SOPAC SOMER FEST

ARF cup Cunovo

DEVILS EXTREME RACE – LIPNO

Film z Norska

TWO WEEKS IN NORWAY

Chillout after Worlds

2ND AT WORLD CHAMPS

Plattling combos

FREESTYLE KAYAK COMPETITION, LIENZ

Nina Halasova in Lienz- movie clip

KADAN, PLATTLING, GRAZ

Preparing for the World Championships

Slalom competetion movie clip

Hory a mesto festival -article

Hory a mesto v Bratislave

Article in TV OKO

Spring in Kuchl

Millau - small movie clip

Millau by Nina Halasova

Millau-France

Uganda 2011-movie clip

Pool session

Expedicia Lake Kariba- trailer

Uganda update 2

Vianoce v Ugande

Ahoj z Afriky

Till the end

Movie night weekends

Kuchl session started!

Kuchl video

Adidas Sickline world championship

ARF cup video

Trencin - video

Alpin River Cup Cunovo-Final event

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup-results

Slovak championship/ARF cup

Flood waves in Trencin

Alpine Rivers Freestyle Cup

Lipno Devils extrem race.

Reichenbacher & Plattling movie clip

How we were first time on Reichenbacher wave

July summary

Vajda boats on white water course Cunovo

My Steath S promo video

2nd Alpin cup- Wildalpen

TA3 - 21.6.,22:30 talk show

TA3-sport + 19:30 , 14.6.2010

European championship Lienz finals

Lienz - Opening ceremony

Lienz - The training before the Europeans

TA3 news from about the World cup

World cup finished

Augsburg World Cup finals

First competition day-Augsburg worldcup 2010

Augsburg Worldcup

Video from Trencin in TV Matkiza

Movie clip from Trencin

Damming the Heaven

European championships info

Pictures from Trencin on Markiza

Trencin big water

Graz freestyle event

More videos from Pilsen

Pisen Czech quali movie clip

Training for World cup and Czech qualification for European championship

Kuchl session movie clip

Early spring trainings

Vajda freestyle new web launches

Uganda - Gopro video

Hory a mesto festival

Stealth in Augsburg - movie clip