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Extreme kayakers have been condemned for canoeing down a dam in west Wales.

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A photographer captured the latest incident as one canoeist slid 300ft down the spillway at Llyn Brianne reservoir in Carmarthenshire, near the borders of Ceredigion and Powys.

 

Welsh Water said the practice was dangerous and such activities were banned at the reservoir.

 

An onlooker said: "I always stop and look anyway and I saw four people ready to do the spillway.

 

"There were a lot of people watching at the top car park.

 

"It looked pretty scary."

 

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Originally Posted By: ger
Whoa, that looks cool! Wonder how fast they're going when the hit the bottom..


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45mph

A dude who has done it before had this to say.
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“You really, really fly downwards because the flat-bottomed hull just aquaplanes. “You are a bit like a flat stone skimming across a pond but you have to use the paddles to get the right line.

“If you do not land straight you are going to suffer severe spinal damage. At the bottom it will be like being tossed around in a car accident. To ensure you land straight you have to use the paddles but there is a 45mph to 50mph wind as you skim downwards.

“The only sound you hear is like a machine gun going off in your ear as the boat shoots at speed across the ripples in the water. I nearly lost my paddles coming downwards because the drag effect took them from my hands but I managed to stretch out and grab them back.

“If I had lost my paddles I would only have been able to put my hands out to straighten the kayak and that would have meant losing the tops of my fingers because of the friction with the concrete. It would be a decision between being paralysed at the bottom or losing your fingertips.

“Right at the bottom I found out to my horror that there is what is called an anti-scour ridge which is a razor sharp length of medal. Out of sheer luck I bounced when I landed and jumped right over it.

“Unbelievably I came out of that ride with no injuries at all but I am completely serious when I say to anyone tempted to do it, don’t. This run is deadly.â€


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