river shorties
Whitewater loses a leading filmmaker The whitewater paddling community suffered a loss on March 7 when a train struck and killed Daniel DeLaVergne. The co-founder of Penstock Productions was apparently sleeping in a train tunnel while scout- ing potential filming locations near Asheville, North Carolina. DeLaVergne produced the popular Lunch Video Magazine series and created the Immersion Research Big Gun Show video awards. More than just a filmmaker, DeLaVergne was also an accomplished expedition kayaker and is credited with first descents in Argentina, Canada, Chile and the United States. Last year, DeLaVergne led a team of paddlers through the 80-kilometre-long Grand Canyon of the Stikine in northern British Columbia in just 10 hours.
Portage to the park Just when engineers at the U.S. National Whitewa- ter Center thought they’d made portaging a thing of the past by creating a recirculating river, it seems paddlers at the new whitewater park in Charlotte, North Carolina, may have to walk to get to the put-in. Project organizers announced in March that the ac- cess road won’t be ready for the June 15 opening. A proposal to provide temporary access by opening up a dead-end residential street has been met with local resistance and is still being negotiated. Some paddlers will no doubt cherish this final opportunity for getting naked in public and testing their fence- hopping skills while toting their boats to the river.
Vail hopes for better flow from bladders The Gore Creek whitewater park in Vail, Colorado, will soon become the first park to install shore-mounted, expandable air bladders to manipulate water levels. Since Gore Creek is a naturally flowing river, there is no way to control how much water flows through the park. Low summer flows sometimes render the park nearly unusable. Engineers will inflate or deflate the bladders to increase or decrease the amount of water flowing over features. Vail officials are hoping the bladders can help maintain an adequate flow through the paddling season.
New star discovered near centre of universe
Toronto may be known as the centre of the universe to people who don’t live there, but until recently it was without a retail store devoted entirely to paddling. West-end residents can expect a crush of Yakima- racked Jettas converging on The Complete Paddler, billed as Toronto’s only dedicated canoe and kayak store by new owner Jeff Needham. His aim is to make whitewater kayaks and canoes the new popular roof ornaments in the Big Smoke. The shop is organizing a paddling club and inner-city pool sessions.—CM
E V E N T S
May 6–7 LEVEL SIX CAPITAL CUP Ottawa, ON
info@levelsixinc.com
May 20–21 RAPID’S SINGLE BLADE SYMPOSIUM Palmer Rapids, ON
www.rapidmedia.com
May 20–21 RAPID’S PALMER FEST Palmer Rapids, ON
www.rapidmedia.com
sponsored by
May 20–21 BIG COJONES RODEO Lorne Rapid, Ottawa River, ON
www.ottawakayak.com
May 26–28 KANANASKIS WHITEWATER FESTIVAL Canmore, AB
www.calgarykayakclub.com
June 10–11 MKC SLALOM Barry’s Bay, ON
www.owl-mkc.ca
For a complete events listing go to:
www.rapidmag.com 21
RAPID
river shorties
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