Local River News
In the East... There has been lots of paddling excitement across the East this sum- mer. New Brunswick local legend Harold Cox has had a memorable year of paddling so far. Harold started off the year by going to Chile’s Futaleufu River, then went to the Worlds in Austria where he was a scribe. In prepa- ration for those trips, Harold led local paddlers such as Adam Trembly, Eric Burley and Tim Cox on local springtime runs and gained recognition with first descents of Quiddy Falls on the Quiddy River and the Mispec River in Saint John. To top this off, Harold has been appointed manager of Canada’s Freestyle Team. He will assist Ken Whiting as head manager as the team gears up for Pre-Worlds, January 2004, and the next Worlds, January 2005, at the Olympic whitewater site in Australia. For info about the events see
internationalfreestylecommittee.com or email
kayakcox@nb.sympatico.ca...Only two events left in the Quebec rodeo circuit: On August 9, there’s the Rodeo Mistassibi on the Mistassibi River in St. Stanislas, with lots of rapids and good summer flows…. On August 16–17, the final event takes place at Montreal’s Lachine Rapids. The Montreal Kayak Surf Festival is a great event and lots of spectators are sure to be there. So get out and have a good time showing Big Joe what you know. Info:
www.kayak.qc.ca…. The Upper Gatineau River Festival takes place August 23–24. This event is open to all of the whitewater community including kayakers, canoeists and rafters. This is a very well organized event and everything is included from camping to shuttle to food. Check out
www.gatineau.org. The next issue of Rapid comes out in February. Don’t forget to send me your local river news about late summer, fall and winter happenings plus what’s on deck for early spring.
—Jamie Chapman
east@rapidmag.com
In the centre of things... I find myself writing this time from Halifax, on a road trip—sadly, a non-paddling one. Next time I will bring my boat and head for Reversing Falls! Festival season is upon us. I have usually looked at festivals as a great opportunity to find myself on some other, less crowded river than the one where the festival is taking
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place. But I might just be coming around. The Kipawa River was a pleasure this year—perfect weather, beautiful water temperature and good compa- ny…. The Shindig in Manitoba suffered a bit from lack of water at Sturgeon Falls but surely there was a tide of refreshments to make up for that! The June 28 Gull River weekend wrapped up with Gary and Strano’s aerial ramp not maiming anyone. The Gatineau Fest is coming up and I am told it always turns into a pretty good shaker. Late August/early September brings a flurry of competition, from the standard Ottawa rodeos (Equinox Adventures Ottawa River Rodeo Aug 30–31, and the Pro Rodeo at the Garburator Sep 6–7) to slalom at the Pumphouse in Ottawa to open boat slalom on the Gull (all the week- end of September 6). Eastern Canadian Team Trials look like they’ll be held in conjunction with the Garburator Pro Rodeo, check
www.ottawakayak.com for updates…. Further afield, but definitely within reach, you will also find the Gauley Festival on September 19–21 in Summersville, West Virginia, and the Moose Festival October 18–19 in Old Forge, New York. While those rivers ratchet up the difficulty level a bit over our local ones, they also ratchet up the car- nage for spectator enjoyment! So what’s your excuse? Take a day off work, go try someplace new, and give ‘er hell’s bells!
—Bryan McKenzie
central@rapidmag.com
In the West While Survivor’s TV ratings are going down the drain as fast as a whirlpool at
Skookumchuck, the Kananaskis Whitewater Festival’s version of the reality show brought out a huge crowd. Even an
eight-keg hangover didn’t stop 40 festival-goers from jumping into the empty Kananaskis River and bracing themselves as the water was released. The longest standing would win. After 10 minutes no one was left. Participants were required to wear footwear, lifejackets and helmets but otherwise were encouraged to be creative with their outfits. One guy wore a G- string and amazingly survived 10 minutes of snowmelt-induced shrinkage. This event was one of several held on the weekend to encourage recreational boaters to come out and join the usually heavy pro crowd. Other events—a surf contest handicapped for ability, a unique downriver race and a ball race with 40 teams of four all starting at the same time—were well attended and popular with everyone. Organizers are looking for a new T-shirt design for next year and are offering up $100 for the best one, email Patch at pat-
benn@telusplanet.net for info…. The Shuswap Rodeo near Enderby, B.C., saw another great ball race that
included such dirty tactics as pulling skirts, undoing drain plugs and beatings with rubber baseball bats. The winning team included women’s pro rodeo winner Emily Lussin. James Mole won the men’s…. At the second annual Brierley Whitewater Classic in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, in June, Darrell Wiebe and Jennifer Allen won the K1 advanced men’s and women’s events…. The festival season heats up in August with: the Terrace Paddle Party, August 1–4; the Grand Finale of the Aquabatics races on the Kananaskis, August 16–17; the Likely Paddle Festival, September 20–21; and a couple of rodeos at the Frog on the Thompson River in September and October (see the article in this issue). At the time of printing, the Western Canadian Team Trials are scheduled for Sep 6–7 on the Kananaskis river. Check
whitewater.org and
aquabatics.com for details…. The revival of the West Coast Kayak Surf Competition is going into its second edition September 28–29 at LongBeach in Tofino. Kayakers are urged to register early as National Parks limits participants to 60. “Some people drove out from Calgary last year and we had to turn them away,” said organizers. Visit
www.surfkayak.org…. Work will con- tinue on the Kananaskis this fall—eddies dredged and a few features built or modified. Contact Patch to lend a hand. Whatever you do, get out on the river this fall because a La Niña winter is forecast. The last one was a long, cold one in the West.
—Ryan Stuart
west@rapidmag.com Miss an Issue?
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