STANDINGWAVES
OVER THE TOP 26 RAPID SPRING 2013
THE GRAND PRIX BLOWS TRADITIONAL COMPETITION OUT OF THE WATER
Not much had changed on the event circuit in 15 years. Freestyle comps were surfing along at predictable ven- ues, soul boaters had events like FIBArk and Gauley, and slalom remained obscure. Then, unrest took over and in 2011, the Whitewater Grand Prix was born. Scene-boaters are raving. December’s second annual Grand Prix was a huge success—it’s changed how we look at whitewater competition. Here’s why:
LOST IN THE JUNGLE: The Mountain Games take place yearly in Vail; the 2013 edition of the Freestyle World Championships on the Nantahala—hardly remote in comparison to jungle rivers of Chile. These events draw crowds and dollars from deeper-pocketed big-name sponsors and Olympic-level federations. They get exposure. The coveted 18–49 market fills bleachers to take in a competition, energy drinks in hand. The Whitewater Grand Prix sacrifices all that for the sake of balls-to-the-wall whitewater.
SOOO MUCH HD VIDEO: The answer to a venue inaccessible to spectators? Both installments of the Grand Prix have been nothing short of media production machines. Judging by the footage, paddlers weren’t allowed within 50 feet of a river without a bobble head-inducing GoPro mounted to their helmets. For competitive whitewater paddling—remote by nature and with no reliable audience—Internet equals ease of distribution. Endless online footage is good news for paddlers with no plans to leave their parents’ basements until spring thaw, which, incidentally, is just in time for the third annual Grand Prix, set to return to Quebec this May.
NO MONEY, MO PROBLEMS: For the 2011 inaugural event held in backwoods Quebec, Grand Prix organizers teamed up with RDS, le French-Canadian answer to ESPN, which undoubtedly helped secure industry support. In 2012, when the 14-day, multi-venue format moved to Chile in an effort to establish it as a global-scale phe- nomenon, sponsorship did not follow.
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