Immersion Research 2008

Do you have the same water-reading ability as this slalom racer?

The Yough Valley paddling season came to a buzzing crescendo this past weekend as literally thousands of spectators and hundreds of racers descended on Ohiopyle for the annual “Over the Falls Festival”, an event structured around the impressive but relatively safe Ohiopyle Falls. Ostensibly, the focus of the event is a sprint race over the falls, but really the draw for most is the chance to run the otherwise illegal falls in the daylight without having to worry about being chased through poison ivy and rhododendron by park rangers. Regardless of the paddler’s motivations, the event is a really fun time, and Barry Adams and the rest of the crew from American Whitewater do a great job of not only putting on the festival, but in a very clear way point out the absurdity of keeping the falls off-limits to kayakers for the rest of the year. Details on the event (and even more interesting, the dialogue between AW and the Bureau of State Parks) can be found here, and be sure to watch Dave Fuselli’s video (below this post) to see great footage of the falls race.

Following the Falls Race on late Saturday afternoon was the annual “Upstream World Championships”, a race down and back up Entrance Rapid- a class III rapid at the start of the lower Yough. While this race has a distinctively more low-key presence than the Falls event (only 19 people entered the Upstream race), for many of the local paddlers and guides this is the THE competitive event of the season. With race times ranging anywhere between 8 and 25 minutes, a mass start, and no boat or gender classes, I have to admit that to the uninitiated, the race can look a little whimsical, but I can assure you that many very serious and competitive paddlers have repeatedly called this the most difficult race they have ever done. To win the race requires either world-class paddling speed, a hyper-tuned knowledge of every rock and current in the rapid, an inhuman ability to process lactic buildup in your forearms, or all of the above. It is one race where every serious participant pushes their body to the edge of complete failure in order to finish.

Meanwhile, 11 miles upstream of the excitement and crowds surrounding the Falls festival, the annual Riversport slalom was quietly underway on Ramcat rapid, organized by Natalie Thomas and her crew. With none of the glamor of the Falls event, or bravado and street cred of the Upstream race, the Riversport Slalom nonetheless has a pedigree- and I would argue a value- that neither of the two Ohiopyle events can touch. For starters, old-school paddlers like myself and wife, who came-of-age in kayaking in the early 80’s, recognize that events like this race, and the dozens of others that used to be spread up and down the east coast (T-Ville, Tohickan, the Esopus, Loyalsock, Deerfield, Ocoee Double Header, and the NOC Spring Race just to name a few) aren’t just obscure footnotes in paddling history, but actually part of paddling’s DNA. Back then, it was generally understood that running rivers and the technical challenges of running gates were the same thing, and out of that era came a class of American paddlers whose depth of skills and water knowledge is almost unheard of nowadays.

Also consider the fact that slalom races like this one can not only challenge competent paddlers but also embrace newcomers of almost all skills. On one hand, I would say that 1 in 60 falls race competitors could achieve a clean run on the Ramcat slalom course, but at the same time, my father-in-law raced open canoe with my 3 year old son. Dana Chladek -who medaled in both the 92 and 96 Olympics- was there coaching her group of kids from DC, ages 11-18 as well as her “master’s league”- a group of more mature paddlers honing their skills and fitness levels.

The discussion of the re-birth of slalom in the US and the constant chatter about how to “grow paddlesports” in our industry is so played that I am not going to even start to prostelytize on either subject. I will say that when I go to run big whitewater, and a newcomer in the group comes from slalom background, I am almost sure that he or she will be the best paddler of the day. I will also point out that my son won a rubber ducky this weekend for his race with his grandad, and he can’t wait until the next one.

Some photos, and thanks to Jess Steinour for the pics of upstream race: