What a weekend. I usually leave a weekend of racing feeling
physically exhausted but this time along with that feeling I am also super
excited for more river racing.
With the recent success and exposure to the river side of
stand up paddling due to events like the Payette River Games and the Go Pro
Mountain Games; it was perfect timing for the first ever SUP cross race in
Canada.
I made my way up to the Kootenays and upon arrival I was
greeted by a quick shuttle run up the upper Slocan River to scope out the site
of my River Clinics that were to be held a few hours later. It is an excellent section of river to get
your first bit of exposure to river paddling.
Deep slow flow, few hazards, no holes and plenty of good clear eddies.
If you are looking to get yourself into river paddling these are some key
features to look for on your first go.
The second thing to look for is to get yourself some good local
knowledge by hiring an instructor or guide to make sure you put yourself in the
right place. The river presents hazards
that may not be as obvious as hazards on the lake or ocean and it doesn’t take
much to get yourself into trouble on the river.
The river clinics went very well that afternoon with all
students gaining some great new skills and confidence as we moved out way down
the river. A 30 degree day and some warm
water meant that I did not need my Kokatat Icon Drysuit which was a nice change
from the cold rivers I have been paddling more recently. Thanks to Nikki Rekman Sales for helping with
shuttles and providing all the safety gear and paddles we needed for our run
down the river.
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| Photo Credit: Chris Ryman - Endless Adventures |
We arrived the next morning at the put in on the Columbia
River for the 16km down river race. The
waters at the put in were very slow moving and calm which made for a great
launch site and spot for the kids race. Following a quick ‘Spin to Win’ contest,
in which contestants had to see how many times they could spin a 6’11” Badfish
River surfer in 1 minute, we gathered for the safety meeting before the start
of the race.
The course was well laid out to allow us to avoid the
biggest hazards on the river which were generally found around the big pilings
underneath the bridges crossing the river.
After the safety talk you could feel the nervous excitement in the group
as many of the paddlers had no experience ever paddling down a river,
especially one moving as quick as what were about to paddle.
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| Photo Credit: Chris Ryman - Endless Adventures |
The race started and
as usual I tried to get out to a quick start.
I was second to the buoy behind Matt Abbott followed closely by Norm
Hann, Lina Augaitis and a pack of paddlers.
As soon as we made the first turn we could feel the current giving us a
nice push down stream. It didn’t feel
much different until you looked beside you at the shoreline and realized just
how fast things were flying by. My GPS
was out of batteries but information from other paddlers told me that we were
averaging a pace of about 16km per hour which is exceptionally fast.
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| Photo Credit: Chris Ryman - Endless Adventures |
We made our way under the first bridge with a few boils and
some funny confused water but nothing too challenging. It was the next bridge that created the most
challenge. Downstream of the bridges we
had some big back eddies and in between these eddies were big bubbling boils
and some scary looking whirlpools that you could look right down into. The plan was to avoid as much of this as
possible, aim for the downstream V and power your way through the chop. I managed to escape the tougher sections with
only one fall off my board. Matt wasn’t so
lucky and found himself in the water a couple more times which allowed me to
pass him in the rougher water. As far as I know the only paddler to stay dry through
the whole paddle was the veteran Norm Hann.
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| Photo Credit: Chris Ryman - Endless Adventures |
Norm and I paddled together for the last half of the race
exchanging the lead back and forth as we paddle through some more confused
water and into some pretty strong headwinds on the river. We continued paddling
and I spotted the white sandy beach with a picnic table on it which I was told
was Goose Poop Island which meant the finish line was getting closer. I tried picking up the pace but Norm stayed
right there with me. We continued around one more corner and I thought I saw
the white finish line buoy so I made a break for it and picked up the pace for
the final stretch. Turns out what I saw
was a big white barrel in the water, not the finish line but thankfully the
finish was just around the corner and I had enough left in the tank to hold off
Norm for the win.
We waited as the other paddlers crossed the finish line and
then loaded the shuttle for the ride back to the Lions Head Pub where we had
dinner, prizes and live music for our evening entertainment. We had a great
party night at the pub full of excitement about the upcoming race the next day.
Paddlers all had a bit more confidence in the river after today’s paddle and we
were all ready to take part in Canada’s first SUP Cross race.
Part 2: Coming tomorrow.
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