Pools and Parrots.

Fortunately the rain has been co-operating and at least some of the runs have been up enough to enjoy. So far 2009 has been shaping up quite well. Despite not being to acclimatized to the cold and trying to convince myself that pogies are not necessary in the Linville when it's 27 degrees it really was quite a good time. I have not had ice form that quickly since the first New Years day paddle I did when I was fourteen back in England. Although that one ended with at a Pub and an open fire instead of a 1 mile hike out to the ridge.

So far things are shaping up to be fun and challenging year. The excitement of the Olympics has left us and the Slalom community has come out somewhat of hibernation and are starting to put their three and a half year plans together. Some have decided to focus on school and put the competitive world behind them or on hold. Others are balancing the two or trying to find time to train while working.
However despite the conundrums facing some of our athletes our biggest and most satisfying challenge will come from our development programs and trying to grow the next generation of paddlers. And also corrupting the current ones.
Here are Pablo and Scott Mann firing off Gorilla last week.


Our corruption extended a little further the next Sunday taking another slalom boater to the Green and away from his work out. Despite it being a rather demoralizing 60% he thoroughly enjoyed it. Another one comes to the dark side.
Either way this year's Green Race is going to be full of slalom boaters and with the final leg of the World series only three weeks before we hope to see a lot of the Euro guys stay for it too.

In the meantime we were treated to a short reprieve from the cold as we made our way to Rollapoolooza in Raleigh for this annual event. Raleigh Parks and Rec organize the event which is hosted at the Pullen Aquatics Center is a nice way to kick off the season seeing a bunch of fresh faces as well as going through the usual small world moments that the paddling community is good for.

The USNWC was well represented and had a variety of clinics from back deck rolling to cartwheels. It was especially good to have an Olympic sized pool to play with as it allowed the large number of participants to spread out.
In this shot there are around 68 people in Kayaks. Pretty cool.

Pablo helping out with a back deck roll.


Despite the new season there were not too many new boats. Most notable were the Biscuits from Liquid Logic and Jackson's new topoduo. Probably the best part of the day though was watching everyone's favorite Ginger up to his usual antics.

Corey

Beyond the pool the first event we will be looking forward to is the Shamrock Swap on March 14th. Come check out the used gear, new LVM, demo boats and race in the Boater X.
In the meantime though we will be enjoying what rain we get and I'll leave you with a gratuitously pointless picture of a Parrot.



Cheers.

The Roll Clinics were a huge success in 2008! They were so popular that we started them up again in 2009! Scheduled every Wednesday and Friday evening for the bargain price of $25.00 ($20.00 if you are a member of the YWCA)these two hour clinics have already taught dozens of people how to roll a kayak. Already have a roll? We can help fine tune your current role or teach you a new one. Learning to roll in a heated pool can't be beat! Join us at the YWCA Central Carolinas at 3420 Park Road. Call 704-391-3900 for reservations and more information.

Mixing Biscuits and getting some on the Green

It is the season for new things to be thought up and tweaked for their imminent release to the ravages of the consuming public. This season we have seen two notable prototypes showing up at the USNWC, the Dagger Axiom and several incarnations of the Liquid Logic Biscuit.



For the same reasons that the USNWC is a phenomenal training site it also make a superb testing site for new boats and equipment. Being able to dial in water flows and features allows the boats to be tested in a controlled situation and be compared very easily without anything except user error getting in the way of a truly subjective comparison. Even if some time has elapsed between tests the features can be brought back and like nothing ever changed.

Given the wide variety of features at the center, from small holes to large powerful features it gives the boat a full going over to see how it really performs.

One of our best features and favorite spots, Sketch Wave, has played host to the prototypes of Liquid Logic's new play boat, The Biscuit. While "Sketch" can be a touchy wave at times it is the most dynamic feature on the course with a good pile, nice shoulders and a deep trough if you end up throwing the bow a little to deep. Since the spot is fast enough to get some bounce you can see how well the boat will release and possibly more importantly, how it will land, since sticking it is the objective.



Not only is it the season for new things but it's also time to start talking smack about the Green Race. We started a little while back trying to goad the slalom paddlers to sack up and race. It finally worked, Butter has been getting a few runs in and our very own Chilean wonder, Pablo, broke out the long boat for some pre-race practice. While Zuzana may not be racing she did get over to the Green yesterday and ran everything for the first time, styling it in the way that only racers can. You can check out the video of her first run and several other great moments here.

Since there are way to many posts about the Green I am going to cut this one short. More after November 1st.
Cheers

Teen and Youth Kayak Programs Start Sept 23rd

SPACES STILL AVAILABLE!!! SIGN UP NOW!!!

TEEN KAYAK PROGRAM

This fall USNWC Instruction introduces the teen whitewater program for youth ages 12 to 16. Sign up for either the four or eight week course. Within the first four week program we will work on foundational skills in river running, safety and swift water rescue. Students can continue into the second four week program where we will focus on the different disciplines of kayaking including slalom, freestyle and creeking.

When? Session 1: September 23 – October 16^th Every Tuesday and Thursday

Session 2: October 21- Nov 13 Every Tuesday and Thursday

Who? Ages 12-16

Time? 5-7pm

Cost? $350 each session or $650 if they sign up for both.

Gear? Boat, paddle, skirt, helmet and PFD are provided. Please bring nose plugs.

YOUTH KAYAK PROGRAM

The after school program is the next step in taking your child’s paddling to a new level. Geared towards our campers from the summer of 2008, our 8-week program will be more skill intensive. We ensure the progress of our young students with a 1:3 instructor to student ratio, initially focusing on the kayak roll. From there we will discuss, practice and form your child into a capable, aware and self-sufficient paddler up to class III. Such skills covered will be water reading and scouting techniques, group management, basic rescue and stroke refinement.

When? September 25 - November 13 Every Thursday

Who? Ages 8-11

Time? 5-7pm

Cost? $350

Gear? Boat, paddle, skirt, helmet and PFD are provided. Please bring nose plugs.

The Man Behind The Curtain: The Official Jeff Wise Interview

You've been asking and we're here to deliver. The first official Kayak Blog Profile of USNWC Executive Director, Jeff Wise.

Jeff's fancy bio reads something like this: Born and raised in Charlotte. Graduated from University of Richmond and Emory University School of Law. Private practice in Atlanta for six years with focus in healthcare law. Returned to Charlotte in 1995 and worked with First Commerce Bank and later co-founded and became president of Consentsys, a healthcare information systems company. Avid boater, biker, backpacker, runner, and anything else that involves the outdoors.

His "real" bio would sound a bit more like this: Likes to ride his bike for freakish distances. Bizarre sense of humor including finding whimsy in all "Mother Harper" jokes from the antiquated television series, "The Carol Burnett Show". Has read more books than you. Believes shaving his legs makes him go faster. Likes shiny things.

Photo Courtesy of Glamour Shots

But I wanted to know more; to gain insight to the man, the myth, the legend. I emailed Jeff to consider an interview in person. Unwilling to sit in the legendary "comfy chair" in the Kayak Check-In office, he agreed to a well written, well thought out questionnaire regarding his deepest and darkest thoughts and insights into the US National Whitewater Center.
Here was my pitch to our Executive Taskmaster...
Jeff,
The idea is to have our readers, (this consists my mom, a few random relatives, my staff because I force them to, and some local paddlers who would never admit they read this,) have a better sense of who you are and what you do here. Thank you for your time.

And here is what became of it...

Harper: What makes you qualified to do what you do?
Wise: Awfully presumptuous to assume that I am qualified. However, I do consider my 10 years traveling with the Circus supporting the “World’s Hairiest Man” to be invaluable training in my current role as Executive Assistant to Jeff Shelton.

Harper: What is it exactly that you do?
Wise: I am assuming that this is a question my wife asked you to include and therefore I assert my 5th amendment rights and refuse to answer.

Harper: What in God’s green earth would motivate a man to shave his body?
Wise: Have you seen the “World’s Hairiest Man”?

Harper: What’s your resting pulse rate?
Wise: I generally am not concerned about what happens when I am resting. I do have extensive training logs that establish that my pulse rate when I am eating is 45 bpm. I have been called the most efficient eater ever recorded.

Harper: USNWC Paddling School…Great instruction program or Greatest instruction program?
Wise: Since I rarely attended any school of any kind, I would take my assessment with several grains of salt. Based on how smart and cool the director of the school is I would have to say, Greatest of All Time (now, can I have my car keys back).

Harper: Why are you scared of red-headed curly-haired women?
Wise: I had a real weird thing happen to me one year with the Circus when Bozo joined on for the West Coast Tour. Lets just say Bozo may not be who or what he claims in his promotional materials.

Harper: What are your future plans for the Center?
Wise: To dedicate all requested resources to the USNWC Paddling School and increase capital expenditures in that department by 100x (seriously, I need my cars keys back. I have a leg waxing appointment in an hour).

Harper: How do you see USNWC Kayak Operations being instrumental in the development of future Olympians as well as in the furtherance of the sport of kayaking?
Wise: Seeing how well we have done in the past in qualifying for the games (Exhibit A- Dave Hepp) and with qualifying folks for Beijing (Exhibit B- Crane and Cluck) maybe we should stick with developing messengers pigeons like Lil Ben. As far as kayaking in general I have noticed a vast leap forward in the development of the sport since I went into unofficial retirement. As soon as Sven Deal leaves the sport I think we will see another epochal moment in the development once again.

Harper: Which Olympic sport did you watch the most?
Wise: As if you needed to ask. Of course, men’s synchronized diving.

Harper: Other than hiring me, what has been your greatest moment in the process of starting and operating this company?
Wise: The $3 employee lunch today presenting the leftovers from the big event this weekend. Great BBQ.

So now you know. Take It Outside.

Favorite Summer Moments

The season is far from over for us but as I've been going over some pictures there are definite highlights that stand out.

The season started off by hiring a very dynamic group of new instructors. Each person came with unique backgrounds and paddling experiences. My favorite part of training was working on "ninja" moves where we paddled into precarious micro-eddies, popped our skirts, grabbed the wall, climbed up the wall and with a foot, lifted the boat to shore. Intimidating but fun moves. That, and they all picked up giving the thumbs up quickly. Such quick learners!


No, I didn't get to go to Beijing to experience the Olympics first hand. I got to do something even better: I got to paddle WITH Olympians. Here's Wayne Dickert and Horace Holdan, former C2 partners from the 1996 Olympic games. We had some Big Boomin' Fun one Friday afternoon ripping it up in some of our play features. These two are just so much fun to paddle that with we sometimes laugh more than we play.

Not only was I focused on spreading the thumbs up; I got my staff involved as well. Chris Wing has been traveling the country to different freestyle competitions and helped spread the good word of the thumbs up with all the pros.
This photo has been my screensaver for the majority of the summer. It cracks me up.


We expanded the flatwater programs this season with our Catawba MicroBrew Kayak Cruise. Each time we have had a different brewery come out to showcase their microbrews. After an early evening paddle, guests return to the River's Edge Restaurant for a tasting paired with foods our chef's have concocted. The food was AMAZING! Here's our Highland Brewing Co. reps getting ready for a feast. These trips have added a certain something to our list of products. It's been fun working with different departments of the Center to create a truly unique experience for our guests.



Kayak Check-In is a whirlwind of fun. The folks working the front desk are always into something new. One of the best things of having younger staff members is that they always keep me on my toes. The summer has been filled with lots of laughter and memories due to this fantastic group.






Thursday nights are the best nights to be at the Center. The Thursday Night Concert Series began in May and is running all the way through October. The music has been really good and there are food and drink specials each week. Best of all, the crowd turnout has been phenomenal. Great times are always created by groups of great people and Thursday nights have been a blast for getting friends together and relaxing.

Last summer I took up surfing and now I feel it in my blood. Although I'm not all that good, I have loved spending days off at the beach. One of the coolest things about Charlotte is how close it is to everything; the beach, the mountains, everything.



I do love all things random and one Saturday in particular presented a truly random moment. An instruction guest wanted to barter his songs for water time. Instead of trying to convince me that this was a good idea he plopped himself in my office and started playing. He sat there and played five songs, all originals. How can you not respect creativity and tenacity. I had a huge crowd gathered at my office door throughout the serenade. It was a really cool summer moment.



Having my picture in Today's Charlotte Woman magazine was very flattering. Not only was it a very well written article but it reached a lot of folks who didn't already know a lot about the Center. I had women from my yoga class and in random shops recognize me from the article saying they were now more interested in trying whitewater kayaking. Yes!

As the season continues I know there will be many more moments to enjoy and cherish. Be sure to stop by the Center to create your own lasting memories. Take It Outside.

Whitewater Olympic Coverage

I'm not going to lie. I watch a lot of television. I will never be that person who pretends to not like tv and take that holier-than-thou approach when speaking about the non-sense of reality television and prime-time dramas and seem to be above it. I love it, I love it all. I'm into anything VH1 or FOX can dream up. And in all of my recent television watching, I've witnessed plenty of propaganda for the upcoming Olympic games. Within the depths of this propaganda not one add has featured whitewater.

You'd think I'd be outraged but I understand it. Michael Phelps is ridiculously hot. There's that chick who has rock hard abs and is in her early 40's. Those gymnasts do some AMAZING things. I get it.

It is important to point out, however, that all of these sports have enormous followings regardless of the individuals. Swimming, soccer, gymnastics and others all have large kids programs throughout the US. They're popular in elementary schools all the way through college. And these are the programs that are truly supporting the sports as a whole and the elite athletes alike. Kids programs are the reason why we see these particular sports on tv.

I do realize that neither hand ball nor field hockey have received that much coverage either but my career goal isn't to make field hockey a household name, it's to help make whitewater a nationally recognized sport. So I'm calling on each of you to help make whitewater stand out and get some needed television coverage. Step one: watch your television. Below is the tv listings of when NBC is covering whitewater slalom. Step two: support your local kids program. Each major instruction school has kids clinics each season. Check them out, get your kids involved, get the neighbor kids involved, talk kayaking up with your local schools. Step three: get involved. The paddling community is fanatic about paddling but seems to only share their enthusiasm with other paddlers. Boatertalk is an extreme example of this. Getting involved is sharing the sport with those that probably wouldn't have been exposed to it on their own volition. Involvement is also about seeing what you can do to help boost your local paddling club or community to ensure greater outreach.

Let's make sure, starting today, that the 2012 Olympic advertisements have plenty of whitewater highlights. I know I'll be watching.


Click here for the official NBC write ups on all Whitewater Olympic beta.
HERE'S WHEN TO WATCH
FRIDAY, AUG. 8
NBC and NBC HD
8:00 p.m. – Midnight
Opening Ceremony — Parade of Nations, Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron

MONDAY, AUG. 11 – DAY 3
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Beach Volleyball (LIVE)
Swimming
Rowing
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom

TUESDAY, AUG. 12 – DAY 4
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Beach Volleyball (LIVE)
Swimming
Men's Water Polo – USA vs. Italy
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Finals

NBCOlympics.com — LIVE STREAMING BROADBAND COVERAGE:
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Finals

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13 – DAY 5
NBC and NBC HD
2:00 a.m. — Noon
Men's Soccer – USA vs. Nigeria (LIVE)
China vs. Brazil (LIVE)
Women's Basketball – USA vs. Mali (LIVE)
Women's Water Polo – Hungary vs. Australia
Rowing – Semifinals (LIVE)
Badminton – Competition, Semifinals
Table Tennis – Team Competition
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Competition

THURSDAY, AUG. 14 – DAY 6
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Swimming
Beach Volleyball
Rowing – Semifinals
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Final

1:35 a.m. — 2:30 a.m.
Swimming – Women's 200 Back Semifinal
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Final

If you want to take a look at the whitewater course, Scott Mann put up some video coverage of the course from last fall. Click here to see it.