Women's Weekend

Our first Women's Weekend is just around the corner. We will be hosting climbing and kayaking clinics specifically for women. There is no better time than now to sign up yourself, your wife, girlfriend, etc. This is an unbelievable opportunity (big names in the industry and ridiculously cheap) to learn a new sport. Sign up for kayaking or climbing or both. Plenty of time slots to choose from. There are also mountian biking clinics and trail riding clinics for FREE! Call to book your spot now.

Emily Taylor - #1 ranked intermediate adult female in USA Climbing, will be at the US National
Whitewater Center, Sunday April 1st, teaching climbing fundamentals, women on rock, and
efficiency of movement clinics. Climbing clinics will also be offered on Saturday by USNWC staff.

Anna Levesque - World Freestyle Medalist, Anna will be teaching kayaking clinics throughout
the weekend. Saturday, Anna will focus on Intro to Whitewater Kayaking and Sunday she will
focus on Intro to Freestyle Kayaking. Check out more about her here www.watergirlsatplay.com.

Mountain Biking will be taught by members of the Dirt Divas, Charlotte's Women only biking and
trail maintenance club.
Trail Running will be taught by Tracy Sproule of Sproule Fitness. You do
not need to pre-register for Trail Running or Mountain Biking Clinics, meet at the USNWC
trailhead at the appointed time.

REI Certified Bike Technicians will be offering free bike maintenance clinics to women on
Saturday March 3rd at Noon and 3pm. Bring your bike to get it tuned by the techs as well as learn
how to do basic improvements like changing a flat, fixing a chain, adjusting a derailleur and
tightening your brakes.

Saturday, March 31
9am Clinics Price
Intro to Whitewater Kayaking w/ Anna Levesque $55
Mt. Biking w/ Dirt Divas Free
Trial Running w/ Tracy Sproule (Sproule Fitness) Free

12pm Clinics
Intro to Whitewater Kayaking w/ Anna Levesque $55
Rock Climbing Sampler w/ USNWC Staff $13
Bike Maintenance Clinic Free

3pm Clinics
Intro to Whitewater Kayaking w/ Anna Levesque $55
Rock Climbing - Belay Class w/ USNWC Staff $20
Bike Maintenance Clinic Free
Mt. Biking w/ Linda Hudson Free

Sunday, April 1
10:30am- 12:30pm Clinic
Women on the Rock w/ Emily Taylor $30

12pm Clinic
Intro to Freestyle Kayaking w/ Anna Levesque $60

1:30pm- 3:30pm Clinic
Fundamentals of Climbing w/ Emily Taylor $30

3pm Clinic
Mt. Biking w/ Linda Hudson Free
Intro to Freestyle Kayaking w/ Anna Levesque $60

4pm- 6pm Clinic
Efficiency and Movement w/ Emily Taylor $35

Register for a clinic by calling the USNWC at 704-391-3900.

Stay tuned for details on our 2nd women’s weekend July 14th and 15th.

Eighty degrees

That's right. It was eighty degrees on Saturday. And it's March. I couldn't think of anywhere else I would want to be on an eighty degree March Saturday but the whitewater center. I was not the only one with this notion.

There were over ninty five private boaters on the water and lots of folks enjoying the channels in rafts. Here is a shot of a group on the conveyor belt getting ready for another run.
Rafting is such an enjoyable way to experience whitewater. It is an activity you can share with your friends and family, it's exciting and different, and the raft guides know plenty of corny jokes to keep you thoroughly entertained.







Even with so many hard boaters, the channels didn't feel that crowded. It's amazing how much room there is to spread out. The only part that seemed busy was the ramp to put in. It was lined up with boats all day.


Starbuck hosted their World Water Day Walk for Water at the USNWC


Starbucks & WaterAid held a free three mile walk around the whitewater channels to raise awareness for improved sanitation, hygiene, and water access in third world countries. Everyone's participation helped raise money for WaterAid through Starbucks Make Your Mark giving program. Check out www.starbuck.com to learn more about Starbucks social conscious initiatives like this one. Lots of people were walking for this great cause.

Even On A Slow Day

Even on a slow day there's a lot happening on the water at the US National Whitewater Center.

Raft guide training has been going on for the last couple of weeks. If you're thinking about a cool summer job, sign up for one of our guide schools and learn to be a raft guide. Here's a picture of one of our training boats on the water.


We had a group out paddling on the Catawba this afternoon. Our flatwater program is slowly getting off the ground. These guided trips are an awesome way to get outside and enjoy a nice day. Also, being able to explore the island and creeks in the area is pretty sweet. We'll post pictures soon.

There were a few folks out on the channels today. These days you essentially have the place to yourself when you paddle here. Who knows what it will look like with raft traffic and tons of boaters. With that in mind I'm loving the luxury of no lines and no rafts. I don't know how much longer that will last so get out here and take advantage of it while you can.


A lot of the US Canoe and Kayak team just got back from a big race in Brasil. Here's a picture of Zusanna who came in first at the PanAm and placed 15th in the world. She's freakin awesome. US Team Trials are being hosted here in April. There will be tons of slalom boaters from all over training here in the next few weeks. It will be cool to watch their workouts on the Comp channel

Even on a slow day there is a ton of stuff going on at the US National Whitewater Center.

Dagger

The folks from Dagger showed up in full force this weekend. Snowy and Chris brought out the full line of 2007 boats before the race on Friday. Their new playboat "The Agent" is fantastic. I loved the prototype of it so much that I bought one for myself. They had free demos of the boats all weekend and all of the USNWC Instruction staff got to take them out on the water. So much fun!

Friday nights race was a good time. Eight competitors came to duke it out on the comp channel. A huge thank you to each of you who raced. The race ended with a head to head of all eight of them. No major carnage but some great photos.






























The Eddy restaurant is almost open. Here's a picture of our executive chef, Michael Rosen, at the new bar. I got a sneak peak at the beer and wine selection along with a food tasting. This place is going to be awesome!








Pat Keller's creek clinic on Sunday was a great success. This group was boofing, catching eddies, picking good lines and having a ball.

We are thrilled to host such talented young paddlers like Pat and offer these unique learning opportunities to the public.

Races, Baddles and Boofin', oh my!

Friday Night... Dagger is hosting a Head to Head Downriver Race down the competition channel from 7 to 9 pm. Great prizes, good fun and gargantuan carnage. $5 entry fee to participate. Registration is between 5 and 7 pm and the Kayak Check-In building.

Saturday... Jerry's Baddle is on! An extreme kayak and road bike race to benefit ALS research and the Green River Access Fund. Check out their website www.jerrysbaddle.org. LiquidLogic is hosting the party afterwards.
ALSO, Dagger will be having free boat demos at the USNWC all day.

Sunday... We'll be recouperating from St. Patty's day by joining Pat Keller and his "boofs and barley" clinic. Learn how to boat scout, catch micro-eddies and take better boof strokes. Call our reservations to book your spot. (704) 391-3900. 10% of proceeds are donated to American Whitewater.

AND... the Cheoah is releasing, the Cascades are coming up, the Ocoee is on...choices, choices, choices.

Everybody have a great weekend, stay safe, paddle hard.

I like Fridays!

Fridays are good days to reply to phone messages. Fridays are also good days to paddle at the USNWC. I found myself doing both on this Friday. I called Chris Renyolds who is helping put together this years Jerry's Baddle, a bi-athlon of road riding and Green narrows paddling. This great event is next Saturday. If you aren't entered, get a buddy and get signed up now. It's one of the most challenging races around and there's a kickin' party afterwards hosted by LiquidLogic. Late in the afternoon I took a break to go paddling. It was nice to see some familiar faces out there. The water is getting warmer and the new playspot feature on the big water channel is super bouncy.


Lots of MRP folks on the water this afternoon. The MRP is the Mecklenberg Regional Paddlers, a social club for paddlers of all backgrounds. Jeff Wise, USNWC Exec. Director, sat down with a bunch of the MRP crowd this evening for a question and answer session. It was a nice glimpse of what it will be like this summer; Good food, good drinks, and a relaxed setting. I can't wait.

Also, our friend Spencer Cooke made another great video of the center. I hope this link works okay. Spencer is one of my favorite people in the whitewater industry. He is a phenominal paddler, a great sales rep, an all around nice guy and likes both skateboarding and punk rock music. Whats not to like. He is such a great ambassador for the sport of kayaking. Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the video.

And remember...NEXT FRIDAY IS OUR FIRST HEAD TO HEAD RACE HOSTED BY DAGGER AND SURE TO BE A GREAT TIME!!! Hurray for Fridays!

Instructor Training

Another great weekend at the Center. It's great to see more familiar faces paddling here each week. This was the second weekend of instructor training. We have a fantastic pool of instructors training here to not only better their own skills but also figure out innovative ways to share their passion with others. The sun was out but it was still pretty darn cold. My favorite part of the day was the group paddle at the end. Why is it that paddling together really builds such a cool sense of team? I don't know of that many other activities where everyone is smiling, having fun, doing something different, challenging themselves all the while looking after each other at the same time. Kayaking rocks!

The Season Is Upon Us!!!

The kayaking season is already a go. It's the first day of March and it's raining! Life doesn't get better than that in the realm of whitewater. I've been smiling all day thinking of the local creeks coming up. In just two weeks Pat Keller is going to be here teaching a creeking clinic. Pat, after winning the coveted IronMan at last fall's Green Race (he smoked the competition in both the long boat and short boat divisions down some really gnarlly class V rapids) and helping design the ultimate creek race boat, is coming to the US National Whitewater Center to share his knowledge with the rest of us. Check out his bio from the Team Dagger website http://www.teamdagger.com/ssp/bios?bio=12 . Sign up for this one of kind clinic now. An opportunity like this doesn't come along all that frequently. It's $75 for a two hour clinic. Ten percent of the proceeds go to American Whitewater. Also, don't forget the big race. Friday, March 16th, Dagger is kicking off the season with the first Head To Head Downriver race of the year. It is guaranteed to be a great time for all. See you there. Take It Outside.