Skateboarding Is Not A Crime

Or at least is isn't for now. We may have to start banning it if our instruction staff continues to hurt themselves on skateboards.
There is always a stack of boards in the instruction office for folks to use when it is slow. This last week there has been a lot of down time so we've been getting creative with long board races, double-dog dares and stupid human tricks. As your paddling season slowly ramps up, keep skating and enjoying other outdoor activities but keep it safe people.
On a side note, Chris Wing does not endorse the use of packing tape as wound dressing.

Rollapalooza Rules!

I'm standing there watching Brian Jennings, Brian Kirk, Yonton Mehler, Dane Jackson and Ruth Gordon teaching rolling, loops, cartwheels, t-rescues and other such nonsense all right next to each other and I'm thinking, "this rocks!"
Rollapalooza brought together the top athletes in the industry along with all the top manufacterers for one night to share the sport of kayaking. I was amazed by how many people showed up.
Myself, Daniel, Jon and Pablo all taught different clinics throughout the evening and got to meet some great folks from the Raleigh-Durham area.

Huge props to Raleigh Parks and Rec and Great Outdoor Provisions for putting on this fantastic event and kudos to all who made it through the nasty weather to get there. See you there next year!

2008: Gonna Be Great! or some weird tag line to kick off the year, preferably one that rhymes because 'rhyming is the bait in 2008'

I've always thought it strange that the words tomb, comb and bomb don't rhyme. Anyways, as I think of all the fabulous rhymes and poems one could create about 'season 2008' all I really want to share is how many cool programs we have lined up already.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Raleigh Rollapalooza. If we make it through the snowstorm it should be great. Three hundred plus people looking to get into the sport of kayaking and learning from some of the top names in the industry. We'll post pictures soon.

April is going to be crazy busy. The USNWC is hosting the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials as well as the Pan American Slalom Championship April 25th - 27th. This event will be nationally televised and we are expected thousands of spectators. Tickets for the event can be purchased through Ticketmaster or visit our website.

Women's weekends are already on the schedule for this year. Anna Levesque will be joining us again along with other top female athletes in climbing and mountain biking on May 10-11 and July 19-20. We are hoping to expand into more opportunities for women to take advantage of all the programs we offer here.

The Thursday night concert series returns with a vengence. This year the series will host 23 nights of free entertainment. Yes, that's correct 23 Thursday nights of live music, food and beer specials, party atmosphere, etc. This concert series is not messing around.

We will be doing another race series but this year the folks from WorldKayak.com are stepping up and putting on a "shoot-out" series where all events are geared towards the average joe paddler. This series promises to be a lot of fun for all levels of boaters. More info on that soon.

Oh yea, we are offering a whole new smattering of instructional programs this year. Kids camps, teen freestyle and slalom clubs, lots more roll clinics, beginner playboating clinics, frequent flyer (paddler) memberships, and discounts to folks who sign up for four or more programs. Once we finish renovations to the Kayak Check-in building we will also have a new retail outlet.

Yep, lots of new stuff and bigger and better ideas for our second year. Can't wait to see you all out here soon.

Water is back on FEBRUARY 2ND!!!!