Catawba Booze Cruise

This Saturday, April 5th, USNWC Kayak Operations will be hosting our first Catawba Booze Cruise.  We will take an evening paddle exploring Sadler Island and Long Creek keeping our eyes open for Osprey, River Otters, Blue Herons and Turtles. Upon return we will head up to the River's Edge Restaurant patio for a magnificent sunset. Representatives from Tryon Distribution will share their wealth of knowledge of beer while pouring healthy tastings of numerous varieties.
This is an experience not to be missed. River afficianados and lovers of good beer will both enjoy this unique trip. Spaces are still available but limited.

Sign up today by calling (704) 391-3900 to speak with one of our reservationists. All participants must be 21 and older. TAKE IT OUTSIDE!

Hometown Throwdown comes to Charlotte

Saturday, April 5th the USNWC will host the first of the Charlotte Hometown Throwdown series presented by WorldKayak. Check out registration details here. Come out and try your hand on the instruction channel with your hottest moves. The World Kayak Throwdown is a series of FUN events aimed at friendly competition at the United States National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. Judging is fun, rules are easy and prizes are only given out for participation... we draw names from a hat!

Come out, have fun, strut your stuff and be sure you attend all events for that grand prize at the end of the season.

- Registration and sign-in will begin @ 4:00 p.m.

- The event will kick off @ 5:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there. TAKE IT OUTSIDE!

Relinquishing Stigma - A Day At The Green

A cornerstone of the USNWC Instruction program is to not lend a negative stigma to ourselves or our guests in regards to anything hard, challenging or scary.

What this means to me is that we are doing folks a disservice by saying that running class IV or class V is beyond their reach, or giving connotation that the Competition Channel is scary with munchy holes and that it could take years of paddling before attempting successfully. This type of talk can easily disable peoples sense of reality of what they are capable of. Also, it is a thought pattern that is contagious.

This is not to be misconstrued as pushing people into something they aren't capable of through negligence. Nor is it an "absolute" statement. (Yoda states, "only dark Syths speak in absolutes.") People progress at their own pace but I've seen it first hand and numerous, numerous times where we talk about a river or feature in big and scary terms and those conversations get into peoples heads. It can get so bad that the picture they have is not based in reality and distorts a persons capabilities.

This is why we put so much emphasis to our instruction staff to not unnecessarily imply a stigma to that which challenges us. When I started paddling I was told about the Zoar Gap, a class III rapid on the Deerfield River. I was told how scary it was, how many people swam there, how some people had gotten hurt in the past and how terrible it was to swim there. The emphasis was not on the necessary skill set needed to run it successfully. Instead, the focus was on fear and that is exactly what stayed with me for a long time. After becoming a proficient paddler I still fear that darn rapid because it's so ingrained in my mind that the Gap is this big, scary thing.

If we do this to our guests we are limiting them before they even begin. And as a goal to create lifelong paddlers we as instructors need to create pathways not set up roadblocks. Anyway, I personally wanted to put this idea to the test on the Green Narrows. What if you approached the Green without the thought of how scary it is and approached the day by knowing your skill set, assessing your skills to the challenges at hand, and focusing on the moves that need to be made to run these rapids successfully. My good friend Herm wrote an article on the NOC Paddling School blog regarding the Who, What, Where, When and Why to run a rapid. Click here to read Herm's post. This is a great supplement to deciding to run rapids and rivers while purposefully trying to negotiate mental stigma that surrounds whitewater kayaking.

Besides, we all know that a truly good day on the water is mostly decided by the silly, random things that happen throughout the day such as Chris asking me to hold his latte, Fergus singing along to the Sound of Music soundtrack at the top of his lungs, Spencer cringing at the thought of listening to showtunes like the Sound of Music, me loosing my drainplug above Groove Tube, and bringing back the thumbs up with Woody while scouting Gorilla. For memories like that, this is why we paddle. No stigma needed.

Bringing Back the Thumbs Up

We've started our own little competition here at the USNWC. See how many photos you can snap with pro paddlers giving the thumbs up. That is correct; we are bringing back the thumbs up.
This started a few months ago while meeting HeeHaw Jones (see post below) and it just makes a lot of sense to continue. There just isn't anything cooler than giving a thumbs up. Waving hysterically to people and giving the a high five are both close in the running but we'll save those for next season. So, for all you average joes out there, spread the good word, spread the love, get those photos with the pros and rock out the thumbs up. Feel free to send us your pics and we'll post them. Chris Wing got this shot at this years NAWFest. It makes me smile so big that I had to put it as my screensaver. Email photos to sharper@usnwc.org

Sarah Harper Named "Today's Charlotte Woman"

Today's Charlotte Woman magazine recently published a four page spread on the US National Whitewater Center. Sarah Harper, USNWC Instruction Manager, was profiled as attempting to bring down the barriers to enter the sport of whitewater kayaking through sharing the lifestyle of paddlesports. Harper, an American Whitewater Athletic Ambassador, is passionate about spreading the lifestyle tone instead of just focusing on the sport itself.


To read the full article click here


Kelly Woolsey, former marketing manager for Confluence Watersports, was recently interviewed by Paddling Life eZine saying, "Whitewater paddlers need to realize that they need to sell paddlesports and the lifestyle – not just whitewater. They’re the extreme athletes that compete in an exciting environment who can help build awareness for the sport – kind of like what skateparks and half pipes do for skateboarding and snowboarding...I also can’t emphasize enough the importance lifestyle plays in each sport. Water parks played a huge role in the expansion of surfing just as whitewater parks are doing for paddle sports....the Charlotte course is a great example of the type of impact it can have on building awareness." Kelly goes on to say how important it is to get more women and children involved in the sport. Sarah could not agree more. She says, "Today Charlotte, tomorrow the world."

To read the full interview of Kelly Woolsey, click here

USNWC Staff Profile - Chris Wing

Chris arrived at the US National Whitewater Center last fall with a passion and fervor for whitewater kayaking that we are still (unsuccessfully) trying to simmer down. This guy just really loves whitewater kayaking and it shows. Chris is not only a phenom instructor but he is also an aspiring professional freestyle kayaker. This year he will be touring to some of the largest freestyle competitions in the country to see if this passion pays off. While on tour, Chris will be sharing his experiences through World Kayak as their Pro Events Corespondent.


USNWC:What's ahead for you this upcoming season?

CW: Well, what's not ahead of me this season may be an easier question? This will be my most ambitious year to date which includes new responsibilities with USNWC Instruction, a new project with World Kayak doing event coverage, my first freestyle circuit competing, and as always my continued web project H2O Dreams.

USNWC:What are you looking forward to most?

CW: Honestly, I'm pretty psyched about the whole upcoming year. But most of all, I look forward to my first trip up to the Ottawa in September.

USNWC: How will the good folks at home be able to keep up with your season?

CW:Two ways, H2O Dreams is a website I created that documents my friends and all of our shenanigans (always fun). H2O Dreams is going to experience some tremendous growth this summer, keep yer eyes peeled. As well as updates onWorld Kayak with event coverage.



USNWC:What have you enjoyed about working at the USNWC?

CW: Working with a young and ambitious team of kayakers. I feel that I work with a group of people that are truly on the verge of something big. We've got a lot of big plans for this instruction program that is unlike any thing I've seen.

USNWC:How have you been preparing for competition?

CW: Eating lots and lots of Wheaties, for real. I also just finished a three week trip to Rock Island, TN and got to paddle with many of the team members of Team Jackson. I felt it helped me with how I approach learning new things and preparing for upcoming events. Not to mention it was tons of fun!

USNWC: What sick moves are you presently working on?

CW: I'm working on smoothing out my phonix monkey and tricky woo, but I pretty much have perfected the side surf power flip to beat down and the carped roll to a swim. It's a pretty wicked combo move actually.

USNWC: What else should our valiant blog readers know about you?

CW: Nothing, they know too much already. Hmmm, I live in my truck. How's that?

USNWC: Last question...Aren't you glad I taught you how to kayak?

CW: Sharper, I am glad!

And It's Only March 1st!!!

I said this a number of times today; "and it's only March 1st!", because one look at the crowd at the USNWC today and you would have thought that it was the middle of June. I rolled up to the parking lot around 8am and there were hundreds of cars in the parking lot. The third stop of the four part series of the Finish Strong Duathlon sponsored by Inside Out Sports was already underway. Over two hundred competitors were there for an 8k run/ 53k bike/ 8k run with the run sections on USNWC trails and the bikes rode out through the small town of Mount Holly and into the countryside of Gaston and Mecklenberg counties.

My day progressed on to our first day of flatwater guide training. It was an absolute joy to hang out with these fourteen folks as we started getting prepared for our biggest season of flatwater trips yet.

In addition to our guided flatwater trips we will be offering flatwater boat rentals on the Catawba. Guests ages 9 and up will have a chance to discover parts of the Catawba on their own. Today we paddled up Long Creek, a bordering tributary to the Catawba, further than I've ever before been. The water levels were up far enough for our group to get to the "waterfall". Congratulations to Adam Seacrest for his first decent of this impressive drop. Adam spends an inordinate amount of time on the Green River Narrows, and those class V skills paid off on this "first D".


Once we wrapped up our day of training we all headed over to the Competition Channel to check out the Slalom Springs Series race. Over 50 competitors registered for this event. An impressive number for any time of year. I caught this shot of local paddlers Scott McCluskey and Austin Crane racing C2 in the first round.






To wrap up the day we headed to The Eddy Restaurant and Bar overlooking the Comp Channel to grab a beer.
I just couldn't believe that there was a two deep line at the bar. ......AND IT'S ONLY MARCH 1st!!!