The Donkeys Are Coming

Attention Charlotte paddling community: The Crown Town video premiere of Night of the Living Donkey is at Creation Monday, February 25th . The movie starts at 9 PM sharp.



The US National Whitewater Center is the featured spot in which both Cooper Lambla and Garrett Bryant perish by the might of a group of Zombies. It is truly terrifying.
See you there.

1st Annual 'Shamrock & Swap' Saturday, March 15th

Kick off St. Patricks Day weekend at the US National Whitewater Center for our first annual "Shamrock and Swap". This is a used gear sale for anyone who wants to participate. $10 buys you a space to sell your used outdoor goodies like last year's skis, that kayak you would like to get rid of so you can buy this year's latest and greatest model, the climbing shoes that you thought were okay to be "snug" but hurt like hell, those rollerblades that have sat in the garage for the last four years because rollerblading seems so four years ago, the snowshoes you thought you would use when you lived up north but now only look good above the mantel although your decor doesn't call for a "cabin" look. Bring it all, bring it on!


The gear swap will take place between 10am to 4pm. There will be live music from 4 to 7 and the Spring Slalom series continues with a slalom race from 7 to 9pm.

These races will serve as some of the final preparations for the athletes as they prepare for the Olympic Team Trials to be held at the Center on April 25th-27th. This is the perfect opportunity to come and learn more about the sport of slalom kayaking and the athletes.

Register your space by calling the Outfitter's Store (704)391-3900 ext. 203. See you there. TAKE IT OUTSIDE!

The IceMan Cometh???

I haven't been this confused in a long time. I've been waiting for one of the staff to send me the pictures of the recent IceMan competition on the Saluda thinking I would post some info on the race, congratulate Pablo, Jon and Daniel for their participation and lend thanks to the event organizers. I had even already written up a little witty schpiel (italicized below) to paste on the blog once I got the pictures. After downloading the pictures this morning, the confusion began.

What type of race is this???The boys told me they stomped it, they told me it was tough competition but they pulled through. I even let them borrow boats to help ensure a victory. But when I open the first picture of Pablo smiling from an innertube I am definately starting to feel a little hoodwinked and bamboozled.


Jon was neither going forward nor was he "stomping it" as the three of them proclaimed.



Daniel looks as though he is posing for the camera rather than barreling through the thick masses of competitors.

Here's the original write up on the event:
The 8th Annual IceMan Championship and Millrace Massacre took place earlier this month (January 5th to be exact but the winter is flying by so quickly it is difficult to remain exact) on the Saluda River. Pablo, Jon, and Daniel decided to bring the noise, bring the pain all the way to Columbia to tempt their fate at freezing cold temps and must-make moves.
The Millrace Massacre is a time trials for boats 8'6" and under, with several must-make eddies.
The Iceman Championship is a mass start downriver head-to-head race with no length limit that also involves paddling back upstream, running, and even swimming. This race states that "it truly separates the men from the boyz". The event has been put on by the in-famous "SaludaBoyz" or the less gender specific "SaludaKayakerz" for the past several years. Now, I don't know who these good folks from Saluda are or why they defy the rules of grammer constantly replacing a perfectly good s with a z, but I do know that everyone who attended had a great time.


After scrolling through all the pictures I finally did come across one of Pablo "racing" in an actual kayak. Now, I've seen Pablo race before and this is definately not his "game face". He's not even in the boat I let him borrow. I'm very confused.
Next year I'm just going to have to experience this race for myself to see what the real story is. Find out more about this event at www.saludakayakerz.com and be sure to join in on the fun next January.

Who In The World Is HeeHaw Jones?

I've been very puzzled by this question for a long time and I know I'm not alone. But when I got the chance to meet the man, the myth, the legend you better believe I jumped at it. Last night was the world premier of "Night Of The Living Donkey" at the Asheville Brew and View and HeeHaw Jones was there signing autographs, talking about what it's like to be a pro, you know, a typical Thursday night for HeeHaw.

You better believe I got my picture taken with him and let me tell you he lives up to all the hype. I've met many a pro boater in my day but HeeHaw Jones is the consumate pro. He definately stands out from the rest. Learn more about HeeHaw at www.heehawjones.com

The movie was fantastic. Spencer's best work yet even if he says so himself. All of us here at the US National Whitewater Center are very proud of Cooper Lambla and his feature roll in the film. But even more so, we want to shout out high props to our own Garrett Bryant, USNWC Retail Manager extraordinaire, for his movie debut. Garrett's moment in the spotlight alone was worth the price of admission. Everybody needs to go see this movie. You can purchase it at www.effort.tv but I'm afraid you've missed your chance at an autographed copy from HeeHaw Jones. Garrett got one but he had to pay extra. Fame gets you nowhere.

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!!!!