The Northwest Creeking Competition is a grass-roots volunteer run event.  This year's race was no exception.  Community groups and paddlers teamed up with local retailers, vendors, and other organizations to put on a whitewater family reunion like none other.  Yes, we all hope for fast lines and that feeling of glory when you crush through the last big hole between you and the finish on your way to victory, but we all really show up for the family reunion.  With 131 racers and a record 14 women racing in the event the Northwest Creeking Competition is growing fast!  Way to represent ladies!  It was awesome to see so many women stepping up to the challenge and crushing many of the men's times.

The course was at a great water level this year producing fast times and major carnage on occasion.  The on water safety team was AMAZING!  It was great to have such dedicated and professional support crew on the course.  Everyone was back at the party by Saturday night (some just had a few more stitches than others). Overall folks did really well with the pushy water level.  

Like many sports whitewater has a culture all it's own.  The Northwest Creeking Competition brings together many of the best boaters in the West for a celebration of that culture and the places we call home...the river!  Enjoy a few photos of this year's event followed by a short list of a few results.  Full results will be out soon.  Be sure to visit http://northwestcreekcomp.blogspot.com/ for all the details and other blog posts on the event.

Un-Official Results:
East Fork Lewis (Saturday)
 Long Boat
1) Darren Albright
2) Louis Geltman
3) Mike Gotleib

Men's PRO
1) Evan Garcia
2) Louis Geltman
3) Andrew Mcewan

Women's Pro:
1)Kim Becker
2) Katrina Van Wijk
3) Nicole Mansfield

Raft (R-2)
Winners:  Tim Brink & Jamie Weaver

Canyon Creek (Sunday)

Men's K-1:
1)Louis Geltman
2) Gerd Serrasolses
3) Dan Rubado

Women's K-1 Overal All Champion was Kim Becker winning Canyon Creek and EFL!!!  Nice Work Kim!

Oregon Rafting Team members dropping in!  

Local Sponsors of the event.  Not shown here was Andy & Bax, Kayak Shed, the Oregon Kayak and Canoe Club, and more vendors than we can list here.  Thanks so much for EVERYONE's support to make this event a success!!

R-2 team pulling HARD.  Jeffrey Steehler and Greg Babikoff 

Louis Geltman boofing to victory as Ross Henry looks on in the Long Boat race.

Carnage happened even ABOVE the course this year.  Everyone was ok though.  Nice one Matt.  That is NOT a warranty issue!

Sunset Falls Start Line drop

Paddlers line up at the start lookin ready in the eddy!

Topo Duo BOOF!

Hope to see ya'll back next year!!!

Tequila and Rock and Roll! The 1st Annual Baja Kayak Fest in La Bufadora Mexico was a great success!

Yet another top notch sea kayaking event has hit the scene rounding out the trifecta!  A recent surge in demand for high quality rough water instruction on the wild West Coast of America is being answered by some of the best coaches and organizers around.  The Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium in San Francisco and The Lumpy Waters Symposium in Pacific City Oregon raised the bar 5 years ago and are now joined by The Baja Kayak Fest this year down in La Bufadora Mexico!

 Photo by: Kate Ross

Students young and old are making the tour and taking their paddling to new heights, making friends, and partying along the way.  Hitting up all three events may not be possible for everyone, but I would seriously consider joining the fun and excitement experienced when you dedicate an entire weekend to rock, tidal rapid, or surf break skills at a full-immersion-style event that brings together students and coaches from all over the world.

Paddler: Paul Kuthe         Photo By Rob Avery

Each event is known for it's own specialty, but there is plenty of all the sea disciplines at each of these different events.  Short boat surfing, rock gardening, surfing tide and swell, advanced rescues and more. 

Baja has it all just like California and Oregon, but THIS event was mostly about rocking out.  Paddling in the rocks by day and rocking and rolling around the campfire by night.  Good friends, good tequila, and good tunes came together for an amazing weekend South of the border.

Photo by Mike Connell

   
Victor Leon of Baja Aquatics  opened his home, his community and his heart to our crew and showed us an amazing time.  Thanks goes out to Jen Kleck of Aqua Adventures in San Diego for organizing the 1st of many Annual Baja Kayak Fests to come! (we all hope so anyway)

For the rest of the photos and more info on the goings on at the event check out the slide show.

This Is The Sea V filming with Justine!

TITS V is out!  This Is The Sea V is the latest from Justine and Cackle TV Productions.  Copies went on sale at Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe last month.  I'm honored to have a small segment.  Enjoy a few seconds one of my days of filming with Justine over in Wales after The UK Storm Gathering.  Be sure to visit the sites and pick up a DVD to see the rest!


 

Northwest Creeking Competition 2012

White noise and thunderous boofs rained down filling the air at Sunset Falls with a fine mist all weekend as racer after racer stomped their landings and pulled toward the finish with everything they had.  While kickin back with marinated tri-tip served up by Next Adventure and reminiscing under the shaded cover of the Alder Creek event tent Saturday evening, I began to realize I wasn’t just experiencing another race.  No…this was something more; something bigger than any one event or shop could ever be. I was witnessing a family reunion.  The Northwest Creeking Competition is much more than just a race in our region.  It's a chance to come together as a community to celebrate not just the river, but the lifestyle it provides.          

Racers anxiously gather at the start line on Saturday

 The Northwest Creek Comp has taken many twists and turns through its long history.  Before the Oregon Cup, there was only the Bob’s Hole Rodeo. Back in the 80’s the whole thing started primarily as a long boat ender contest (using the shortest boats on the market at the time of course). As boat design evolved so did the contest. Big enders were replaced by endless spins and cartwheels before boats truly took flight with aerial acrobatics.  By the mid 90’s the rodeo circuit was running at full steam with a traveling road show. Eclectic boater teams wandered like nomads from festival to festival in pursuit of sponsorship, fame, and bragging rights; not to mention free beer, food, and camping whenever it could be had.

The increased notoriety and blossoming marketing budget of the Oregon Cup allowed for an opportunity to make a difference for the entire Northwest paddling community.  With impending hydro power projects looming The "Canyon Creek Extreme Race" increased awareness in the community while pushing the sport of down river creek racing to new levels. Boater-cross events and surf comps were soon added, creating what was to become The Oregon Cup in all its former glory. 

By the time Keith Jensen laid the event in my lap during my first season at Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe in 2003 freestyle kayaking seemed to be terminally stuck in the same "retentive" hole. “The whole rodeo circuit imploded for multiple reason” explains Dave Slover, owner of Alder Creek and an original founder of the Oregon Cup in the early 90's. “Consolidation in paddlesports manufacturing reduced brand competition and sponsored whitewater paddler numbers dwindled..." Slover explains.  The economy was slow and gasoline prices soared.  Suddenly the nomadic tribes numbers dwindled to a few familiar faces while subjective and nuanced peer judging had limited any potential to reach a mainstream market.  As creeking became more popular it was “somewhat easier to be a high level creeker than a pro rodeo star,” Says Slover. In 2005, High water shifted something in the river bed, forever changing Bob's hole itself and officially ending the widely celebrated play boating era in the Northwest.

 Increased event costs, dwindling participation and decreasing sponsorship spelled the end for the Oregon Cup and was threatening to take the Canyon Creek Race down with it.  The Canyon Creek Extreme Race was as good as dead until Luke Spencer of Next Adventure, OKCC members, and I came together for a meeting with other passionate community members to discuss the future of the race.  We needed a plan. We found what we were looking for at the very roots of what made the original race great.  It was time to return to local paddlers enjoying a competition on local waterways; not for fame or fortune, but purely for the enjoyment of boating hard with good friends in a beautiful place we all love.

Lead organizer Luke Spencer making the move

Event Co-organizer and OKCC member Shannon Crosswhite takes her well deserved turn on the course

 Things were looking good until 2009 when a MASSIVE landslide caused by clear cutting upstream, clogged the narrow canyon above the race course on Canyon Creek, Washington.  Upon hearing the rumors, crews of local boaters descended into the canyon to investigate the effects of the  jam up close and personal. Check out my blog post showing more of the first images that confirmed our worst fears. The slide ended not only the running of the race, but ruined a classic and beloved run frequented by the entire NW paddling community.  Despite all the efforts to ward off a man made dam on Canyon Creek all those years, mother nature managed to dam up the river in a matter of minutes.   

Nick Jacob starts the dicy 40 minute walk over what use to be Terminator Rapid 

Ty Overeem (below) and Nick Jacob (above) pause for a break and a quick photo

We were forced to move the race to nearby East Fork Lewis River, much to the delight of local paddling legend Mike Olson who lives along it's twisting bank.  "Oly" has long been an advocate and host of the event, literally making competitors and spectators feel right at home in his own back yard and paving the way with the locals to access the river.  Mother nature giveth and she taketh away.  Just as fast as flood waters filled Canyon Creek with wood, she returned to flush it clean again a year later...

"Today the NWCC is a thriving 2 day event and one of the biggest races in the country!        The event boasts 2 amazing race courses on both the E.F. Lewis R. and Canyon Creek. The event headquarters is set at scenic Sunset Falls Campground where participants can enjoy a great view of racers negotiating beautiful Sunset Falls, enjoy a great BBQ, music, and share stories of the river. Day two competitors head over to Canyon Creek to challenge themselves on one of the best creek courses in the nation!" - Luke Spencer. 

This year's race marked a new era.  For one, Tao Berman did not sweep the entire event, but more importantly, the festival and competition was bigger and better than ever, with two full days of bright sunshine and quality creek racing on two world class courses!  The free camping was all snapped up by Friday night and the party...oops I mean race...was ON!  

We woke the next morning to wall to wall sunshine, rising temperatures with a near perfect water level.  There was plenty of excitement for the dedicated and determined on river support crew Saturday.  It's one thing to stay on line for a few rapids at a time with the occasional break, but pulling your guts out above every tall horizon line, through every deep hole, and swirly run out really takes it's tole, testing even the best paddler's skill and endurance.

Rafts, Inflatable Kayaks, hardshell kayaks, and long boats all charged down the course.  Even some classic Topolino Duos were seen givin er' over the falls with varied success.  Races were mostly run as individual heats, but the crowd pleaser is always the mass start where all the racers meet head to head as they come bounding over the falls as a mass of flailing elbows, blades, and boats.  Darren Albright was the big winner sweeping the event on Saturday winning Long Boat, Short Boat, and The Mass Start.  Official Results will be posted at NWCC soon.

The Mass Start!

Darren Albright long boating to victory

Local Boater John Edwards takes flight.

Rafters try a variety of techniques before finding the dry line

I had a great time racing both days.  I certainly don't train for this type of paddling, and am always humbled by those that do.  Due to issues beyond the control of seasoned veteran race timer and volunteer Jim Virgin, there were some issues with timing at the finish line but it's not about that for me.  That feeling that comes boiling up from the pit of your stomach as the starter begins the count down from "ten...nine...eight...seven..."  The sense of relief and accomplishment after a smooth run is in the books.  I love the whole atmosphere that spirited yet friendly competition brings.  Even some of the best paddlers express some feelings of anxiety and even nervousness as they line up at the start, but it all melts away as you hear the starter's voice ring out "three...two...one...START!"  

I love my new Shiva.  Thanks Pyranha!!

Nothing feels quite like flying down a demanding section of river as friends cheer you on from all sides.  The abrupt folds and protrusions of the canyon walls blur into a smooth grey twisting corridor leading you ever deeper into the gorge.  The cheering fades into the background as the sound of the last rapid fades just for a moment before the next rapid begins to echo up through the gorge and then there it is...  The last crux rapid presents itself as a defiant and ever vigilant guardian of the illusive finish line.  As I flew over the last boat eating hole and pulled towards the line I couldn't help but smile.  I had two good runs, but more importantly we managed to pull off an amazing event once again.  


A big thanks goes out to all the sponsors of this year's event.  It takes months of hard work and lots of planning from the event staff, but none of it would be possible without companies like Next Adventure and Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe stepping up to make this community run, grass roots event possible year after year.  I'm already looking forward to next year's "family reunion."  Hope ya'll can make it in 2013! 


For more information, a great video, and official results from day 1visit: 
The Exploring Elements Blog brought to you by Bryon Dorr.


                       

Going big before going home after the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium

Tide Race Sea Kayaks recently sent me down to San Francisco as a guest coach for one of the best rough water sea symposiums found anywhere in the world.  Made bright by warm sunshine and big smiles from some of the toughest, most enthusiastic students I have ever had the pleasure of coaching, The Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium was again a great success.

The event attracted some of the best coaches and instructors from the West coast and across the globe.  There was a touching tribute and memorial to Tsunami Ranger Commander Eric Soares.  The amazingly entertaining explorer and professor Jon Turk presented his circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island.  San Francisco it's self seemed to shine in the late day sun, but it was the students that proved to be the true stars of the weekend!

They were up before the sun each day ready for whatever challenges lay ahead; be it a dwarfing swell barreling in off the Pacific or whirling currents coursing through the bay.  Unforgiving barnacle encrusted rocks continually emerged from the depths to transform the heavy blue water to a bright white foam, then disappeared again in an instant, leaving behind only subtle traces along the water's surface before re-emerging once again moments later.

Those who ventured outside "The Gate" often experienced an exhilarating combination of these forces.  I was fortuitous enough to have the opportunity to coach rock gardening all weekend with good friends such as Matt Nelson and Jeff Laxier along with some new friends like Jake Stachovak, Rowan Gloag, Nick Castro, Roger Schumann, and Duane Strosacker.

In defining moments of well timed determination and commitment, our rock gardening students punched through slots and over shelves turning the sea into a vast playground filled with endless opportunities for personal challenge and exploration.  I remain truly humbled by their passion, their courage, and the heartfelt expressions of appreciation shared after each day on the water.  It takes a certain breed to do what we do, and the participants at the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium have what it takes!  I'm proud of you guys and I know Eric Soares would be to!  I thought of him often as we were passing under the gate and entering Eric's favorite realm.  I, along with a few others, had the opportunity to lead a class just like this one with Eric at last year's event.  He will be missed.

Photo By Anders

Thank You:  Tide Race Sea Kayaks for sponsoring this year's symposium and making my attendance possible.    

After all the symposium action was wrapped up, Richard Davis and Nick Scoville of Saltwood Paddles gave Kate and I a lift up to Mendocino for our annual coaches after-party paddling sessions.  We spent a couple days paddling the coast of Northern California with Bryant Burkhardt of CCK and Cate Hawthorne of Liquid Fusion Kayaking in Fort Bragg.  Check out a couple parting shots from the symposium AND all the fun had after the event below:

Will Jones went big just outside the gate for my favorite photo of a student in action!  Nice Job Will.
Photo By: Paul Kuthe

Event Organizers Matt Palmariello and Sean Morley makin it happen!
Photo By: Kate Ross

The view back towards the city from the ridge behind the hostel.  Til'
Next Year San Francisco...
Photo By: Paul Kuthe

It was time to hit the road and head North to the promise-land... Mendo
Photo By: Kate Ross

This is always a nice sign to see at the put-in.  Cate Hawthorne showed us the back yard spot for Liquid Fusion Kayaking at Noyo Beach.  
Photo By Paul Kuthe

Photo By: Kate Ross

Chicken Point was going off while we were there.  There is no feeling like dropping into big waves that are peeling and bending through the reef and into the steep cliffs above.  The closer to the rocks you were able to get the better the ride.  Almost everyone won their game of chicken on this occasion.  I did fine at the point, but I would not be so lucky at another spot not far away.
Photo By: Paul Kuthe

I was just poking around the rocks looking for fun little moves to make when I let my guard down.  I caught a good wave pictured along the set of rocks above.  I was almost beyond the rocks making my exit when another wave wrapped in at an angle pushing me high up on the rocky outcropping...

Gelcoat is temporary...glory is forever!

Photo By: Kate Ross

A couple pieces of Nick's foil tape later and I was back on the water in no time.

Chicken Point was so good.  Once we got the hang of it there were plenty of good rides to be had out there.  We just had to warm up to the rocks a bit.  

Photo By: Cate Hawthorne

mmm...tastes like chicken.

Photo By: Cate Hawthorne

Just as the wave crashes over the rocks inside, we would come tearing down the wave carving hard left to avoid impact.  

Photo By: Cate Hawthorne

The next day we were met with wall to wall sunshine.  We headed a few minutes South to the Van Dam Access.  There we explored caves, surfed through the labyrinth of slots, and found some cool blow holes.  Kate edges ever closer to one above.  Just as the big waves come in, the wall explodes into a foamy mist.  

Photo By: Paul Kuthe

Paddling in California is always a treat.  Thanks again to all the participants at the event this year.  Thanks to all the coaches, the organizers (Matt Parlmeriello and Sean Morley, and all the volunteers that made it happen once again.  Thanks to Jon Turk for his amazing presentation.  Thanks to Tom Shores for providing the event motor boat and giving my students a ride around the Gate on Sunday.  Thanks to Cate and Jeff from Liquid Fusion.  Thanks Bryant!  Thanks to Richard Davis and Nick Scoville for being such great travel companions, and thanks to Kate Ross for putting up with me and joining me on my adventures.  See you all next year!  Or who knows, perhaps I will see up this way at this year's Lumpy water Symposium.