2013 NOC Events Preview

Let’s not beat about the bush: the biggest thing going on at NOC this year is the 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships. Top freestylers from around the world will be coming right here, to the Nantahala Gorge, to put years of training to the test and show us their best moves. Last year’s ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup Final on the Nantahala saw record-breaking rides in both the men’s and women’s K1 classes, and the premier of a state-of-the-art digital scoring system that got the crowd jazzed up like never before. This year, we’re pulling out all the stops for a first-of-its kind outdoor festival here in Western North Carolina.

Spectators line the banks during the 2012 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup

What to expect: 300 top whitewater athletes from around the world. Appalachian Heritage Expo with artisan demonstrations of regional folk crafts, traditional Cherokee tribal dances, fun hands-on educational activities for kids, great live music, and plenty of contests, demos and games to get you moving and laughing, even if you don’t know how to do a Space Godzilla.

Curious? Check out the USA Canoe/Kayak Freestyle Team Trials this April 26-28 for a sneak preview as America’s best vie for their chance to represent their country at the Worlds this September. Enjoy a real Appalachian hoedown at NOC's Spring Fling with craft fair, free film screenings by the Reel Paddling Film Festival, kids' activities, Roller Derby demos, and a special release of the Cascades & Upper Nantahala.

Emily Jackson rides the feature at the 2012 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup

For those of you who want to get in on the action, the Nantahala Racing Club will be putting on two slalom races this spring – the NRC Glacier Breaker and Bank of America Whitewater US Open. Come out to cruise down the course with some of the best slalom paddlers in the world, or just to cheer them on. NRC is also hosting two youth-specific slalom events in 2013, the NRC Youth Regional Team Qualifier and the NRC Southeastern Youth Championships - a great time to get your little ones out having fun on the water with kids their own age.

 Kids being kids at a Canoe Club Challenge

You won’t want to miss the Canoe Club Challenge, the nation’s most popular citizen’s whitewater race. The whole family will enjoy this fun, low-pressure excuse to splash around in the Nantahala on a hot summer day. Camaraderie, good-natured competition and raffle prizes are followed by live music at Slow Joe’s Café / Pourover Pub.

Other events we’re excited about:  

• AT Founder’s Bridge Festival, April 4-6, features wilderness-themed film screenings, live bluegrass, AT slideshows, group hikes and phenology education with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  

 The AT Founder's Bridge Festival caters to thru-hikers and day-trippers alike.

• NOC’s Summer Music Series: Memorial Day through GAF weekend, enjoy live music, cold brews and good company at Slow Joe’s Café / Pourover Pub following a day on the river or the trail.

 

 Dirty Bourbon River Show plays the Pourover Pub in 2012

• We're always excited about thanking our guests for a great season! Come out to NOC's Guest Appreciation Festival, September 28-30 for blow-out gear sales, live music, beer specials, dance parties, bicycle pump-track, rock tower, story-telling, kids' activities, GAF Gates Race & World Kayak freestyle competitions, and a bounce house!

Bikers, kayakers, hikers and lovers of good times enjoy a GAF afternoon at Slow Joe's Cafe

• NOCtoberfest! This October, we’ll be serving seasonal brews in a German-style beer garden by the river while we jam out to the Autumn Live Music Series. On the 26th, don’t miss our Halloween celebration, including the Great Pumpkin Pursuit, costume contests and kids’ activities.

Kids show off their creations at NOCtoberfest 2012

North American Championship Recap

Last weekend, NOC hosted the 2012 ACA Open Canoe Slalom Nationals & North American National Championships on the Nantahala River. Open canoe paddlers from all over the country, as well as Canada flocked to the Nantahala Gorge for three days of racing on the fun and challenging Nantahala Falls Course. They competed in a variety of disciplines, encompassing various lengths of crafts, composite and plastic boats, and tandem and single classes. Many of these competitors see each other regularly on paddle trips in their hometowns. Others are old friends who see each other once yearly at only this event.

The mood was a unique mixture of serious competition--with whitewater athletes walking the course, scouting lines, and discussing runs, penalties, and strategies--and family reunion, as this tight-knit group of friends and river-family caught up on old news and shared new memories after yet another year.

Race organizer MJ Simpson found time to compete in tandem events with both of her young sons. Simpson volunteered to organize the 2012 event in part, she said, because she met her husband, David Simpson, at an Open Canoe Nationals in Carltin, MN, so she felt she owed the event a good turn. “We’re even now, OC Nationals,” Simpson joked at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening at NOC’s Pourover Pub, to the laughter and applause of her fellow-canoeists.

Open Canoe slalom is a test of speed, river-running skills, and agility, and paddlers strove to excel in all three areas over the course of the weekend. In speed, the unrivalled champion was Jordi Domenjo, a coach at Colorado’s Alexander Dawson school, and a top kayak slalom athlete from La Seu D’Urgell, Spain. Domenjo posted a top time of 129.14, seconds ahead of the second place finish by Eli Helbert of Asheville, North Carolina, who came in at 155.05 in the OC1 Open X class.

There were only a handful of clean runs posted over the course of the weekend, a rare distinction since Open Canoes are long and it takes significant skill to navigate them through the slalom course at all, not to mention the difficulty of passing through each gate without tapping (or whacking) one. Among those competitors who managed at least one clean run were Carole Westwood, Adrian Nye, Dooley Tobras, and even the C2 team of Andrew Westwood and Paul Mason, among others. Course designer David Simpson also posted a clean time on Sunday morning, much to his relief. “It would be a sad state of affairs if the course designer couldn’t clean his own course,” he said.

The location of next year’s Open Canoe Nationals has yet to be determined, but one thing is clear, this dedicated group of paddlers will make the long drive, canoe trailers in tow, ready to give it their all, once again, for that so-often-elusive clean run.


View Full Results here:

Day 1 Slalom Final

Day 2 Slalom Final

Day 3 Slalom Final