Freestyle Shootout = Free Fun

It's hump day, which means it's the perfect time to plan this weekend's trip to the Nantahala Gorge, recently-named home of the 2013 WORLD Freestyle Championships and site of this weekend's NOC Freestyle Shootout, Friday through Sunday.
Paddlers have been arriving throughout the week, practicing on the wave for what looks to be the most intense competition on the Nantahala in years. With $10,000 up for grabs, live music and big names like four-time world freestyle champion Eric Jackson competing, it's no wonder everyone wants to be part of the action.

Festivities begin for paddlers and spectators on Friday night, when NOC hosts an Open Surf Under the Lights. That's right. Practice after dark courtesy of Duke Power (supplying the water flows) and NOC (providing the lights). For non-paddlers, take in the scene at The Pourover, where you'll be able to dance if you want to, have a beer and still check out the wave action from the open-air deck.

A C1 Paddler Practices Wednesday Afternoon

Saturday, the competition kicks off. If you are planning to paddle, arrive early to register. Please note, it is likely that we will hit our 100 competitor limit this year! Don't get left out by arriving late. Classes are K1 Pro Men, K1 Pro Women, K1 Expert Men, K1 Expert Women, K1 Cadets, K1 Open Novice and C1 Open Canoe. Registration is $40/entry and is open from 4–9pm Friday and 9–10am Saturday. The top five in each class will advance to Sunday's finals.

Non paddlers can enjoy the festival atmosphere, as the NOC Outfitter's Store hosts Demo Days, with free boat demos, $200 OFF the purchase of in-stock new boats and a sidewalk sale. There will also be a Dagger Dash Attainment Race at 2:30pm on Sunday, and the winner will walk home with a Green Boat. The entire weekend is free to the public. Raft trips on the Nantahala are open, as are NOC's lodging and dining facilities. With a clear forecast in store, it might be the best weekend this year!


And, in case you haven't heard the big news direct from the International Canoe Federation in Budapest, the Nantahala Gorge was announced Saturday as the host of the 2013 World Freestyle Championships! Tentatively scheduled for mid-September 2013, the event is expected to draw more than 500 paddlers from 30–40 countries to the Nantahala area. More news of Worlds to come soon.

We hope to see you on the river this weekend!

NOC/Dagger Freestyle Shootout Recap

Wow, what a weekend! This year's event had huge turnout, great atmosphere, exciting Saturday evening entertainment at The Pourover and one of the best showdowns in freestyle history between Andrew Holcombe and Tommy Yon (below) in the Men's Pro category.

Though Tommy had the edge on Andrew in technical (how many boat rotations he performed and at what angle to the water) and style (the judge's interpretation of how fun, showy or entertaining a ride is), Andrew had a decisive edge in the variety score (range of freestyle moves performed) throwing an unmatched mcnasty, macho move and a right-side eddywheel. Andrew's 55-point variety margin bested Tommy's 38-point technical advantge and one-point style edge, resulting in a 16 point victory (3.1% of Andrew's total score).

While Andrew threw an impressive range of moves, including a no-hands loop (above), the most memorable moment of the event belonged to Tommy Yon. In his third and final ride Tommy threw away his paddle and threw down an unbelieviable combination of retentive moves on the difficult feature. His ride culminated in a paddle-free retentive back loop that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Andrew and Tommy's battle wasn't just a one-day affair. Andrew pulled out a nine-point victory in Saturday's qualifier that was just as epic, though Saturday's action lacked some of the drama of Sunday's showdown. While Andrew and Tommy were certainly "in the zone", Mike Patterson (below) also put on an amazing show, though he couldn't quite hang in there with the top two.

While none of the other categories matched the drama of the Men's Pro class, there were some tight finishes: Taylor Cofer eeked out a nine-point victory over Casey Jones in the K1 Jr division, Philip Young managed a five-point victory over Paul Butler in the K1 Open Novice, and Anna Levesque managed a victory in her first freestyle event in four years, besting first round winner Maria Noakes by 13 in the Women's Pro class. The Men's Expert category featured a solid contest won by Sean Corbett against Ryan Baudrand and Philip Young defeated Matt Anger to win a small C1 class.

A full photo album of Sunday's action is posted on NOC's facebook page.

Final Standings

Men's Pro:
1) 510 Andrew Holcombe
2) 494 Tommy Yon
3) 327 Mike Patterson
4) 271 Corey Volt
5) 204 Daniel Dutton
6) 185 Richard "Rio" Oldenquist

Women's Pro:
1) 135 Anna Levesque
2) 122 Maria Noakes
3) 115 Leela Samuels
4) 66 Jasmeen Moubarak
5) 34 Amanda Getler

Men's Expert:
1) 229 Sean Corbett
2) 207 Ryan Baudrand
3) 174 Mark "Snowy" Robertson
4) 160 Shayne Day
5) 159 Dustin Cyr
6) 112 Brett Tornwall

K1 Open Novice:
1) 117 Phillip Young
2) 112 Paul Buter
3) 107 Trenton Wiggins
4) 75 Mike Dorsey
5) 62 Taylor Winfield
6) 53 Tony Anthony
7) 30 Chris Laskey

C1:
1) 112 Philip Young
2) 61 Matt Anger

K1 Jr:
1) 169 Taylor Cofer
2) 162 Casey Jones
3) 136 Quillian Snyder
4) 130 Matt Wright
5) 96 Will Rudisill
6) 68 Mason Farmer
7) 64 Connor McSpadden

Brushfire Stankgrass at The Pourover

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

We couldn't have asked for nicer days here at NOC. Temperatures have more closely resembled June, with warm days and cool evenings. Gotta love being in the mountains!


Speaking of how good it is to be here, we were treated to an awesome show last evening by Asheville's own Brushfire Stankgrass at The Pourover. Ever though you'd hear a bluegrass rendition of "Billy Jean"? Me neither, but it was awesome! The best part was hearing songs about sitting by the river, since we were all relaxing right beside the Nantahala.


If you're still in town, our Sizzling Sales Days are off and running, with big deals across the store. There are raft trips, ropes course samplers, lake tours and kayaking clinics going on as we speak. Best of all, the Big Wesser Grill is fired up! We hope you'll stop by and see us this weekend.

If you can't make it, join us in a month, when we'll host the second-annual NOC/Dagger Freestyle Shootout, a kayaking rodeo with $10,000 in prizes, a DJ and much more. Have a safe and happy weekend, everyone!

NOC/Dagger Freestyle Shootout Features $10,000 in Prizes

The second annual NOC/Dagger Freestyle Shootout is set for August 1-2 this summer, and it'll be twice as big as our very-successful 2008 event. Proof? The purse is twice as big, there're twice as many sponsors and, instead of fumbling around with an ipod, we're gonna have a DJ spinning on the bridge during the event. Sweet. Combine live music Saturday night at the venue-bordering Pourover (our new riverside pub), some brewery reps handing out schwag and our spectator-friendly campus, and you've got all the ingredients for the best freestyle paddling festival in the East.

Also, we've changed the scoring system to make the action more spectator friendly. Into cartwheels? We are too, but only so many. Therefore, in addition to the standard technical and variety judges we've added a "Personal Style" judge who will evaluate contestants on "ride presentation and crowd involvement". You'll have to throw some big moves, or at least try them, to win.

For those of you wondering what the heck a kayaking freestyle competition is, well, it's similar to a half-pipe freestyle event in skateboarding. Kayakers compete at a single feature, in this case a stationary breaking wave, and perform tricks like cartwheels, loops (full flips) , blunts (really fast, near vertical turns that spew a curtain of water) and even dynamic airborne manuevers that require the paddler to spin while totally out of the water. Think X-Games for whitewater, right here in western North Carolina on the Nantahala River.

For a casual spectator it's a really cool event. Hang out by the river, enjoy the scene, watch some stellar athletes, do your own water activities, come back and enjoy the festivities at night. I recommend bringing a lawn chair and plopping down in the shade. Below are some photos of the 2008 event, so you can get a feel for the scene (courtesy of Pat McDonnell).