More Pumpkins Than Ever: NOCtoberfest 2012

NOCtoberfest is here! NOC celebrates fall with a beer garden at Slow Joe's Cafe every weekend in October starting at 4pm. Come enjoy the outdoors during the day and sample beers from Weihenstephaner, Bitburger and Maisel's Wesse by the river when you're finished.

The Main Event
Join us on Saturday, October 27th when we celebrate the close of the 2012 Nantahala River rafting season with a full load of fun activities*. The day's top events include the spectacular Great Pumpkin Pursuit, a fantastic five-mile trial run, free live music and a hilarious costume party and pumpkin decorating contest..

Crazy pumpkin from NOCtoberfest 2011

Why all the buzz about the Great Pumpkin Pursuit?
One of the most entertaining and fun events all year, the Great Pumpkin Pursuit--an all-out dash to collect numbered pumpkins tossed into Nantahala Falls--draws a crowd of hundreds of spectators as well as 50 to 60 paddlers. The paddlers don crazy costumes and deploy innovative pumpkin collection schemes while negotiating a massive traffic jam in the Nantahala's largest rapid.

A scene from the 2011 Great Pumkpin Pursuit

This year, we are dropping, tossing and spilling 400 mini-pumpkins into the Falls, double the haul from last year!  Paddlers are invited to collect the pumpkins any way they please, and spectators are welcome to attempt land-based collecting too. Pretty much anything goes--as long as everyone maintains a courteous attitude toward the other participants and a focus on safety.

Some techniques used to collect from last year. (Note the basket fixed to the front of this kayak.)

After the event we host an award ceremony for various honors, and we draw numbers that correspond with the numbered pumpkins. The more pumpkins participants collect the better their chances of winning a prize in the raffle! This year, some of the prizes include a $500 gift card to NOC, PFDs, helmets, and much more.

NOC Marketing team members Lauren Dietrich and Hope Brainard, getting in the Halloween spirit

Note that the events on the water can get crazy and may not be everyone's idea of a good time. Never fear: boaters are welcome to stalk an eddy downstream of the Falls that's a bit out of the way. Sometimes following the traffic jam at a cautious distance is a good idea too. One of the reasons we toss so many pumpkins is to give everyone a reasonable chance to get something without risking life and limb. Also, note that land-based collecting is allowed, but that walking haphazardly on wet river rocks has risks too.

After the event we'll have a pumpkin decorating contest, live reggae from the Natti Love Joys and the 2012 costume contest.

We hope to see you, your friends and families out at NOC for the upcoming festivities! For a full event schedule, click here.

To finish, check out this "trailer" one of the participants made back at the first GPP in 2010. While the crowd was small for the first event, this video does capture the mood pretty well:

2012 Special Events: What’s New and What’s Back

First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zuzana Vanha, and I’m the new Events Manager here at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. I’m in an interesting position at the NOC. I’m new, but I’m also back: six years ago I worked as a waitress at River’s End Restaurant, and over 24 years ago, I first visited the NOC as a wide-eyed little girl, fresh off the boat from Czechoslovakia, coming with my family to live with our uncle Vladimir, who, unbeknownst to us, had become a living local legend in the Nantahala Gorge (thanks as much to his eccentricities as to his revolutionary kayak manufacturing company, Noah Kayaks). So I’ve seen the NOC through various metamorphoses, and I have to say I’m excited about the coming year, which is shaping up to be the biggest for events in recent history, and maybe ever.

First, let me take you through the highlights: In May, NOC is hosting the Adventure Travel Film Festival. The ATFF is definitely something new—3 days and 16 films, ranging thematically from the first descent of the Yenisey River through Mongolia, Siberia, and into the Arctic Ocean, to “The Himalayan Adventure,” the 1958 story of three English housewives who bought a Land Rover and drove it from London to Zanskar (then a part of Tibet). In short: inspiring, audacious, and beautifully filmed adventures that will leave you itching to get out and see the world. That’s why we’re also hosting speakers, photography clinics, and survival skills workshops throughout the weekend. The only danger is that when it’s time to leave on Sunday, you might just want to keep driving…

Exciting, gritty, real: The Adventure Travel Film Festival has something to whet every whistle.

But don’t go yet, there’s more to come throughout the summer. NOC is turning 40 this June, and we’re having a party for all of you who have been our family and friends over the years. In the afternoon, we’re hosting the first annual Nantahala River Raft Race, followed by,speakers, contests, and live music into the wee hours. Join us. We’d love to have the chance to thank you for a great 40 years.

Recognize me? NOC's Outfitter's Store, in its early days.

And then in September, there’s the World Cup. That’s right, the 2012 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup is coming to the Nantahala River. Top freestyle athletes from around the world will compete at the newly constructed 2013 Wave, built this winter with a generous grant from The Golden Leaf Foundation to accommodate next year’s Freestyle World Championships.

Top international freestyle athletes will compete on the Nantahala in 2012 & 2013.

Our high-profile events continue into October, when we’re hosting the 2012 ACA Open Canoe Nationals. The best open boaters from across the US and Canada will compete for three days in a variety of classes, and you can come out to give them a run for their money, because this event is open to everyone. (Juniors 16 and under will race for free in tandem disciplines when accompanied by a paying adult.)

So, as you can see, there are a lot of new things going on at the NOC this summer to get excited about, but that’s not to say that our returning events are old hat. Many of these events have been growing in popularity for the last several years, and will be bigger and better this coming season. In its second year, NOC’s Appalachian Trail celebration, the Founder’s Bridge Festival will feature local and national hiking/backpacking personalities, speaking on topics such as AT history and conducting free wilderness skills clinics. We’ll also be hosting a trail maintenance hike on a section of AT adjacent to the NOC campus.

We’re also happy to welcome back our annual high-level competitions, including the Bank of America Whitewater US Open. This March, Top level slalom athletes will race on the Nantahala before making their way to Charlotte for the 2012 Olympic Team Trials. Don’t miss this chance to cheer on our future Team USA before they head for London later this summer. The Freestyle Shootout is also coming back to the NOC this April—pro freestylers, enthusiasts, and juniors are invited to participate in the inaugural freestyle event at the 2013 Wave.

Some events that everyone can get involved in this year will be the Canoe Club Challenge and World Kayak Hometown Throwdown, two beginner-friendly competitions that encourage boaters to improve their skills in a friendly, unintimidating setting. Check out these events on the third weekend of June, July, and August.

Come one, come all! Everyone is welcome at this beginner friendly slalom event!

The Duck n’ Run, in its third year this May, is NOC’s seriously silly biathlon. Paddle the Nantahala in an inflatable ducky, then test your lungs (and quads) up Flint Ridge trail: what’s not to love? Boaters and non-boaters, runners and non-runners are welcome!

Devoted fans cheer along competitors at the 2011 Duck n' Run.

And towards the end of the season, come out again for the Great Pumpkin Pursuit, a free-for-all canoe/kayak scramble for hundreds of numbered pumpkins floating through the Nantahala Falls. A beloved component of our annual NOCtoberfest, the Pumpkin Pursuit will take place on the 27th of October. NOCtoberfest itself will be significantly bigger this year.

Autumnal Foliage at the 2011 Great Pumpkin Pursuit.

In addition to our tried-and-true autumn festivities, guests can enjoy a traditional Bavarian-style Beer Garden, set in along the riverbank under the tall maples near Slow Joe’s Café: beer, brats, schnitzels galore, as well as dumplings, sauerkraut, and cider for the kids. Hayrides and haunted houses are also in the works, as well as the Flint Ridge Fall Flight, a multi-option running race along NOC’s trail system.

To sum up, NOC’s mix of high-profile events, returning festivals, fun challenges and community races will make 2012 a year to remember. Come out and join in the fun, and stay afterwards to enjoy live music, refreshments, and good company at the Pourover Pub. We’re sure you’ll find something you like to do this year at the Nantahala, and we’d love to hear your thoughts on NOC events past, present, and future. Your input is what helps us make these events better every year. Please feel free to comment here, on NOC’s Facebook page, or by sending an email to info@noc.com.

I am looking forward to the coming year, and I hope you’ll be a part of it.

Zuzana Vanha

NOC Events

Parking and Camping at GAF

GAF 2011 is here, and it looks like it's going to be another awesome event! We just found out that our featured attraction, the King BMX Stunt Show, is actually the halftime show for Sunday night's Steelers/Colts NFL game. The weather looks like it's going to cooperate, and the music lineup features five excellent bands. So it's a bummer to focus this blog on the mundane logistics of parking and shuttles, but since we're in a remote river gorge, it's just necessary.

We anticipate Saturday morning and mid afternoon will be the only times when remote parking will be necessary. Friday, Saturday night and Sunday should be like busy summer days; parking may still be challenging, but it shouldn't require a shuttle. (We'll start running shuttles if necessary though.)

So, what should you expect if you show up at 10am Saturday? The driving bridge will likely be crowded, and you'll probably have event staff directing you to a suitable spot. It could take a bit longer than normal though due to the volume of cars and our desire to use every possible inch of parking-friendly terrain. Please be patient with our staff.

If NOC gets filled up with cars, or if you just want to go ahead and park, then you can drive the 2.2 miles up Silvermine Road to our main satellite parking area. This is a pretty drive, and you'll get to see some beautiful and hidden countryside on the way. Here it is on a map:

View Larger Map

We like this spot because it's flat, it's easy to service with quick shuttles and it's gravel, so it's weather-proof. We should have an attendant there to help maximize the parking potential of the lot. Please note that the lot closes at 8pm, so it'd be good to move your car back to NOC after mid-day when some of the GAF gridlock clears out.

Our staff will be positioned at the entrance to Silvermine Rd., and we will have signage along the way to help direct you to the lot. A handy rule of thumb is to just stay on the paved road though.

If things get really busy you may see us open an additional lot at Raging Rivers Rafting Company. These guys have kindly extended their parking lot to us as a neighborly gesture, but we're only planning to use it if necessary. (Having one lot make shuttles easier for guests and staff alike.)

Perhaps you'll recognize their outpost:

View Larger Map

So that's the deal with parking. We're not using some of the grass lots we have used in the past, because we don't want guests to get stuck if it storms, and we don't want to tear up our neighbors' yards.

As for camping, there's just not any room for camping on NOC property during the event. We need the parking areas to remain parking areas and not campgrounds. There is abundant camping in the Nantahala National Forest and at area campgrounds for a modest fee.

NOC simply can't service the event, normal rafting operations and camping simultaneously. We recognize this is frustrating for guests who have camped here in the past or taken advantage of our usually lax policies on camping during the rest of the year. We apologize.

We really encourage guests to pursue an off-campus sleeping plan. We don't like ruining anyone's plans, but we will have security patrolling the property and ensuring that event policies are respected.

Please note that some registered vendors and event staff are allowed to stay with their property during the festivities, and this means they will be allowed to sleep on NOC's campus. That's just part of the deal, and part of how we're able to host this fun and free event.

NOC Special Events 2011: What to Expect

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2011 NOC Special Events Calendar

While working on the new 2011 special events calendar I took the opportunity to reflect on how NOC special events have changed over the past couple of years. If you're really just interested in the events, follow the link above see the schedule on noc.com for yourself. It features a good mix of participatory and spectator events, old standbys and new trial offerings.

Be sure to note the 2011 USA Canoe/Kayak Slalom Nationals will be on the Nantahala the weekend after GAF, so we'll likely get to see the 2012 Olympic paddlers here in Wesser even though the team won't be set until next year. If you are interested in how the NOC special events schedule has evolved, keep reading. You may find the following observations interesting.

Over the past couple of years NOC has tried to bring most special events “home” to the main Nantahala property. This meant handing off longtime NOC events like the Knobscorcher and the Tsali Challenge Triathlon to race promoter Gone Riding, but the upside of this transition has been the creation of very successful new events, and a plan for future on-property bike and foot races as the Flint Ridge trail system develops into an accessible, event-worthy venue in the next few years.

The stars of the new event calendar have been the NOC Freestyle Shootout and last year’s Canoe Club Challenge. The NOC Freestyle Shootout is part of the burgeoning eleven-event USA Freestyle Kayak Points Series which will determine the 2011 freestyle team and national champions. Also, the event helped the Nantahala Gorge win the 2013 ICF World Freestyle Championships, which will be the biggest paddling event ever held on the Nantahala or in the area, bringing in paddlers and spectators from over 25 different nations. Last year’s NOC Freestyle Shootout featured eight classes from open beginner to professional, giving boaters of all skill levels the chance to compete together. Thanks to its centralized location among NOC’s facilities the freestyle event is uniquely spectator-friendly, and it gives paddlers a shot-in-the arm heading into the summer boating season.

Friday night at the NOC Freestyle Shootout offers an illuminated practice session
giving traveling paddlers pre-event time in the feature.

The Canoe Club Challenge is a short gate race spanning the bridges on the Nantahala behind the Outfitter’s Store. While prizes are awarded for individual classes, the real competition in the Canoe Club Challenge is not speed, but participation. Paddling clubs compete for total “starts” and encourage members to get out and paddle together. The result was the largest paddling event in the United States last year, with over four hundred recorded starts. The short course and convenient location afford paddlers a fun, social event where they can work on technique and speed, as well as goof off and meet new paddling buddies. Non-club boaters are welcome at the event, and are actually heavily recruited by clubs looking for representatives to log some additional starts. The Canoe Club Challenge will again consist of three rounds throughout the summer.

Canoe Club Challenge paddlers waiting for the queue to start their runs
through the race gates.

Also new in 2010 was the Duck N’ Run race, a light-hearted “adventure race for everyone” consisting of a five-mile whitewater duckie paddle on the Nantahala (including Nantahala Falls), and a five-mile run on NOC’s Flint-Ridge Trail. This race and the new-for-2011 Nantahala River Raft Race give everyone, not just competitive athletes, opportunities to participate and win cool events. (By the way, our 2010 Duck N’ Run training videos were a big hit on the NOC Facebook page, and are worth a peek.) The new downriver raft race will present teams of four a chance to claim the official “fastest crew on the Nanthala” title.

Duck N' Run participants await the start signal at Ledges Rapid on the Nantahala River.

Another new event that established itself in 2010 is the Great Pumpkin Pursuit at NOCtoberfest. Our costumed race hosts chunked over 50 numbered pumpkins from rafts in Nantahala Falls for boaters to collect and redeem for prizes, including a new kayak. In 2011 we expect to toss over 100 pumpkins in the river from multiple rafts and to see the costume component of the event grow.

The 2010 Great Pumpkin Pursuit unfolds as paddlers chase pumpkins through
Nantahala Falls.

As for more serious events, NOC is working with the Smoky Mountain Relay to put on a 200+ mile relay running race extending from the Asheville area to Wesser. Teams of six and twelve runners will complete the course in just two days.

There’s also the Blue Ridge Breakaway bike race sponsored and supported by NOC (but organized by our friends at the Haywood Chamber of Commerce), that offers riders 24, 40, 66 and 105 mile ride options. Last year over 300 riders rode in the inaugural Blue Ridge Breakaway, and with the ride’s stellar organization, location and routes there’s every reason to expect this one to grow. We do have plans to introduce a new NOC-run cycling event in 2011, but we haven't received required permits yet. More details to come as our planning pans out.

New in April 2011 is an Appalachian Trail celebration we’re calling the Founder’s Bridge Festival, recognizing the bridge where the AT bisects NOC and crosses the Nantahala River. Expect vendors from leading gear producers, representative from area hiking clubs, free workshops, survival skills courses, speakers, book signings and live music—all focused on celebrating the nation’s most beloved footpath.


NOC’s popular retail events—spring’s Demo Days and summer’s Sizzling Sales Days—will return offering the best deals on new gear and the best savings of the year—short of GAF, of course. GAF 2010 was widely hailed as the “best GAF ever” (click here to see why), but we’ll do our best to make GAF 2011 even better.

Throngs of outdoor enthusiasts swarm the Used Gear Marketplace at GAF 2010.

All of these events will be supported with nighttime entertainment at The Pourover beside the banks of the Nanthala—one of the coolest places to see live music and enjoy being away from workaday responsibilities. We'll be returning our “Rock and Raft” music series and rafting promotion, which offers discounted 4pm trips that end in time for dinner and featured bands from Asheville, NC—a hotbed of cool, funky music.

As we look beyond 2011 we plan to develop Flint Ridge into a trails system that will accommodate competitive events for athletes of all skill levels. To this end, we also will be holding a Spring and a Fall Trail Days (to be announced), where we'll invite guests to help us do some work on this trail system. Once finished, Flint Ridge will be accessible (and free!) to riders and runners year round, with all the conveniences of being located at NOC. (No permitting issues or closures either.)

So, that’s the deal with NOC special events moving forward. I hope you plan on joining us at some of these in 2011. We’re open to feedback and suggestions about the kinds of events our guests want to see, so feel free to comment here, on NOC's Facebook page or send an email to info@noc.com. It’s never too late to add another event to the calendar—just keep in mind that there’s only so much we can do, especially in the summer!

Thanks for supporting NOC and best of luck in the new year.

Charles Conner
NOC Marketing