NOC Wins Prestigious OIA Outdoor Inspiration Award

The folks at NOC are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the 2012 Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Outdoor Inspiration Award! The award is the industry’s top honor for businesses contributing to the future of outdoor recreation, voted on by an expert panel of peers from the outdoor industry. The award will be presented in a ceremony by the OIA and Adidas Outdoor on January 20th in Salt Lake City, UT.

Other recipients of the 2012 Inspiration Award include The North Face, National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind mountaineer to climb Mount Everest and the tallest mountains on every continent.

The ceremony caps the OIA’s Winter Outdoor Retailer event—the premier tradeshow venue for the outdoor specialty industry. Representatives from many of the organization’s 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and retailers will be attending the event hosted by Reinhold Messner—renowned for the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen—and Sasha DiGiulian, the world’s top-ranked female outdoor sport climber.

The Outdoor Inspiration Awards are given to companies and individuals that “are breaking new ground and getting people outdoors.” NOC’s nomination highlighted the following efforts by the company:

• Starting the Canoe Club Challenge, an annual series of paddling races based on participation instead of competition. This paddling event had over 1500 starts making it the largest whitewater slalom event in the country in 2011. It was free to participants.
  
  
• Supporting the Nantahala Kids Club, a local area outreach program offering free paddling lessons and outings to over 40 local schoolchildren from 6 to 16 along with use of gear and equipment.
  
  
• Launching and growing the NOC Youth Paddling Team, an effort to sponsor youth paddlers who promise to focus on school, promote whitewater paddling as a recreational activity and to live a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle while improving as whitewater athletes.
  
  
• Sponsoring and hosting the Camp Cup Challenge, an event giving over 150 youth paddlers at North Carolina's large summer camp community the chance to paddle in a large, end-of-season inter-camp competition.
  
  
• Opening an experiential retail environment at the Gatlinburg entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park that educates visitors on easy guided and do-it-yourself recreational opportunities in the National Park, hosting over 300,000 visitors in 2011.
  
  
• Winning a bid to host the 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships on the Nantahala River in North Carolina to promote regional paddlesports opportunities to a worldwide audience.
  
  
• Contributing to the successful effort to build a permanent world-class kayaking wave on the Nantahala River for free public use and provide for a long-term legacy for the event.
  
  
• Hosting twelve additional outdoor events including a large AT thru-hiker festival, the USA Canoe and Kayak Team Slalom National Championships, the national Wildwater Team's training camp and an Olympic Day festival where kids were invited to paddle with NOC’s very own Olympic athletes.
  
  
• The company’s commitment to sustainable building practices, demonstrated by three US Green Building Council LEED certification projects in the last year.

NOC President and CEO Sutton Bacon remarked “We’re humbled to receive this award from our peers in the outdoor industry. There is no better validation for our mission to get people outside and offer the very best programs in outdoor recreation and education. This is a wonderful and unexpected honor.”

NOC Marketing Director Charles Conner added, “It’s important to note that we wouldn’t be receiving this recognition without our regional partners who collaborated with us on many of the projects considered by the OIA. Also, we’re blessed to have guests who are committed to their outdoor lifestyles, and who are always game to pilot NOC’s new offerings and programs.”

The award comes as our company celebrates its 40th anniversary. Since opening in 1972 NOC has been one of the nation’s premier outfitters, outdoor retailers and roadside attractions.

NOC River Leaders of the Month: 2011 Youth Paddling Team

For October we selected not one, but eight River Leaders of the Month. The 2011 NOC Youth Paddling Team members are recognized for their individual and team achievements, participation and development in paddlesports. So please help me give a big shout out and congrats to Zac Agnew, Wylder Cooper, Carter Davis, Bernie Engleman, Shelby Johnson, Julia Kendrick, David Perrin and, last but not least, Anne Marie Pilcher for becoming the first team recognized as NOC River Leaders.

The 2011 Youth Paddling Team

A Team in the Making

The NOC Youth Paddling Team, or "YPT" as the team members like to call it, was merely an idea back in 2009. NOC’s Paddling School Director Jon Clark had a goal: Start a program that will increase youth involvement in paddlesports while developing them to become the leaders, role models and ambassadors of the sport for generations to come. In October 2010, he achieved this goal and officially assembled the 2011 YPT. Jon spent many nights reviewing a stack of applications to select eight team members out of the dozens he received. Jon made his selection and the team was born.

A Year of Growth

The 2011 YPT consists of young, talented and motivated individuals. They arrived at the YPT season kickoff from all corners of the Southeast, ranging in age from 12-17 and all with differing skill levels on the water. Meeting at NOC, their first big adventure was to the Ocoee River in Tennessee. “The van ride there was very awkward,” says Jon. “But by the time they got to the third rapid on the Ocoee, they had quickly become best friends!”

Scouting a Rapid

The team continued the 2011 season with multiple river trips including a lot of firsts for some of the members on the Cheoah, Gauley and even a few made it to the Green Narrows. In addition to these fun weekend paddles, the team competed in multiple freestyle and citizen race events. Prior to these competitions the team joined together on multiple occasions for afternoon freestyle training sessions with Jon and NOC Instructor Andrew Koch. Their first competition as a team was in April at the NOC Shootout. It was high water on the Nanty that day, the hole was washed out and the air was frigid. Jon recalls team members “standing on the bridge shakin’ in their boots” that day. They continued to compete throughout the season at Hometown Throwdown’s on both the Nantahala and Nolichucky rivers.

Pre-Competition Coaching

Developing More than Paddlers

Jon’s vision was to develop the YPT to be more than excellent paddlers. He expected more out of them and provided opportunities to the team to become well-rounded and highly skilled leaders and role models for paddlesports. The team spent two weekends completing Swiftwater Rescue training and Wilderness First Aid certification. The intent of these programs was to further their skills and abilities developing a responsible and educated paddler. They also joined together for a weekend in Atlanta at the Outdoor Nation Summit as ambassadors of the sport. At Outdoor Nation they were awarded a $2500 grant to further a project they developed, participated in round-table decision-making and even led kayak demonstrations introducing the local community at Sweetwater Creek Park to the sport.

2011 YPT - Who We Are

Courtesy Wylder Cooper

The team has also done a great job representing themselves and the sport by creating team videos of their excursions (as seen above), documenting their experiences in blogs and being active members in their communities. So be on the lookout for these eight paddlers. They are a team of skill and determination. And don’t hesitate to say hello when you see them out paddling next season. They love what they are doing and want to get more youth involved in a sport that is changing their lives.

Do You Want to be a Part of the 2012 YPT?

The 2012 YPT team is now in the making. Due to the success of this year’s team, it is going to be even bigger in 2012. There will be two different tracks to accommodate more youth participants ranging from age 6-18 and all skill levels. The online application and details can be found here. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity. Apply now!

GAF 2011 Recap

GAF 2011 was a hit, featuring cool activities, tons of sale items and fun for the kids. But what really stole the spotlight this year was the weather. As you can see in the photo above, GAF Saturday was one of the five best weather days we've had so far in 2011. This was a welcomed change from the waterlogged events of the past three years.

What did this mean for festival goers? Life was just really pleasant, and many guests spent a good portion of their non-shopping time enjoying the activities occurring up and down the Nantahala. From River's End Restaurant to the driving bridge there were paddlers enjoying SUP demos, the beginner-friendly Surf School Wave, the citizen's slalom course and the Hometown Throwdown going on at the big wave.

The scene by the river was lively, but it began to resemble a three-ring circus when the folks from Durham, NC's King BMX Show started performing aerial BMX tricks on the bridge above the wave. The folks from RideGarden also supplied a pump track for the river-left bank, adding to the activity there.

Young festival goers were in hog-heaven too, with the BMX show, live snake and raptor shows, character-based storytelling, free rock climbing and the ever-popular bouncy castle. Next year we're going to do a raffle for the amount of folks that climb the rock wall; it must have offered up 1,000+ climbs in just one and a half days.

The live music line up was excellent, and all the performers had great shows. Blue Eyed Girl, the Freighthoppers and Chalwa gave especially energetic performances this year, and the tent/stage location was probably the best we've had yet.

The overall verdict from the organizer's point of view? It was the most solid, well-oiled GAF we've had in a few years; we didn't seem to have any major hiccups at all. Perhaps that's a signal that it's time to shake things up for next year...

My favorite part of GAF? The return of the popular GAF T-shirt. You can count on that re-establishing itself as a permanent fixture of the event for years to come.

What would you like to see at GAF next year? We've already got some fresh new ideas up our GAF t-shirt sleeves.

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.

River Leader of the Month – September 2011: The Other Side of Pat Keller

I do realize a lot of you already know Pat Keller or at least heard of him.  You probably know him as a big name in the paddling community, may have read prior interviews with Pat or seen footage of him on the internet, maybe met him in person or even had the opportunity to paddle with him.  Pat’s well known for his many paddling accomplishments including multiple first descents, Green River Race wins, World Kayak Freestyle Championships, river expeditions and the list goes on.  You can read about all of this in his other interviews.  But I’d heard there was much more to him than just all of these wins and accomplishments.  My mission: Meet the other side of Pat, the one that’s having fun while getting others involved in paddling.

Recalling the first time I met him, I didn’t think much of it.  Simply a really nice guy at the Dagger tent one demo day.  After that I continued to see Pat come up in cool videos and articles online and hear his name around town amongst my paddling buddies.  Even one of my friends that has been showing me the ropes (as I am just beginning to paddle) was stoked about having paddled the Green River Narrows with Pat for the first time a couple months back.  I didn’t think much about it and then realized, huh, this guy’s really trying to get others out there and into paddling, opening up, sharing his knowledge and leading the way as a role model for a younger generation of paddlers. 

It all began for Pat with his first experience on the water at age 3 when his father took him down the Nantahala River.  As a youth he continued to return to the Nantahala and progressed over the years to inflatable kayaks eventually getting his first boat, a Dagger Blast.  NOC is a home to Pat having grown up visiting the gorge frequently as if it were chapel.  But Pat was an active child involved in paddling, gymnastics, karate and skiing.  At age 9, when he tore his ACL all else ceased and he turned only to kayaking.  He began attending NOC Paddling School Youth Camps where he learned to steer, ferry and turn.  This made kayaking easier and allowed him to focus his attention on fewer things at once having the basic skills coming to him naturally.  “Learning to kayak is such a fun progression. A fun dance!” as Pat likes to put it.  “It builds self-confidence and awareness even with all of the real consequences.”  He pushes himself now by blending the skills he has gained from years of paddling across disciplines, combining freestyle, slalom and creeking to create new challenges.

 A Few Fun Lines on the Green River Narrows with Pat

Good role models are hard to come by in athletes these days.  We hear it almost everyday on the news and in the media about scandals: baseball player Mike Jacobs testing positive for HGH, Tiger Woods’ infidelity, Michael Vick’s dog fighting fiasco, and many more.  Pat desired to not only further himself and his paddling career meeting personal goals but also wanted to help others get into the sport and be a role model for paddling.   In 2001, he became an American Canoe Association certified instructor and began teaching at NOC’s Paddling School.   “To not spread the love seems bad. Everyone’s welcome.”  He continues to get friends and beginners out on the water even offering his own gear for use, showing the way and giving pointers.  “The life experiences paddling has brought me and the fun of it is satisfying.  Bring others in and you see it click.”

Pat is now living his life as a chameleon: working in the “real” world and continuing to progress his involvement in the paddling world.  He is a “suit and tie” at Merrill Lynch a few days a week working toward his professional career goals.  But he has “a foot in both worlds” and feels comfortable.  His passion for paddling continues to consume his free time.  “I haven’t lost who I am.”  Pat is a Dagger Team member, an Ambassador for American Whitewater and is working on his latest venture: a creek boating safety video.  “Your level of knowledge influences perception.”  Pat has plenty of paddling experience he has gained over the years and now he’s sharing it.  This year he’s looking forward to accomplishing a few personal goals as well and continuing his “Grand Adventure” with paddling in Mexico, getting back to the Green Race and skiing throughout the winter.  “My life is good!”  So, be on the lookout as Pat’s making waves and paving the way as a role model in the paddling community. 

Outside Magazine Picks NOC as the "Best Whitewater Kayaking School"

Thanks to Greg Melville at Outside magazine for selecting NOC's Paddling School as the "hands-down best whitewater school in the country." Melville was writing for the "Adventure Adviser" feature and answering the question "What is the best Whitewater Kayaking School?"

Previously the magazine has noted NOC as a "Top School"and a "Best Place to Learn" in its "Zero to Hero" feature that runs early in the calendar year. This feature encourages outdoor enthusiasts to pick up a new pursuit as part of their new year resolutions.

Upon hearing the news Jon Clark, Director of NOC's Paddling School, commented "It's great to be recognized by an authority like Outside. Our instructors are always refining their techniques, developing new programming and simply working hard to help their students improve. I'm proud that we're contributing to the tradition of excellence this school has built over decades."

For a list of NOC Paddling School programs, including a brand new Stand Up Paddleboard program, click here.

Congratulations to Jon and all the NOC instructors!

Three Generations of Nantahala Paddling

While working on a company history board for Slow Joe's Cafe last week, one of my favorite NOC questions came up: what NOCer has the earliest run of the Nantahala? Here's what I know.

The earliest confirmed run was by Aurelia Kennedy, namesake of Relia's Garden and one of three company co-founders. (The other two being her husband Payson Kennedy and their friend Horace Holden.) Relia first paddled the Nantahala in 1954 with a group of fellow counselors from Camp Merrie-Woode and other counselors from nearby Camp Mondamin. The trip was a wedding present from her friend Ramon Eaton.

Relia and Ramon ran the river in a wood and canvas canoe, and Relia remembers being impressed by Ramon's ability to stand in the boat and scout the rapids. According to Ramon, Relia was the second woman to ever run the river behind one of Frank Bell's relatives. (Frank Bell or "Chief" was the founder of Camp Mondamin and the early pioneer of Western North Carolina whitewater. Frank Bell's, the Class IV on the French Broad is named after him.) Relia was 19 on her first Nantahala trip, and she would marry Payson in September of the same year.

This isn't the earliest NOC first descent of Nantahala Falls,
but it may be the "youngest". Just shy of her first birthday
Jennifer Holcombe runs the Falls with her brother Andrew
and mother Cathy in 1984.

The only current NOCer boasting a descent in the 50's is NOC CFO John Burton, who ran the river in 1959 with his buddy Frank Shell. The tandem was on a canoe trip led by John Delabar, the namesake of Delabar's Rock rapid about midway down the Nantahala. Unlike Ramon's wood and canvas canoe, John was in a tougher aluminum Grummun canoe. It is rumored that Delebar's Rock is so named because Delabar destroyed two wood and canvas canoes on the rock in one trip. If that's true, it's understandable that Camp Mondamin would have been early adopters of the more durable aluminum boats.

Cathy guides Payson's Godmother Teresa Greenfield down
Nantahala Falls in 1993. The trip was to celebrate Teresa's 80th
birthday. Teresa wanted to do something special, as her mother
flew in an open biplane to celebrate her 80th.

Payson's first Nantahala run came five or six years after John's. He and Relia were in the area and they ran into their old friend Ramon embarking on a trip with a camp group. They asked if Payson could tag along with the group in a one-person canoe. Ramon obliged and that was the first of countless Nantahala runs for Payson. By 1971 he would be quitting his "day job" as a librarian at Georgia Tech and running rafting trips and paddling instruction on the Nantahala and the Chattooga.

Payson and Andrew compete in open boat nationals in 1992.
This is not a first, but it's a good homage to the
canoe—the original Nantahala watercraft.

Payson and Relia's daughter Cathy (our current Director of Rafting Operations and likely the Nantahala's all time leader in river trips) first ran the Nantahala sometime in the late sixties with Payson. She also was in an aluminum Grummun canoe, and her trip was memorable because it was raining on the Nantahala. As it often does, the river fogged up in the rain, and Cathy remembers her father—who was wearing glasses—having to ask her where to go. Cathy remembers thinking: "Shouldn't dad know where we're supposed to go?"

In the summer of 1981 Cathy's very young son Andrew Holcombe (the third family generation on the Nantahala) rafted the river with his mom and dad. Cathy recalls Andrew sleeping through most of the trip. Cathy's second daughter Jennifer would also log her first trip before her first birthday. Unlike their mother and grandparents, Jennifer and Andrew were in a raft, not a canoe, but they wouldn't have been able to make the trip at such an early age in a canoe. Note that on commercial trips the youngest permitted age is seven, but there are no rules on private family trips.

After hearing all these stories I'm reminded of why there's a tandem canoe in the NOC logo. It's such a central part of how the Nantahala was first run and even today it's likely the best canoeing whitewater in the Southeast, especially in a tandem boat.

By special request Andrew Holcombe guides Wendell through
Nantahala Falls on his first run after years of driving buses by the rapid.

While the Kennedy's family paddling history is impressive, by now there are probably many NOC guests who have had three generations of family run one of our rivers. Let us know with a comment or an email (media@noc.com) if your family is one of these. We're always interested in getting our guests' stories on paper and meeting other paddlers.

My first run of the Nantahala was in 1999, and it's not terribly romantic. I had already paddled the Ocoee and a few other rivers closer to my home, so while I was impressed with the river, it wasn't a totally new experience for me. To be honest, I was really excited I could get a club sandwich at River's End and do another lap on the river in the afternoon.

I've grown up a bit since then, and now I really enjoy sharing the Nantahala with guests on their first whitewater trip. Hopefully they'll share it with their friends and families and start their own whitewater traditions.