Announcing NOC's 2013 Canoe Club Challenge Series

June kicks off the first of the three-part Canoe Club Challange series at NOC! For those of you new to the event, you just need to come out and see it (i.e. be a part of it) for yourselves. Featuring both a downriver and a slalom race, the event is designed to give paddlers of all skill levels a chance to get on the water and take part in some good natured, low-key competition. Talk smack with your friends, cool off on the river, and challenge yourself to a personal best time in the downriver or a clean run on the slalom course. Following the event, enjoy time with friends at Big Wesser BBQ + Brew, catch some live music, and hang out for your chance to win great prizes courtesy of NOC and Dagger.

For those of you who are Canoe Club Challenge veterans, there are a couple of changes to this year's event format that are worth noting:

• Thank you to Dagger for once again sponsoring NOC's Canoe Club Challenge. Following the Canoe Club Challenge Championships in August, we will hold a drawing for the Grand Prize, a new 2013 Dagger kayak (model is the winner's choice).
• $5 race registration includes: downriver race, slalom race and Series t-shirt (each competitor only gets one shirt, even if they come to multiple events). Competitors who come to both June and July races will receive FREE entry to the August event.
• Bring your kids! We're trying to make competition special for our smaller paddlers, and will have awards to recognize all our paddling kids aged 16 and under.

We thank you for understanding that your event entry fee goes directly towards the purchase of prizes and t-shirts. We still won't break even on the event, but the entry fee will help to recoup some of our costs.

 

Slalom Race Format Changes:

• Once the race starts, the course will be closed to practice runs.
• Competitors get two race runs in each class, and can compete in a maximum of three classes.
• Each completed run earns the paddler one raffle ticket.
• Each completed CLEAN run earns the paddler two raffle tickets. (A clean run means making it through each of the gates in the designated order without touching any poles.)
• As always following each event, we will hold a raffle for prizes. Individuals win prizes when their name is picked at the Canoe Club Challenge drawing.

Downriver Race Format Changes:

• This year, each Canoe Club Challenge Downriver Race will be a different length. 
• June: Sprint race from above Nantahala Falls to NOC Founder's Bridge.
• July: Classic race from Ferebee to NOC Founder's Bridge.
• August: Marathon race from Wayah USFS Put-in to NOC Founder's Bridge (GCA Southeastern Whitewater Championships)

Please visit the event page for more information and a full event schedule. We look forward to seeing you out on the water!

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

Olympic Memories: 40 Years Since Augsburg (Part Two)

This August six NOC alumni celebrate the 40th anniversary of their appearance in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. The list includes Carrie Ashton, Louise Holcombe, Cindi Goodwin, Russ Nichols, Angus Morrison and John Burton . We caught up with John to discuss whitewater paddling—which was making its Olympic debut, the thrill of going to the Olympics, how the games changed his life, the tragedy of the Munich massacre and what it's like watching the London games on TV 40 years later. John also gives us a look into his Olympic scrapbook and reflects on the significance of participating in the world's biggest sporting event, the Summer Olympics.

[Continued from Part One]

Tragedy in Munich

Of course, the 1972 Games were marred by the Munich Massacre. John's competitive events were finished six days before the violence, and he spent most of this time at the games enjoying the Olympic Village and watching other athletes compete in a variety of events. He even had a hard-to-get finish line seat for the 100 meter dash. However, the hostage situation cast a pall over what was a wonderful experience. Of the hostage situation and subsequent violence John wrote:

"Yesterday 12 Israeli Olympic team members were murdered.  Kidnapped and murdered by fanatics.  How and why could that happen here, in this place of international fellowship, friendly competition, shared effort and achievement?  What now?  Will the Games be cancelled?  We are all going into the Olympic stadium today for a memorial service—what an amazing contrast to the joy and good will we all experienced just a few days ago in that place."

For Munich athletes like John, who never went to another Olympic Games, it is difficult to process the attack and to understand how it fits into their Olympic memories. The Olympic experience was rightly a high point of the competitors' lives, and they fondly remember the competition and the positive experiences of the games. However, in the midst of the Olympic Village a gruesome and horrible situation played out in plain sight. This was a stark contrast to the as-inspiring-as-usual Olympic competition and Olympic spirit seen and felt in the Munich venues and recalled in the minds of the Games' athletes.

Looking Back

John may have qualified for the 1976 Montreal Games if whitewater had been offered, but whitewater slalom would not return to the Olympics until 1992. He breifly retired after the Olympics, but returned in 1973 to coach the US team at the World Championships in Switzerland. In 1974 John taught a clinic at NOC—the first visit to his future home; he would move to NOC in 1976. While John doesn't seem very upset about missing the '76 Games, he regrets that the twenty year break between whitewater slalom events occurred at a time of American dominance. Davey Hearn, John Lugbill, Cathy Hearn and Kent Ford all could have won gold medals at the Olympics in the 1980's, and combined with Joe Jacobi and Scott Strausbough's gold in Barcelona in 1992, whitewater slalom could have become a highly recognized medal program in the United States. In addition to skill, John asserts that these athletes had media appeal: "They would have been national heroes, like Shuan White."

Interestingly, for John, the team trials was the biggest race of his life—not the Olympics. He says: "The difference between making the team and not making the team is intense. From this vantage point, you have to balance ego with a frank admission of how much luck is involved. If you want to be an Olympian, most importantly, you better choose the right parents." As for being an Olympian. He claims this has made a major difference in his life, a profound difference. "Humans have two key psychological needs. We want to stand out, and we want to belong to a tribe. Making the team fills both of those needs. There are over 300 million people in this country, but only a few thousand Olympians."

When discussing whether the United States can become a competitive powerhouse again John notes the low profile of racing within American paddlesports. "Purists just want to explore, run rapids and get away. Racing is almost antithetical to the counterculture boater—he or she doesn't want to compete." He notes that it also takes extreme dedication to participate. "You have to drive to races, go to places like NOC to practice, find a racing club, and keep at it. It takes thousands of hours of practice to be competitive, and paddling requires thousands of hours of logistics and driving as well."

John emphasizes the importance of canoe clubs to his competitive career. Canoe clubs, he claims, are vital for development of competitive athletes. For example, Nantahala Racing Club, NOC's hometown canoe club, has actually been recognized as a "Center of Excellence" by USA Canoe/Kayak for its contributions to developing competitive athletes. Eric Hurd is an NRC member representing the US in London in 2012.

Georgia Canoeing Association, Carolina Canoe Club, Atlanta Whitewater Club, Tennessee Valley Canoe Club, and the Appalachian Paddling Enthusiasts are additional regional clubs that organize paddling trips, host local paddling sessions and attend competitions. Like these, John's club, even though it was only four people, was critical to keeping him involved and dedicated to his training.

Final Thoughts

This week John wrote about his Olympic experience for NOC's Staff Newsletter, "In the Flow." These comments sum up the experience plus the perspective John's gained over the past forty years:

"Someone once asked me, in the early pre-Olympic days, why I was willing to work so hard in such an obscure sport when (in their view) so little reward was available.  I can now understand that perspective, but at the time the question made no sense to me.  For me, the rewards of finding my passion, of training and improving and being on the fine edge of excellence through hard work, of getting the most out of myself in a difficult pursuit, were so obvious as to need no justification.  For me, winning wasn’t everything, but the pursuit of excellence was and is noble and worthy.  The challenge was to pursue the goal with passion yet with perspective, with humility, and with the ego in check.  Sometimes I would slip into blind selfishness, and be pretty thoughtless to those around me.  It requires maturity I did not have 40 years ago.  Some might say 40 minutes ago, since paying attention remains a life-long endeavor.

Late in my career I discovered that my rewards were multiplied by competing with a partner, and I got extraordinarily lucky in having two perfect partners.  In 1972 I raced with Tom Southworth, who remains my hero and the example of how to compete intensely but with perspective.  From 1975 to 1979 I raced internationally with Gordon Grant, fellow Mondamin and NOC alum, and rediscovered the extraordinary joy of being better with a teammate than I could ever be alone, because sharing the experience made it so much more special.  We were and remain great friends, for which I am extremely grateful.

So, as I watch the athletes in London, I am an unrepentant fan, feeling gripped, cheering, holding my breath, laughing and crying as event after event unfolds.  To them all I would say 'Bravo!  Revel in these moments, good for you.  Remember, you didn’t do this alone.  Your life will be different from now on, and my wish for you is to find a healthy balance of pride, gratitude, and humility.'

Olympic Memories: 40 Years Since Augsburg (Part One)

This August six NOC alumni celebrate the 40th anniversary of their appearance in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. The list includes Carrie Ashton, Louise Holcombe, Cindi Goodwin, Russ Nichols, Angus Morrison and John Burton . We caught up with John to discuss whitewater paddling—which was making its Olympic debut, the thrill of going to the Olympics, how the games changed his life, the tragedy of the Munich massacre and what it's like watching the London games on TV 40 years later. John also gives us a look into his Olympic scrapbook and reflects on the significance of participating in the world's biggest sporting event, the Summer Olympics.

Road to the Olympics

NOC's Executive
Vice President John
Burton celebrates the
40th Anniversary
of his 1972 Olympic
appearance this
August.

John Burton found the obscure pastime of whitewater paddling at Camp Mondamin in Tuxedo, North Carolina. As a youngster he learned paddling fundamentals and began to enjoy whitewater canoeing. He excelled in the activity, and became one of the better paddlers at the camp. Years later, the first two people he met at Dartmouth College were Jay Evans, advisor to the Ledyard Canoe Club, and Wick Walker, C-1 paddler who had just returned from the 1965 World Championships in Europe.  When Wick needed someone to help build a mold for the new boat he had just brought back from Europe, John was happily recruited/duped/Tom-Sawyered into performing the chore. That's how he entered the realm of competitive whitewater racing. Shortly thereafter he started training with a ragtag four-member local canoe club in Median, Pennsylvania and began racing internationally in '67.

Meanwhile, a combination of factors were leading to the whitewater slalom's Olympic status in 1972. The whitewater world championships were getting bigger and bigger, and even in the U.S. where it was considered a fringe lunatic sport (more on that shortly), John claims "there must have been 25 races in the East." Politically, the West Germans decided to use their host status to field an event where they could win gold, and along with East Germany, who also had a strong paddling team, they lobbied for canoe and kayak slalom across the usually impregnable Iron Curtain. The event was established, and the US Olympic Committee found itself scrambling to build an Olympic team.

All of a sudden, John and his paddling companions on the US world championships teams found themselves as the primary hopefuls for the US Olympic Team's whitewater slalom athletes. The team trials were held on the Savage River in Maryland, and John paddled well enough to qualify. He actually qualified in both one-person canoeing and two-person canoeing events, but he and partner Tom Southworth made a strategic decision before team trails that if the two-person boat made the Olympic Team, they would paddle that instead of the one-person boat—thus enabling the other boater to make the trip to Munich.

To accommodate the new sport West Germany built an unprecedented new course at Augsburg. The course, originally a diversionary canal for river ice on the Lech River, is fed by river water through a sluiceway. The water then spills down a 10 to 12 meter wide channel with vertical concrete walls and 35 concrete humps that create the whitewater features. Over 20,000 spectators fit into the venue which provides excellent up-close seating on terraced terrain surrounding the course. The almost 2,000'-long course took most teams about five minutes to complete (very long by modern standards). You can see some photos of the construction and competition in a clipping from John's scrapbook.

While whitewater racing was (and remains) very popular in some European countries, but American sportswriters didn't really know what to make of the event. Red Smith of the New York Times wrote: "The sport, is a hasty search for a watery grave, with rules. It is an outgrowth of white-water racing, which appeals to people whose idea of fun is to be flung down the rapids ears over appetite, hurled against rocks and submerged until the coroner arrives."

To clarify Smith also noted, the sport is "...a slightly suicidal undertaking new to the Olympic Games, which combines the best features of skiing down the Matterhorn, shipwreck, and going over Niagara in a barrel."

"Fame" and the Games

John and Tom handled their newfound Olympic "fame" with a grain of salt. Before the Olympics the Olympic team sent the paddlers a publicity form asking for sportswriters who had been following them thus far; they filled out the form writing only, "Are you kidding?" At the time John was employed as a securities analyst for Philadelphia National Bank and Tom joked that, while he could get the required seven weeks off unpaid from his generous bosses, there was no way even John could get him a loan from PNB to help cover his Olympic expenses. Paddlers have always been suspicious--even Olympic paddlers.

Perhaps adding to the athletes' self-deprecating attitude was the fact that they had to make almost everything they used to compete, and they certainly had to pay for it all. The athletes built their own boat and even their own paddles. John made the t-grip for his canoe paddle on a lathe at Dartmouth out of walnut. Reflecting on the boat they paddled, John notes that they unwisely added an inch of extra material around the boat's seam (which basically traces the waterline of the boat). This decision gave the boat extra volume and was meant to help navigate the "weird" waters at Augsburg, which have a tendency to pulse and boil due to the course's unnatural vertical walls. It turns out the winning East German team actually squeezed volume out of their boats and sneaked most of the big water features—a style that tends to dominate in modern racing. You can also see from the photos that John and Tom raced an "end hole" boat, where the paddlers sit with considerable space between them, almost like a traditional canoe. In '72 the rules did not yet allow close-cockpit C-2’s thus preserving the traditional canoe shape and design.

At the Olympic competition the pair made their first run in 7 minutes and 7.4 seconds (with penalties included). The pair was tenth out of twenty teams after the first run—six teams were unable to complete the first run in their boats. The team's second run was an improvement, shaving twenty seconds off the first time, and John and Tom ended up finishing in 12th place, ahead of the other American team. An American teammate, Jamie McEwan did win the bronze in the one-person canoe event (the event John also qualified for). John's diary from the event reads:

"My C-2 partner Tom Southworth and I just finished 12^th in our race, rolling twice on our counting run!  Our time was over 6 minutes on the wild Augsburg artificial course, but we finished, and we were the top American boat, so we were very happy.  'You can lose the Olympics with honor' was certainly true for us, who were totally delighted just to make the team.  The Olympic Trials were really the gut-check, you-have-to-be -your-best moment for us, and we won it.  So, flying to Munich, experiencing the opening ceremonies, eating fabulous food we didn’t have to prepare or pay for ourselves in the Village, having a coach and team manager taking care of our every need, being outfitted by Sears in our flashy polyester red, white and blue uniforms, rubbing shoulders with the U.S. basketball team, watching Jamie  McEwan win the bronze in C-1—it has been an exhilarating, once-in-a-lifetime experience."

[End of Part One: Click here to Read the Rest]

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

US Whitewater Open Preview

This weekend, paddlers from around the world will sprint through the slalom gates on the Nantahala River, when NOC and Nantahala Racing Club (NRC) hosts the 2010 Bank of America US Whitewater Open. The weekend features two days of high-intensity slalom racing at a spectator friendly course at Nantahala Falls.

Giles Morris wrote this article in today's Smoky Mountain News, it's a great primer for the event. (Click to read more.)

"No matter how you look at it, the U.S. Open is one of the classic showcases in the sport of whitewater racing, and the event will bring some of the world’s best racers in both slalom and wildwater classifications to Western North Carolina to show off their skills."

If you've never watched a slalom race, here's what you can look forward to. In slalom competition competitors get two runs of the course, which is typically paddled in less than two minutes. The paddlers negotiate 20 gates-14 downstream gates and six upstream gates-incurring two-second penalties for any touch of a gate, and an insurmountable 50-second penalty for displacing a gate by more than 45 degrees, proceeding in the wrong order or passing through upside-down. The competitors' two times are added together, with the fastest combined time winning the race.

As always, NOC will offer free parking for the event, and River's End Restaurant will be open for racers and spectators can fuel up. The Outfitter's Store, cabin lodging and even Nantahala River rafting will all be open this weekend.