Relay race on the Skykomish in July or August
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8018
Printed Date: 18 May 2025 at 9:59pm
Topic: Relay race on the Skykomish in July or August
Posted By: ChristianKnight
Subject: Relay race on the Skykomish in July or August
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2009 at 10:57pm
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Paddlers,
I've been mulling the idea of organizing a relay race (Sam Nutton suggested we do it in relay style) on the Skykomish. The race would have two or three legs. Under the three-leg format, the race would begin either on the North Fork, or if the water is too low by then (it probably will be), it will start at the confluence and end at Big Eddy (the raft take-out). Here's how the three-leg format would work: Leg 1: North Fork (or Confluence) to Anderson Hole. Leg 2: Anderson Hole through Fisherman's. Leg 3: Below Fisherman's to Big Eddy. The advantage of the three-leg format is that it would enable paddlers of three skill levels to compete. The disadvantage is this: If the first leg begins at the Confluence instead of the North Fork, that first leg would be very short. Maybe just five or seven minutes long. The other option is to format the race into two legs, with the first leg starting at the Confluence and ending at Anderson and the second leg beginning at Anderson and finishing at the Confluence. This means longer legs, so, especially in late July or early August, it becomes a little more of an endurance race with some whitewater mixed in. And, because teams are of two, instead of three paddlers, we should have more teams. The disadvantage is that it eliminates that beginner-class leg. Before I get serious about this idea, I want to know a.) how much interest is out there and b.) what you guys think of the format options and c.) am I missing something regarding the dates. I like the idea of July/August because the water level will be reliably low, the weather should be reliably nice and nothing else (except BC stuff) is going on then. Please let me know. ------------- Catch your eddies, Christian |
Replies:
Posted By: Gabe
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 7:41am
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how about 4 legs? 1) Confluence through BD 2) Bottom of BD - Split Rock 3) Split Rock - Fisherman's 4) Fisherman's - Big Eddy That would still allow class IV and class II paddlers to compete on the same team, and makes the lengths a little longer giving everyone some decent rapids. Also each of those spots is an access point. I haven't mapped it though to see if those legs would even be roughly equal in length. ------------- Pura Vida! |
Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 8:25am
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I think that sounds like a blast. Would it be head to head mass start or a time trial type race? ------------- "That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't." |
Posted By: ChristianKnight
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 9:33am
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It'd be a mass-start race. It'd be chaotic. But I think the low water would allow multiple lines through each rapid and I'm thinking people would race the section that's at least one class lower than what they are capable of. ------------- Catch your eddies, Christian |
Posted By: rokmnky
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 12:25pm
| that sounds like fun. Guess i need to get back in a big boat some to practice. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 1:00pm
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sounds like fun ------------- |
Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 2:14pm
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A mid July, sky relay race sound great! Given how popular the river is, and low summer flows, i'd imagine lots of people coming out to compete and hangout with friends. I'll be there for sure!
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Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 2:18pm
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Sounds fun for sure. As the mysterious Boofsquire would say: Red Bull in hand, ladies on shore! miss that guy... :)
http://www.worldkayak.com/article_wk.cfm?newsid=178 ------------- "That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't." |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2009 at 2:33pm
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Great Idea!!
There's absolutely no way I'm going to race in a boat shorter than 9' though. Not on the Sky.
Needless to say, too: I'd be really interested in the Boulder Drop leg. It may be hard to get enough racers of varying skill levels together to make appropriate teams. Ussually it's the class IV-V crowd that has a hunger for racing. Can we expect to find enough class II and III paddlers for the other legs?
I like the mass start idea, too. The river is plenty big to accomodate that. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: Liz
Date Posted: 03 Apr 2009 at 6:21am
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[QUOTE=bdrkayaker]Sounds fun for sure. As the mysterious Boofsquire would say: Red Bull in hand, ladies on shore! miss that guy... :) http://www.worldkayak.com/article_wk.cfm?newsid=178%5b/QUOTE - http://www.worldkayak.com/article_wk.cfm?newsid=178[/QUOTE ] Uhm, let's not assume that the ladies will be on shore.
  This does sound like a fun event, and I'd be game for participating in a leg (II-III, although I think I swim through BD rather quickly
 ). I must say, I feel like a much faster paddler after a little Heather Herbeck instruction last night. At least I made it across the pool pretty quick. Ha! |
Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 03 Apr 2009 at 7:39am
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Oops, not exactly what I meant! sorry - SYOTR ------------- "That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't." |
Posted By: Tobin
Date Posted: 03 Apr 2009 at 8:59am
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Liz,
You get in the boat, I'll be on shore with the beer.
Christian, I think it is a great idea. I won't be back paddling by then, but would be happy to help out with race day tasks.
Cheers ------------- Sure? |
Posted By: LisaF
Date Posted: 03 Apr 2009 at 3:17pm
| Count me in, too! I like mid-July because you know there will be SOME water. BTW, you don't have to be a class II paddler to do the class II leg - you just have to be FAST! |
Posted By: kbelenky
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2009 at 12:16pm
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Here's what such a mob on Boulder Drop might look like. http://picasaweb.google.com/kbelenky/KayakingPhotos02#5321089493154220194 As for the actual race, I'm a definite maybe. I suspect (like someone said earlier) that you'll have a much easier time finding people who want to do the Boulder Drop stretch than the Big Eddy stretch. |
Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2009 at 9:26pm
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that is a sweet pic. It makes boulder drop look really long. beautiful day to be on the water fo sho ------------- "That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't." |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2009 at 10:09pm
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That is a rad photo Kennet!!! I could look at that all day long behind my desk at work, picking new combinations and routes through such a park like rapid !!! |