Yak…Yak…Yak…

Our LAST Hometown Throwdown of the 2009 season is FRIDAY, Sept 4th at the Gutter.

5:30 for registration and hit the wave at 6pm. I’ll bring my grill, so bring you favorite grill food for after the event if you would like to stick around! As usual we will draw for prizes after the event.

Want to test out a new ‘10 Star series boat?? You can at the Throwdown! We are teaming up with Alpenglow Mountainsport in order to add Jackson Kayak Demo-Daze to the mix. Alpenglow will provide a slew of boats for you to test out during the evening including the 2010 Star series. Alpenglow also has all 2010 Star models in stock and available for Demos including the new MonStar!

If possible, please register for the event online at http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/register/ (then click on the link for Boise Throwdown #6). If you have ANY problems creating a login, registering, etc – let me know. I can fix you up pretty fast.

Hope to see you there!

Our 5th of 6 Hometown Throwdowns is tonight at the gutter. 5:30 to register – 6pm get wet!

Check out pics from last weeks Throwdown HERE!

Our next Throwdown is Thursday July 16th at the Gutter.

5:30 for registration and hit the wave at 6pm. I’ll bring my grill, so bring you favorite grill food for after the event if you would like to stick around and enjoy the warm evenings that are here! As usual we will draw for prizes after the event.

Want to test out a new ‘10 Star or AllStar?? You can at the Throwdown! We are teaming up with Alpenglow Mountainsport in order to add Jackson Kayak Demo-Daze to the mix. Alpenglow will provide a slew of boats for you to test out during the evening including these 2010 Star series boats.

If possible, please register for the event online at http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/register/ (then click on the link for Boise Throwdown #3). If you have ANY problems creating a login, registering, etc – let me know. I can fix you up pretty fast.

As usual, if you want to bring something to ‘throw on the Barbie’ after the TD, I’ll bring the grill

Come for a fun evening of live music, great refreshments, and the Boise premiere of Whitewater Hall of Famer Kent Fords new documentary on the history of whitewater kayaking and canoeing.

Date: Friday, June 12th
Time: 7-9 PM
Location: Muse Building, 1317 W. Jefferson St, Boise ID 83702 (Map)
Admission: $10, benefiting the Alzar School and a scholarship fund for Idaho teens.

There will be door prizes for oldest kayak on your car, oldest kayaking t-shirt, and more. Live music is from Travis and Ali Ward of Hillfolk Noir, a great local Boise band. There will also be a silent auction on some amazing desserts. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Alzar School (a local Boise 501c3 nonprofit) and a special scholarship fund for Idaho students.

Movie Description:
The Call of the River: The Twisted History of Whitewater Paddling
The story of whitewater is a collage of unexpected influences. The canoeing roots of the sport were in summer camps, explorer scouts, and clubs. Early exploration of rivers was in elegant wood and canvas boats. Early kayaking participants were often chemists, scientists, and engineers unfazed by the barriers presented by newly evolving resins that it took to build boats.

In the early days you had to be willing to build your own boat, teach someone to paddle so you had a shuttle, mail 30 cents of stamps in exchange for a water level, and attend races to obtain paddles and other gear. A sixpack of beer could persuade a damkeeper for a water release.

Growth of paddling in the US exploded in the 70andrsquo;s, spurred by the movie Deliverance and the Olympic Games, and more recently by indestructible plastic kayaks. Now nearly 16 million participants crave the outdoor sport lifestyle.

Featuring old school canoeing and kayaking footage, and riveting interviews with the early pioneers andldquo;The Call of the Riverandrdquo; provides a behind the scenes look at the ingenuity that made kayaking, from the European emigrants escaping communism to the American entrepreneurs who build the boats of today. We meet many of the wonderfully eclectic personalities involved in the evolution of paddling, and watershed moments of how paddling became one of the premiere outdoor sports of today.

Preview: http://www.performancevideo.com/The_Call_of_the_River

Despite last winter’s abundant powder, the water year finished near average, and more wet years are needed to relieve the drought.

Read the entire Idaho Statesman article HERE!

In less than two weeks, the political dynamics of the Columbia and Snake River salmon debate changed dramatically.

Check out the entire Idaho Statesman article HERE!

Jackson Regional Team Member Mark Cecchini reports on the results of the planning meeting last week.

New Park Logo:

For those of you interested in this sort of thing, here are my observations from last night’s Boise WW Park Meeting.

Last night, the City of Boise Parks and Recreation Department along with representatives of McLaughlin Water Engineers presented the updated design for the whitewater park and the preliminary design of the planned Ester Simplot Park. First I have to say that the city appears to be doing its level best to include all of the stakeholders in the design process. The stretch of river where the park will be built has two irrigation diversions with water rights extending back to the  mid-1800’s. Thus, one major challenge for the design is to maintain these diversions while improving the safety, recreational opportunities, and riparian habitat of the river. Creating a whitewater park without altering the existing floodplain is another major design challenge.

As it stands now, the plan is to begin removing the upstream Thurman Mill diversion (the site of the 36th Street Wave) and replacing it with a new navigable and adjustable structure in the Fall of 2009. As presented last night, the design of this structure includes both a Vail-style Bladder system and a ASCI-style  “Waveshaper”. According to park designer Nick Turner, the Waveshaper will provide a year-round boatable channel while at higher flows the Bladder system will allow for a fully adjustable whitewater feature. It was unclear from the presentation what flows would be needed to spill enough water over the bladder portion of the structure to create a feature without disrupting the irrigation diversion.

Four or five conventional fixed whitewater features were also included in the plan. However, there was not much detail provided about these features, possibly due to ongoing negotiations with the downstream diversion controlled by the Farmerand’s Union Ditch Co. Other improvements to the site include: bank terracing/stabiliza tion, improved riparian habitat, raised viewing areas, and a “lazy river” connecting three ponds adjacent to the the river. Turner stated that the whitewater portion of the park is being designed for a beginner to intermediate skill set, but that the adjustability of the Thurman Mill feature will allow for a  competition- worthy spot at normal summer flows ~1,200 cfs.

During the question and answer session, community members raised a host of issues. Some boaters where concerned about how the park would handle sediment and flood debris. A concerned citizen questioned the impact that park would have on the bald eagles that can be seen on the stretch during the winter months. Others raised questions about the location of access, the cityand’s plans for educating the public about river safety, traffic congestion and safety near the entrance to the park, and plans for providing a natural park setting suitable for “unstructured play.”

All in all, the Boise WW park apears to be on track to begin the first phase of consrtuction next Fall, with the adjustable feature in place by spring 2010. The second phase of construction, which will install the downstream features, is planned to start in the Fall of 2010. However, only about $2 million of the projected $6 million total cost has been committed to date. In appreciation of the Neef family’s generous $1 million donation to the project the park will be known as Ray Neef, MD River Recreation Park. Additional funds have been contributed by the city of Boise and private donations through Friends of the Park (http://www.boiseriv erpark.com/ default.asp). The park is an exciting development for paddlers in the Boise area and it promises to greatly improve the aesthetics, safety, and habitat on this stretch of river.

BOISE — After nearly a decade of planning construction is set to begin on Boises first river recreation park next year.

Read the rest of the KTVB article HERE!

Please join us for a discussion of the planned Boise River Recreation Park

Meeting will be held at Whittier Elementary Gymnasium at 6:00 PM on Thursday, October 30th

Water rights are major hurdle for Wild and Scenic Rivers

Congress is steering a bill through the final rapids that would add 315 miles of Idaho rivers to the Wild and Scenic Rivers system that Idaho Sen. Frank Church helped create 40 years ago this month.

See the full Idaho Statesman article HERE!