World Kayak Event Coverage

I arrived in Vail yesterday, June 2, in the later afternoon after making the drive west for two days. The little 88′ Toyota truck has served me well once again forever proving that they are the greatest vehicles ever made! Being road weary and ready to stretch out a bit and get some much needed exercise, I walked down to the Inertantional Bridge in Vail where the freestyle will be held. There i was greeted with many familiar faces and friends who I have not seen in nearly a month, many of whom who have been in Colorado during that time and already road tested.

There was a good size group on the water already getting a feel for this new feature on Gore Creek. The Town of Vail this year added adjustable platforms to tweak the feature to be sure we had a quality playspot this year. With the added water from the plethora of snowmelt, the feature is a deep, powerful and pretty retentive spot. I suited up and paddled for about an hour before catching up with my host for the week, Andy Zettl. Andy knows my girlfriend Jackie from college and agreed to help a brother out.

The Town of Vail is amidst construction building a new hotel, and preparing for this upcoming TEVA Mountain Games, so the streets have been a buzz. Many of the local creeks and rivers have been swollen from the snow melt, including Homestake Creek, host of the Dagger Homestake Creek Race which is to take place on Thursday (tomorrow). Air temperatures have ranged from 30 at night to 50’s during the day with chances of thunderstorms this afternoon and a chance of flurries tonight, burrrrrr! This boy from Charlotte, NC is actually welcoming the cooler temperatures as a reprieve from the sweltering heat of the Southeast and Midwest. However the water temperature is to be less than desired as I am sure it is nearly topping out at 35 degrees or so.

Many are at Homestake this morning and this afternoon dialing in their lines for tomorrows race and a few were in the hole this morning giving feedback on how it should be tweaked.

This weekends kayak events are as follows:

Thursday, Homestake Creek Race and official Opening Ceremonies.

Friday, Freestyle Qualifier and Freestyle Clinics, music provided by Ozomatli

Saturday, Downriver Sprint, Freestyle Semis and Finals

Sunday, 8-Ball Qualifier and Finals (This should be fun!)

More to follow Soon!

The gallery below are just a few pictures from the $50 mil feature and the easily recognized International Bridge. Views from Vail can be absolutely breathtaking, as well as the elevation.

[Show as slideshow]