Brierley's Whitewater Classic

The 9th Annual Brierley's Whitewater Classic was once again, a fun filled event...despite the 3 days of rain over the weekend. The event started with a morning registration at the Brierley's site, and a hearty pancake/sausage/egg breaky at the Parks Canada Rocky Mountain House Historical Site. After scarfing down a gut bomb of sausage, the crew gathered for an intermediate Blue Bridge to Brierley's run, while the beginner group headed off for an instructional float from Brierley's down to the Rocky Water Treatment Plant. Meanwhile, Eric Albert, Ryan Carroll, and Gerald Hendrichs set up the huge sound system at point blank range of the lower hole at the Brierley's for the main hole event at 2:00 pm. Spectators horded shortly thereafter, obviously attracted to the area by the blaring tunes. With great eddy service, and the hold being right around 100 CMS, people were well within their comfort zone to test and observe great tricks by kayakers and C1ers alike. Cartwheels, McNasty's, Godzillas, and impressive displays of no handed loops by some of our younger members really boosted the energy level of the entire event.
Endless Adventures was very generous in donating a Level 6 Duke Drytop for the event. The winner of the drytop was one of our younger paddlers, Grant Hunter. Grant started off the year with side surfs, progressed to flat spins, and went right into doing no paddle loops! Fitting that he won the drytop, being that he started off the season with a cheap spraytop which he converted into a semi-drytop after gluing in his own gaskets. Good job Grant!


Despite the poor weather and cold, wet gear, spirits remained high throughout the second day. Surf clinics, and a progressive move for the beginners into the intermediate Blue Bridge run dominated the morning. At 2:00 pm the hole riding event resumed, but was cut short due to a rapidly moving storm cell that rocked the area with lightning, hail, and a sheet of rain. The Brierley's campsite was flooded almost instantaneously, but in true paddler fashion, many resumed back to the hole once the storm subsided, for a hole riding clinic hosted by Chip Powell.




We would like to thank all our sponsors, especially Endless Adventures for their generosity. Your good will to the paddling community does not go unnoticed.
Cheers,
Eric Albert
Assistant Event Organizer