C-Forum

Hi all,

I'm going to be working in Calgary this summer and I was wondering what the whitewater paddling opportunities are like in the area. I have heard rumours of a whitewater park at COP, and I know there are a few rivers in that area. Can anyone point me in the direction of more information? I'm trying to decide if it is worth throwing my boat on the roof of the truck for the drive out. Any info would be great, and if anyone wants to meet up out west this summer I'd be more than happy to get out and paddle with others!
Cheers,

Adam

Adam,

Check out http://www.bowwaters.org

This is the Bow Waters Canoe Club.

The Kananaskis River is a local fav,


Gord

Adam,

There are tons of whitewater opportunities out in Calgary. There is great paddling in the area. I am sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no whitewater park at COP. They are in the early stages of retrofitting the old weir on the bow river near downtown into a multi drop ww park. But that project is not slated to be finished until 2010 if I remember correctly.

As far as specific boating opportunities go, it all depends on your comfort level. For the most part, the water out here is steep, fast, continuous, and cold. With that being said, there are still quite a few rivers that lend themselves well to OC1 and OC2's. Don't expect to find to many other single bladers though. I just came home from the Pincher Creek WW fest in Southern Alberta and there were only a 2-3 open canoers and I was the only c1er out of a group probably close to 160-180 paddlers.

If you can find it (it is extremely difficult to find them), Stuart Smith has produced THE guidebook to have for the northern and southern rockies. Although outdated, the information is still fairly current and still the best resource as to what is out here. Also check out http://kayakwest.com/ as a start for some descriptions and www.calpaddle.com for local discussion and banter. If you poke around the www.aquabatics.com website, you'll find some club listings, some of those pages have some descriptions of local runs as well. As Gord suggested, the Kan is usually always running, a fun little class II run, and a great place to meet other boaters.

I would say if you have room on your truck for your boat, there is no reason not to bring it. Although I am up in Edmonton, I make it down to that way fairly often throughout the summer.

Brad

Welcome to the West,i live in Sundre(an hour north of Calgary),which is on the Red Deer.The upper red can go 3,3+ in med-high.Easy access and some good fun.There's tonnes of good water 'round Cowtown and right now it's startin' to rip.I belong to Bow Waters and every weekend and some mid-week there's plenty of open-boaters headin' out.Last weekend we were on the Sheep,12 open boats.$65 gets you access to the web site and over a hundred trips on a schedule.A great way to get out on rivers with people who know them,with safety a main goal.C'mon out the water is fine.