Breaking into Slalom Racing

[Cheeks]

I want to get into slalom racing and was looking for some resources, be they books, websites, or instructional circuits in the Pennsylvania area. Any ideas?

[kaz]

Dave Kurtz maintains a permanent slalom training site in Bellefonte. It's located at Tussey Mountain Outfitters.

[arhdc]

The Bellefonte course is 12 minutes from my house.

You can crash at my place if you want to spend some time there.

[Shep]

Find races. Enter. Watch others race.

Seriously, though, I went to Nationals a few weeks ago, and met a bunch of amazing people. It was only my second time ever running gates, and the first time was fooling around with the gates they leave hanging in front of the NOC. John Duncan, The Bayers, Dave Simpson, and a lot of other people gave me good tips and suggestions.

Now I'm hooked, and looking at the Missouri WW Championships next March. (Probably can't make the Alabama Cup races).

Maybe some of the Southern or Western NESS races would be close to you...

[kaz]

If there was enough interest, let's say 6 people, I'd consider teaching a beginner friendly slalom clinic at Bellefonte next spring.

[John Coraor]

Unfortunately, the Penn Cup series just ended for 2012 with the Bellefonte Slalom on Oct. 14. However, you should consider participating in this "beginner" slalom series in 2013.

The Penn Cup is a series of predominantly Class I races for both open and decked boats held at different locations in Pennsylvania in the late summer and fall. The first race is typically the mid-August Dog Days Slalom hosted by Tussey Mountain Outfitters (TMO) on the same year-round practice course in Bellefonte that the last race, the Bellefonte Slalom in mid-October, is held on. Info on both those races is posted on TMO's website. In between, there is the Little Lehigh Slalom in Allentown hosted by the Lehigh Valley Canoe Club, usually in early September. A flatwater slalom is held on the Kish in Lewistown hosted by Mach One Racing Team. The Fiddler's Elbow Slalom is held on Swatara Creek in Hummelstown, hosted by the Canoe Club of Greater Harrisburg. The Riversport Slalom is presented on Ramcat Rapid on the Middle Yough hosted by some paddlers from the Three Rivers Paddling Club. Most Penn Cup races offer an informal slalom clinic on Saturday afternoon, following by open practice on the course. The races are typically on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Kaz's suggestion to take advantage of the "Sunnyside" WW Slalom practice course that is available year-round at Bellefonte, PA is a good option. The creek is spring fed and hosts a set of permanent practice gates on Class I water. Mach One Racing Team, Dave Kurtz's slalom development group is primarily made up of decked boat racers, but open boats can use the training site as well. Sunnyside was originally created by several Penn State affiliated racers who were training for the first Olympic slalom competition held in 1972. Frequent gate workouts at Sunnyside would help hone your slalom skills. Gathering a group to take advantage of Kaz's offer of a more formal clinic would also be a great idea.

If and when you want to step up the difficulty level beyond the Penn Cup series, you'll have to travel outside PA as that state no longer hosts intermediate level slalom races. The New England Slalom Series (NESS) races held in NY, CT, NH, VT, & ME offers a good next step with a March through October series of predominantly Class II races. Heading south, the Potomac WW Racing Center and the races they organize appear to be solely for decked boats, so you probably would need to head further south to NOC to find opportunities for open boat slalom.

John

[gumpy]

we (or someone) should get a race going on the toh again. maybe kaz would help design a course? i bet we could get a release just for the race. maybe mohawk would be interested in sponsoring it?

[Cheeks]

Your friendly neighborhood rep will be at the green race, otherwise I'd say hades yeah. Springtime for sure, if we're back from ALF

[riverharlot]

Regarding NESS - I have to say its worth the drive. They have a few races not too bad drive from PA. CT, NY. I got to attend my first NESS events last spring and not only do they have challenging courses (Penn is good but more of a beginner series) you also get to see some amazing slalom racers. This spring was tough as a couple of races got cancelled but due to low water. NPMB has a dedicated site to NESS. Schedule is usually posted by mid February and the first race is usually 3rd weekend in March or so.

[Jeffrey Ward]

I will be paddling OC1 tomorrow in the Potomac Whitewater Racing Center's slalom race on the Feeder Canal outside Washington, D.C. We generally only have one or two open boats in the Potomac Whitewater Racing Center events, but more would be welcome. It is true, however, that the courses are set with decked boats in mind. For example, there often are a few moves that require pivot turns to accomplish cleanly, and therefore they are impossible to perform without a penalty in an OC1.