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Jessica's Kayak Slalom Photo Album |
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SLALOM RACEWhat?....a slalom course at the put-in rapid of Tobin? What happens if someone swims? There’s a Class IV+ rapid immediately downstream! Course designer Keith Kishiyama decided to move the slalom course from the Shady Rest rapid on the Cresta Run to Tobin, a full-on Class V run. Dad was excited about the idea, but I was a little concerned.
When I saw the actual course, my concerns were put to rest. Keith built a really sweet course and shortened it so that it only had 16 gates, with the last gate, which took the paddler into a large eddy on river right, as the finish line. It was a short and fast course, but I didn’t paddle the slalom race very well as my mind was on another race: the Tobin Class V Downriver Race!!
TOBIN CLASS V DOWNRIVER RACE While I’m very comfortable paddling Class V whitewater, I’ve never raced on Class V before. It is going to be pretty intense, and I know I’ll need to pace myself so I don’t go lactic immediately above one of the big drops. The Tobin downriver race started on the first bridge and finished on the sandy beach of the take-out, at Storey bridge. I remember running Tobin the first time -- it took about two hours as we had a lot of scouting to do. This time, I’m racing it and I’m a little…nervous!
Race organizer Macy Burnham invited me to do a practice run in the morning, before my race run in the afternoon. I was hoping that this would clear my anxiety. It did…a little! While I was confident of making my lines, I was just worried about overdosing on lactic acid while running the drops.
During the race, I was in survival mode. My body took over on instinct. I never stopped paddling and I punched through the next rapid as if it were just my next stroke. There was only one troubling spot: I had too much speed going over a sharp turn into a boof and I went over the other side; consequently, I had to change my line and take an alternate channel. The finish line was the beach at the take-out. All racers sat around reminiscing on the race. Then, off to the Belden party!
PARTY The party was held at Belden Town. Each of the Tobin racers had to induce themselves to a traditional celebratory shot of an unknown alcoholic beverage with the exception of me, who was given iced tea. The prizes for the slalom race were plentiful: my dad and I scored Smith sunglasses, a Torrent paddling coffee table book, and Teva flip flops. The band, Alice DiMicele, was awesome. Its lead singer, a rafter and kayaker, sounded like Bonnie Raitt. The prizes were cool, and apparently the drinks were satisfying, but what made the day was the companionship of fellow river people celebrating the beauty of the Feather River, which came back to life with the help of American Whitewater. What a kick!
Thank you Keith Kishiyama for putting the enormous amount of effort into creating the slalom course! You had a clear vision of how you wanted to design the slalom course and it turned out beautifully. Thank you to Dave Steindorf, Roland McNutt, American Whitewater, and the Chico Paddleheads! Same time next year!
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Feather River Slalom and Tobin Downriver Races August 25, 2007 Tobin, CA (Races)and Belden Town, CA (Party)
The Feather River’s Class V Tobin run hosts both slalom and downriver races!
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PHOTOS BY JOHN JERGER |
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Slalom race. |
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Tobin Class V Downriver Race |
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