2011 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1

The first event in the 2011 Nolichucky/Nantahala Hometown Throwdown series was a fun change in format and a great time for all!  Rock splats, rock spins, split wheels, splat wheels, wave wheels, eddy wheels, and macho moves abound in the throwdown!  We had 19 competitors join in for some friendly downriver freestyle/slalom competition!  We had 25-30 spectators who watched and cheered on the competitors from the Riverpark Campground bank.  The event was held at Big Rock on the Lower Nolichucky River, TN. 

The river level was around 1,200 CFS which made the main Big Rock wave/hole feature too flushy for our typical rodeo format.  So we took a lemon and made lemonade by laying out a fun slalom course through the rapid.  The first part of the course involved catching 3 eddies down through the rapid marked with traffic cones on the rocks.  The competitors got 10 points for each of the marked eddies they caught.  The next part of the course was a football toss into a bucket for 10 points.  The last part of the course was a paddle toss through a hula hoop for 10 points.  Competitors had 2:00 minutes to complete the course while attempting downriver freestyle moves along the way to earn additional points from our Variety and Technical judges!  A big thanks to Daniel Dutton for helping us set this fun course!

The weather for the afternoon began with partly sunny skies and mild temps.  As we were finishing up the first heat of competitors, a small severe thunderstorm rolled through the valley that made us stop the event for 45 minutes to seek shelter.  After the storm passed the event went back into full swing with warmer water thanks to the storm! 

2011 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1 Results:

Women K-1:

1. Jo Ann Pasqua (99)

C-1:

1. David Goodwin (223)

Men’s Expert K-1:

1. Michael Patterson (377)

2. Kerry Porche – Hand Paddler (215)

3. Daniel Dutton (198)

4. Duane Gibson (184)

5. David Ledford (155)

Men’s Intermediate K-1:

1. Alex Andrews (198)

2. Wesley R. Bradley (161)

3. Andrew Bentley (160)

4. Travis Vaughn (153)

5. Steve Moore (148)

6. Chris Vella (142)

7. Randy Pasqua (133)       

8. Ryan Shealy (125)

Men’s Novice K-1:

1. Jeff Weatherford (154)   

2. Mike Dorsey (145)

3. Ian Watson (135)

4. Michael McNeal (15)

(Click here for a PDF copy of Event #1 Results)

Thank you to all the competitors for their participation and congrats to all of our class winners of Event #1!

Event Highlights:

*Michael McNeal, from our Johnson City Team River Runner Chapter, competed in his first ever kayaking event at this throwdown!  He has only been in moving current on the river twice before this event… He completed his run through the Big Rock rapid and showed a lot of GUTS to represent for JCTRR!  Congrats to Michael on this feat and a sincere thank you to him for his service to our country as a veteran!  That makes him the big winner of the day in my book!!!

* Mike Patterson once again dominated the competition and entertained the crowd with a variety of downriver tricks!  He remains the undefeated champion of the Noli!

* Andrew Bentley gave us a great show in the new Jackson Kayak Coosa with a dance & crash in one run!

* Dave Ledford got loose in turn #2 and had a wild roll over NASCAR style crash over the ledge into the eddy!  He rolled up finished the rest of the run in style!

*Chris Vella finished his last run with an open cockpit seal launch!

*We had 6 swimmers (3 Experts) during the event who went home with with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker award.

*Finely aged paddlers, Mike Dorsey, Jo Ann Pasqua, & Randy Pasqua, join us in event #1 to show us that you can have fun in these events at any age!

*Mahoney’s & the J.A.W. set up a nice vendor booth on site for folks to check out their latest paddling gear for sale & demo.

*Everyone who competed or volunteered in the event went home with a prize!

Event #1 Photo Album Links:

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album #1

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album #2

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album #3

Noli HTTD #1 Award Ceremony photo album

A big THANK YOU goes out to all of our great volunteers for their help in event #1:

Jennifer Bradley – Variety Judge & Registration

Melanie Patterson – Technical Judge

Brian Vermillion, Mike Patterson & Ben Carr – Scribes

Susan Jarvis – Time Keeper

Cheryl Killman – Photographer

Andrew Smith – Football Toss Referee

A special thank you goes out to our World Kayak Partners listed in the banner at the top of this page & the local sponsors below for all the great prizes & support of the events!

The World Kayak Amateur Points System really seems to be generating some new excitement at our events this year!  I have been contacted by several of the competitors of event #1 to sign up to Get Ranked.  Don’t MISS OUT on your chance to win 1 of 4 Jackson Kayak Stars that we are giving away to all members who pay $10 to Get Ranked by June 1, 2011! 

Participation in the events is the key to bring home a series championship this year!  Check out the current standings below:

Click here for a PDF copy of Point Series Standings

Mark your calendar for June 11, 2011 to join us &  for event #2!  I hope to see you on the Noli to throwdown!!

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Idaho Throwdown #1 2011

Last Friday we had our first  Idaho Hometown Throwdown of the year at the gutter. We had a good turn out for a chilly April evening, 10 competitors and a bunch of spectators  Alpenglow was nice enough to bring a gaggle of demo boats for whoever wanted to try them, including the new Rock Stars from Jackson kayak which drew lots of “Oooo’s and Ahhhh’s” from those that tried them out.

The wave wasn’t the best for aerial tricks, but a great front surf and spin wave. Mychal Hayes was the only one to throw a big move, a sweet aerial loop – but we saw some cartwheels other advanced moves from Jackson paddler Devon Barker and regional paddlers Micah Kneidl and Alec Voorhees. It was good to see a couple of kayakers new to surfing out there, one of them threw the biggest window shade I’ve ever seen – getting blasted under the wave and shooting vertically out. Big cheers and worth some ‘That-was-Awesome’ points from the style judge Where else can newbie surfers rub elbows and compete with veteran world class paddlers like Devon Barker and Jim Grossman? After two hole rides we held a boatercross. Then wrapped it up because it was getting chilly. Overall it went well and it was a great time. I hope we’ll see you at the May Throwdown at Kellys Whitewater Park in Cascade!

On Saturday we had a booth at the Whitewater Expo / boatswap at Alpenglow. This was a first of what I hope to be many Put on by Chuck and Anne Cremer. Quite a few vendors were there and educational seminars were held. They even had a drawing for a Jackson Star as well as a bunch of other WW gear.  If you missed it this year make sure and check it in 2012!

Here are the scores:

Adults:

K1 A:

1: Mychal Hayes
2. Devon Barker
3. Micah Kneidl
4. Jim Grossman – Boatercross only

K1 B:

1. Gary Mattos
2. Will Howerton

Juniors K1:

1. Alec Voorhees
2. Hayden Voorhees – Troy Wilson

Cadet:

1.Buey Grossman
2. Connor Voorhees