INTRODUCTION TO THE MINDEN WILDWATER PRESERVE

Book as soon as possible.

A whitewater skill building weekend for solid intermediate tandem or solo canoeists. We held this for the first time last summer, and it proved to be a great way for intermediates to gain experience on more challenging water. So let’s do it again! Limit of 5 boats. The Minden Wildwater Preserve features a man-modified 800 meter section of the Gull River that ranges in Class II to Class IV in difficulty.

It is a narrow, fast, technical piece of water that resemble an alpine stream. Fully outfitted whitewater boats are required. By Preserve regulations, all paddlers must wear helmet. We will start at the bottom, familiarizing participants with the river, and working with them a step at a time to gain the skills and confidence necessary to run this type of water. To safely enjoy this weekend, participants will need to be able to confidently and consistently control a boat in quickly moving water with ferries and eddy turns.

With the volume cranked up high, this is a formidable run for the world's most skilled paddlers. It has hosted World Cup Slaloms and will be the site of the whitewater events for the upcoming Pan Am Games. Needless to say, we'll be paddling it at more modest levels. Anticipate the lower section we will paddled to be a technical Class II to Class III. If you are currently a solid Class II paddler, you should learn a lot on this weekend.

The Preserve also conatains an attractive campground and training centre. We will camp here for the weekend. Going up Friday would make things more relaxing, but is not necessary.

NOTE: AUTOMATIC REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. CONTACT ORGANIZER DIRECTLY BY EMAIL WITH DETAILS OF YOUR WHITEWATER EXPERIENCE AND EQUIPMENT.