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Whitewater Center open for business |
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Thursday, 14 September 2006 |
by NICK IANNIELLO
News Reporter
Charlotte’s new U.S. National Whitewater Center, located on the Catawba River, promises to bring new attention to outdoor sports of all kinds.
“It’s a phenomenal project,” Outdoor Programs Coordinator Brent Cochran said.
The center’s opening event was the Aug. 26 Whitewater Slalom U.S. National Championships.
The
National and World Championships require boaters to navigate a series
of gates by going both down and upstream in class III and IV rapids.
“Slalom is traditionally a much older form of paddling competition,” Cochran said.
The center also
offers whitewater rafting for groups, times for private boaters to use
the facilities, and a weekly rodeo competition.
Rodeo competitions require paddlers to use features of the river to perform tricks such as cartwheels and loops in their boats.
“It’ll really
bring a lot of people into the sport,” 16-year-old National
Championships and Junior World Championships competitor Jeffrey H. Poe
said.
The whitewater center has great potential to bring paddlers to Appalachian.
“We are a
destination school,” Cochran said. “Paddlers come to Appalachian for
our location and our reputation as a fine academic location.”
Outdoor Programs is currently looking for ways to utilize the whitewater center for its paddling programs.
Due to its
constant dam controlled flow of water, the whitewater center will also
be a great to local paddlers during periods when there has been very
little rain.
“There already exists a great paddling culture in the mountains,” Outdoor Programs Coordinator Gareth M. Wheeler said.
The center also offers a variety of flat-water paddling opportunities including upcoming boat rentals.
While the color
of the water is currently brown, things will improve as the center’s
filtration system kicks in, Executive Director Jeff Wise told the
Charlotte Observer.
The center also
offers the largest outdoor climbing facility in the United States with
approximately 5,700 square feet of climbing surface and over 40
different routes.
Along with the opening of the facility is the reopening of 11 miles of mountain biking trails.
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