Face it. Slalom paddlers make perhaps the best all around paddlers, negotiating a complex course while dealing with the pace and navigation of rapids.
The UK Kayak Journal puts it perfectly. “[In slalom] Not only are you drastically increasing your accuracy and river placement skills, but you are also having to learn stroke timing, efficiency and how to keep the momentum going. It will teach you methods of paddling your boat that you might not have thought possible before.”
The folks at the Madawaska Kanu Center agree. That’s why they’re hosting their five-day “Slalom Week” camp.
“Our Slalom Week is super fun! We are on a section of river that has been used for many great North American championships for Kayak, C-boating and open canoe slalom, since 1972,” says Stefi van Wijk of Madawaska Kanu Center.
Your week at MKC includes a 20-gate course hanging on Chalet Rapids, plus six flat water gates, in which to further advance your slalom skills. All instant feedback and instruction will be provided by a former National Team member. What’s more, MKC will provide the Slalom kayaks, including a C-1 to try your hand at.
“It’s one of our more popular courses,” says school co-owner Claudia van Wijk, who, with husband Dirk, took over the reins of the company in 1988. “It’s a great way to gain fundamentals for all-around kayaking, as well as to improve your slalom skills. And it’s a great way to sample some of the whitewater up here.”
Pre-requisites: Intermediate-Advanced Kayak/Solo or Tandem Canoe paddling skills. Must be comfortable surfing, ferrying, eddy-hopping in Class II-III whitewater, and have a solid combat roll. A canoe roll is a plus.
Dates: July 23-27, 2018
Costs:
- Lodge Plan $1,525.00+HST (Instruction, Lodge, Meals & Service fee)
- Dorm Plan $1,425.00+HST (Instruction, Dorm, Meals & Service fee)
- Camp Plan $1,325.00+HST (Instruction, Camping, Meals & Service fee)