One day I was browsing through Facebook. I'm connected with multiple kayaking groups online, local and far away and
I came across "First Saturday Slalom" get togethers. The post was on the NW League of Whitewater Racers Facebook page. Here's a link for their group:
First Saturdays are a group of people that show up to the Cedar River at Landsburg Park and paddle the course for fun, exercise, and to learn to slalom on the first Saturday of each month at 10am. Joey Yeaple has been bringing the group together. Typically there are some slalom paddlers there and plastic boats there. The local college groups like to come out and practice as do many local paddlers.
I attended my First Saturday in January of this year. It's been a cold winter and water levels were low. I had been looking for something different to do and slalom was it! When I got to the Cedar River I was disappointed to find out the gates didn't really work and they were falling apart. Even though the gates didn't work, we still pretended they were there and made up our own course. I had a ton of fun trying to make the moves we chose and wanted to learn more about slalom. I also really wanted to fix up the course and make it work again.
Right around the same time I started working at Kayak Academy in Issaquah. Barb and George own the shop and I told them the story about the gates and how they didn't work. I told them about the crew I had met at First Saturday and how much fun we had "pretending" to slalom. They graciously and enthusiastically offered to help me get the supplies needed to repair the course. I was really surprised and really excited!
Then it was on to the planning stages. First of all, I don't slalom. I don't know anything about it except from videos I've watched of Nouria Newman racing, the Olympic races, and the North Fork Payette race. I started emailing Joey Yeaple to find out who I should talk to about this idea. I started going to the Cedar River more often to try and understand the gate system and to practice on the "pretend" course. I started reading about slalom and learning moves from the paddlers I've met at First Saturdays. Slalom boaters are keen to teach a new generation!! I got in contact with Jennie Goldberg who's in charge of the League of NW Whitewater Racers. She put me in contact with so many great people with a lot of great ideas and suggestions, and she has contributed much of her own knowledge. Check out their page. There's lots of info on the local races and a lot of great information on slalom kayaking.
I also had a riverside meeting with George Gronseth, Jennie Goldberg, and Steven Exe to talk about the course and how it's typically used. We went over what works and what doesn't. I got a crash course on slalom racing from Jennie in the back of the Kayak Academy van because it was freezing outside when we were at the river. I took notes in my phone because there was so much information about the history and the people that have paddled at the Cedar River. This made me want to work on the course even more. This made me want to bring more people here to utilize this great training ground and to get the gates working better again.
After that I spent more time measuring the current gates and trying to figure out the system. The rope system is very confusing if you don't know how to use it. It requires working two ropes at the same time from river left to get the gates to work back and forth and move the poles up and down. Kayak Academy bought the wire, ropes, and hardware. They also lent me all the tools and equipment I needed to make new boards and to do the work party. Clay Ross gave me the pallet wood to work with. Jennie Goldberg had a stash of PVC pipe poles for the gates that she donated.
Now it was to gather volunteers and wait for the hardware to come in the mail. I also needed to prep and paint the wood. There was plenty of pre-work party work to do!
Check out the Cedar River Slalom Project 2017 Facebook page:
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