Green Race
The Green extreme kayak race is a tradition for the last 11 years. It takes place on the Green River Gorge about 30 minutes south of Ashville Northa Carloina. The "Green" is a dammed river with some very extreme whitwater dropping some 400 feet in less than a mile in the inner gorge. It is also a unique competition because it was conceptualized, orgnaized on a very grass roots level by the racers themselves. No big corporate sponsors though it could easily do so. It is one of the preimere event in kayaking in the US in my opinion.
I have been to the Green Race twice before always paddling in, watching the races and then heading to the after party. Its a great race, most spectators are there to watch some excellent racing but a lot came to watch some crazy beatdowns. This year it was 2 plus hours of a paddler dropping over Gorilla every minute! Thousands lined the banks of the tiny Green River Gorge. I hiked in this year. Not sure what I was thinking! If you have the ability to paddle the Green please be advised you should not hike into the gorge. It is pretty easy till the last quarter mile which seem to resemble a double black diamond tree run without snow! How all the little ole ladies got down there is amazing!
For as long as I can remember, Shred Ready's first sponsored paddler, Tommy Hillike, has won or placed in the race! Others past team guys like Al Gregory have also won. Last year we had Shred Ready paddlers in the top three spots in long-boat division, and Chris Gratmans won the iron-man competition (placing highest in the long boat and the short boat comp.)!
I was pretty excited about this years possiblity as our kayak team is exceptional! And most of them were racing this year. I decided to get the hell out of vegas and head up and show some love to the guys and ladies who represent for Shred Ready kayak so well.
I took the Friday off from the helmet factory and headed to Ashvegas and met up with some of the team for dinner at Salsas in downtown Asheville. I met up with Andrew Holcombe, Robin Betz, Toby Mcdermot and the whole Williams family (Medford, sister Maggie and their little brother). I have to tell youSalsas rocks. Not sure what ethnicity this food is but it is GOOD. Each bite tastes a bit different. If your in Ashgronolavegas stop into Salsas, you won't be sorry.
Saturday morning arrived and I headed up put in. I saw lots of old friends and met up with the rest of the team and passed out a few new lids and stickers for everyone. After the racers meeting all the racers posed for the traditional racers photo. This year was a bit trickier as there were a record 124 competitors! That is one kayaker going over The Gorilla every minute for over two hours! A spectoors dream!! Jason Hale, the main organizer, kept the crowd in smiles and laughter only the way Jason can.
Here is Tommy showing off the winners shirt before the race. He has been wearing it a long time!
Some of the SR paddlers "paying attention" to Jason Hale
I had to race to the trailhead to hike in to see the race. No problem, a 25 minute walk in the woods. Well I had to park about a mile away from the trailhead. After what seemed like ages I finally reached a traffic jam of people climbing down about a 500 foot double black diamond slope to the bottom of the gorge. Slowly I made my way down just to see Pat Keller finish his long boat run! I had left them in the put-in parking lot! Yes lesson learned I should have paddled in.
If I was late for the race I was early for the party. Liquid Logic provided a great party place at their headquarters and served up a great barbecue dinner.
The results were finally announced. Pat Keller dethroned Tommy Hillike and took 1st, and Andrew Holcombe got second, and Tommy third. Not far behind was Chris Gratgmans in fourth. So SR paddlers reprsented the top four spots in the long boat! Robin Betz looked good in the race but I guess a mishap at the bottom of Power Slide rapid got the best of her! But I did hear she was the fastest of the racers who swam!! She was not alone as there were a total of 14 swimmers this year another Green Race record.
Here is Tommy passing on the shirt to Pat!
Here is Pat, Andrew and Tommy all representing Shred Ready. Congrats to Pat, Andrew, Tommy, and Chirs.
Everyone trained hard for this years race getting up early for dawn patrol training sessions. Pat even designed a new boat for Dagger Kayaks just for this race! Luckily Dagger kayaks let Andrew paddle one as well! However, Tommy still owns the fastest time ever on the Green with last years time of 4:34. While talking with Andrew, two seconds behind Pat this year, he said they both made some mistakes (Andrew rolling, probably cost him the race) and a couple of bad lines here and there. At least there is something to look forward to next year.
Pat and Andrew also went one and two in the short boat competition as well. Pat basically won it all, long, short and the iron man comp. Congrats to Pat, Andrew, Tommy and all the other racers!
For more than 500 photos of the Green Race go HERE.
These are photos from downstream photo and are of the racers going over the Gorilla Rapid.
Cheers
Tom
I have been to the Green Race twice before always paddling in, watching the races and then heading to the after party. Its a great race, most spectators are there to watch some excellent racing but a lot came to watch some crazy beatdowns. This year it was 2 plus hours of a paddler dropping over Gorilla every minute! Thousands lined the banks of the tiny Green River Gorge. I hiked in this year. Not sure what I was thinking! If you have the ability to paddle the Green please be advised you should not hike into the gorge. It is pretty easy till the last quarter mile which seem to resemble a double black diamond tree run without snow! How all the little ole ladies got down there is amazing!
For as long as I can remember, Shred Ready's first sponsored paddler, Tommy Hillike, has won or placed in the race! Others past team guys like Al Gregory have also won. Last year we had Shred Ready paddlers in the top three spots in long-boat division, and Chris Gratmans won the iron-man competition (placing highest in the long boat and the short boat comp.)!
I was pretty excited about this years possiblity as our kayak team is exceptional! And most of them were racing this year. I decided to get the hell out of vegas and head up and show some love to the guys and ladies who represent for Shred Ready kayak so well.
I took the Friday off from the helmet factory and headed to Ashvegas and met up with some of the team for dinner at Salsas in downtown Asheville. I met up with Andrew Holcombe, Robin Betz, Toby Mcdermot and the whole Williams family (Medford, sister Maggie and their little brother). I have to tell youSalsas rocks. Not sure what ethnicity this food is but it is GOOD. Each bite tastes a bit different. If your in Ashgronolavegas stop into Salsas, you won't be sorry.
Saturday morning arrived and I headed up put in. I saw lots of old friends and met up with the rest of the team and passed out a few new lids and stickers for everyone. After the racers meeting all the racers posed for the traditional racers photo. This year was a bit trickier as there were a record 124 competitors! That is one kayaker going over The Gorilla every minute for over two hours! A spectoors dream!! Jason Hale, the main organizer, kept the crowd in smiles and laughter only the way Jason can.
Here is Tommy showing off the winners shirt before the race. He has been wearing it a long time!
Some of the SR paddlers "paying attention" to Jason Hale
Racers posing for the pre-race photo.
Here is Andrew Holcomb and Medford Williams staying warm.
Here is Andrew Holcomb and Medford Williams staying warm.
I had to race to the trailhead to hike in to see the race. No problem, a 25 minute walk in the woods. Well I had to park about a mile away from the trailhead. After what seemed like ages I finally reached a traffic jam of people climbing down about a 500 foot double black diamond slope to the bottom of the gorge. Slowly I made my way down just to see Pat Keller finish his long boat run! I had left them in the put-in parking lot! Yes lesson learned I should have paddled in.
If I was late for the race I was early for the party. Liquid Logic provided a great party place at their headquarters and served up a great barbecue dinner.
The results were finally announced. Pat Keller dethroned Tommy Hillike and took 1st, and Andrew Holcombe got second, and Tommy third. Not far behind was Chris Gratgmans in fourth. So SR paddlers reprsented the top four spots in the long boat! Robin Betz looked good in the race but I guess a mishap at the bottom of Power Slide rapid got the best of her! But I did hear she was the fastest of the racers who swam!! She was not alone as there were a total of 14 swimmers this year another Green Race record.
Here is Tommy passing on the shirt to Pat!
Here is Pat, Andrew and Tommy all representing Shred Ready. Congrats to Pat, Andrew, Tommy, and Chirs.
Everyone trained hard for this years race getting up early for dawn patrol training sessions. Pat even designed a new boat for Dagger Kayaks just for this race! Luckily Dagger kayaks let Andrew paddle one as well! However, Tommy still owns the fastest time ever on the Green with last years time of 4:34. While talking with Andrew, two seconds behind Pat this year, he said they both made some mistakes (Andrew rolling, probably cost him the race) and a couple of bad lines here and there. At least there is something to look forward to next year.
Pat and Andrew also went one and two in the short boat competition as well. Pat basically won it all, long, short and the iron man comp. Congrats to Pat, Andrew, Tommy and all the other racers!
For more than 500 photos of the Green Race go HERE.
These are photos from downstream photo and are of the racers going over the Gorilla Rapid.
Cheers
Tom
