Paddlefest caters to growing sport of kayaking

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

Visitors to the Northern Rockies Paddlefest had a varied, colorful and sometimes bewildering array of kayaks to sample.

The annual event, held at Wayfarers State Park May 19-20, featured numerous vendors offering more than a dozen makes and myriad models of kayaks to choose from within each brand. More than 200 people of all ages came to the park’s north shore on Saturday to try out kayaks suitable for calm lakes, gentle rivers, wild whitewater or wavy oceans.

“Our paddling community is growing really fast,” Erick Gelbe of the Sportsman & Ski Haus said. The store is selling few canoes compared with kayaks, he added. Only one or two canoes were available for test rides. Kayaks are overtaking the traditional open canoe as the top option for recreational paddling.

Rocky Mountain Outfitters owner Dan Scharfe said his store started offering kayaks in 1992, and the crafts were selling briskly within five years.

“We went from selling a few boats a year to selling gobs,” Scharfe said.

Many people think kayaks tip over easily, but that isn’t true for most, Scharfe’s friend Bruce Guthrie said.

“They’re making more user-friendly boats,” Guthrie said. “The industry is creating options to get as many people into boats as possible.”

Those options include more comfortable seats and cockpits that are easy to get into and out of, he said.

Different shapes and sizes of kayaks exist for every type of water, from lakes to waterfalls. Whitewater enthusiasts use short, duck-billed boats that can dart around quickly in aggressive rapids. Sea kayaks are long and narrow for fast, easy gliding on calm or wavy water. You can even find a flexible, soft-sided kayak that folds into a package the size of a golf bag that can easily be stowed on airplanes.

Prices vary just as widely. Kayaks at Paddlefest ranged from just over $300 for a simple play boat to more than $5,500 for the folding kayak. Most are in the $700-$1,500 range. Paddles and other gear, such as a roof rack, cost extra.

“The lighter it is, the more it costs,” Scharfe said. He likes to tell customers, “The more you pay, the less you get” — less weight, that is. Lighter boats cost more because the materials they’re made of, such as fiberglass or Kevlar, are more expensive than the durable plastic of inexpensive models.

Most buyers choose some variety of recreational or sea kayak, Scharfe said. Although kayaks are almost always used for recreation, in the kayak industry, “recreational” refers to boats between 10 and 14 feet long that are used for day trips and aren’t really suitable for overnights. Touring kayaks are usually 14 to 16 feet long and good for day trips from one point to another. Sea kayaks are at least 16 feet and will work for short or long trips of up to several days.

“If you wanted to go from here to Lakeside you’d want a sea kayak,” Gelbke said, explaining that the length and narrow design of the boat makes it glide farther with each paddle-stroke, conserving the paddler’s energy and preventing muscle strain.

As with bicycles and skis, manufacturers are starting to make more woman-friendly kayaks that are lightweight and accommodate smaller paddlers. Even life jackets have been made more “woman-specific,” Gelbke said.

Women who want to learn how to kayak safely may take an all-women beginner workshop that Somers-based Silver Moon Kayak Company teaches year-round. Women paddle differently from men because they have a lower center of gravity, Silver Moon co-owner Susan Conrad said. Women also tend to capsize their boats less frequently than men do, she added.

Although most people probably associate paddling with warm weather, Woods Bay resident Paul Rana insists that kayaking is a four-season sport. He and his kayak easily break through any layers of thin ice they encounter on Flathead Lake.

“It’s a quiet sport,” he added. “You’re not going to annoy anyone at four in the morning if you decide to go for a float.”

Rana belongs to the Flathead Paddlers, which offers day and overnight trips for paddlers of all skill levels. Experienced members also teach paddling skills at Somers Bay, group president Anne Clark said.

“None of us is a certified instructor, but we’ve all taken a lot of courses and we share what we know,” she said.

Club member Jon Maxwell described an overnight trip the group make to Bowman Lake in Glacier Park last summer.

“There’s space in the boats for campstoves, stools, little coolers,” he said. “We weren’t suffering in any way.”

Club members who are retired take a day trip every Wednesday, he added.

On the Web: groups.yahoo.com/group/FlatheadPaddlers

Annual festival begins Saturday

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

It’s that time of year again — Whitewater Festival time.

This year marks the 31st annual Bigfork Whitewater Festival down the Wild Mile of the Swan River.

Seventh-year festival organizers Mike and Nikki Dezanni said this year’s festival should have good water levels for the downriver race, expert slalom, beginner slalom and boater-cross competition.

The festival begins Saturday with sign-up at the Garden Bar prior to the beginner slalom at 11 a.m. It starts at the powerhouse and is for beginner kayakers and advanced canoeists. The expert slalom, designated for advanced kayakers, starts at 3 p.m. below the dam.

“The river won’t be super-high, but hopefully it won’t be too low. It looks good,” Mike Dezanni said. “We really never know how many people are participating [in the festival].”

Last year, the expert and beginner slalom courses had to be adjusted due to high water levels. Whitewater draws 40-50 participants on average each year.

Sunday’s events kick off with the Bigfork Whitewater Triathlon at 9 a.m. at the north end of the Swan River Bridge. To get to the bridge, drive south out of Bigfork to the flashing light at the turnoff for Montana 209. Turn left, drive two miles to the entrance for the Swan River Road and bridge on the left. Park there before going over the bridge, so the transition area will be less congested. The triathlon consists of a 4-mile paddle, 14-mile bike ride and 4-mile run.

The paddle is the first leg of the triathlon and begins with a 1-mile paddle downriver, around the buoys above the dam and up the river for 2 miles and then around the buoys a second time and one mile down river to the bridge for the finish of the paddle section. Team members must hand off their wrist band to the next member of their team.

The bike route begins at the bridge and proceeds down the Swan River Road to Montana 83 (Echo Lake Cafe/Swan River Grange). Turn right onto Montana 83, heading east and watch for a turn at Montana 209 (Road House Bar on left). Turn right on 209 toward Ferndale to the flashing yellow light and fire hall. Turn right onto Ferndale Drive until you come to the end of the pavement and the marked turn-around point. Follow the same road back out and turn right back onto 209 toward Bigfork, going west to the Swan River Road and Bridge. Turn right and finish on the north end of the bridge. Team members must hand off their wrist band to the next member of their team.

The run, the final portion of the triathlon, begins by heading north on Swan River Road about 9/10 of a mile to a turn-around and back to the bridge and transition area. The run proceeds down the Swan River Nature Trail and back to downtown Bigfork. It ends at the Garden Bar.

Entry into the triathlon gets participants free beer or pop and a free or “greatly discounted” burger at the Garden Bar.

Cash is traditionally handed out to the top placers. How much cash and how deep the pay is depends on the number of entries. Entry fee is $18 for a solo participant, $42 for a team of three and $56 for a team of four.

For more information on the triathlon, contact Stan at the Kalispell Athletic Club at 752-2880 or 253-4103.

The downriver race is a sprint from below the dam to the bridge. Everyone in the race is timed and the fastest time wins.

Boater-cross made its debut at last year’s festival. It replaced the rodeo competition.

“The rodeo was very dependent on water levels,” Dezanni said. “Boater-cross is more fun and exciting. We can have it no matter what.”

In the boater-cross competition, groups of four to six boaters participate in heats with the top two advancing onto the finals. The boaters race against each other through an obstacle course. The first one to make it down wins. Boater-cross usually consists of 3-4 rounds, Dezanni said.

“It’s more of a head-to-head competition,” he said.

This year’s boater-cross begins at 1 p.m. and starts below the dam.

The festival concludes with awards and give-away at the Garden Bar.