My revised training for the summer included a second trip out to the west coast to partake in some paddling on different rivers and coastal water bodies. My goal was to diversify my paddling beyond a slalom course. The first highlight was catching the tidal wave at the beautiful Skookumchuck narrows on the Sunshine coast with some old paddling buddies. My coastal trip had two objectives: to have fun and train hard. I was fortunate to have a flexible schedule with a firm departure date and return date with a couple of home-stays along the way (thank you to the Palmer/Reuben family and Taylor family for your amazing hospitality!)
There is something to be said about getting back on a horse after getting bucked off. We have all had let downs. We have all encountered unexpected situations. Cliché perhaps, but the best way to describe my most recent competition at the Canadian National Team Trials, held east of Whistler, B.C. on the artificial whitewater park of Rutherford Creek. This technical channel is the only man made white water course in Canada.
PEMBERTON, BC – It will be water on and game on for Canada’s top slalom paddlers this weekend as they plummet down the Rutherford River in British Columbia for the 2014 Canadian Slalom CanoeKayak Team Trials. Athletes will race through whitewater, taking the fastest lines they can find through a course of green downstream gates and red upstream gates in pursuit of claiming a spot on the National Team. Results of the weekend trials will determine who will represent Canada at World Cups and World Championships.
I am proud to say I live in a beautiful country, Canada! I often forget how privileged I am to have so many amazing landscapes at my doorstep. This April the Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak team explored a new training site for our early spring training camp. We decided to travel to the Kootenay’s in British Columbia and explore the beautiful Columbia River Valley. I have been very fortunate to have spent many summers in this valley as my family has a rustic little cabin on the Windermere Lake in a community called Rushmere.
This past February, Team Canada embarked on a warm weather training camp to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where we were fully immersed in a very unique culture. Each year, winter cripples the Canadian national whitewater slalom team, as we are not able to paddle on whitewater when the temperatures drop to below freezing. Wadi, which in the Arabic language can be translated into valley or dry riverbed, is a desert water paradise consisting of a whitewater kayaking, canoeing and rafting course, an artificial surf wave, a zip line and a ropes course. It was constructed in 2012 and has quickly become of one the top training sites for international whitewater slalom athletes.
