Paddlers prepping for marathon canoe race
The two rivers of Prince George have been running at near-flood levels the past few weeks and that’s made for prime conditions for a group of paddlers stroking up their racing engines.
They will need all the strength and conditioning they can muster the next couple of months to be on top of their game when they board their boats in the fourth annual Northern Hardware Prince George Canoe Race on Saturday, July 7.
Race organizer Pat Turner, president of the Two Rivers Canoe Club, said the rivers are not dangerous and conditions are actually ideal for aspiring racers or recreational paddlers looking for fun and adventure along the pristine riverbanks that lead in and out of the city.
“We want people to access the water in a safe manner and it is very accessible,” said Turner. “It can be intimidating but with a little safety instruction and a bit of technique you can handle that water no problem, especially now.
“The Nechako kind of runs into the Fraser and kind of backs up and grinds to a halt. It’s not like it was a month ago or a couple weeks ago, it’s slowed right down. Right in front of Cottonwood (Island) it’s like a giant lake. All the back channels are there and it’s great. The animals love it and we love it. It’s so pretty out there with all the birds and animals and beaver and you see moose, black bear, and sometimes cougars and wolves. Right now the water’s so high it makes it more interesting. You have to be careful of branches and sweepers but it’s pretty safe right now.”
The Two Rivers club meets for practice paddles every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Cottonwood Island boat launch on the Nechako River.
That area was under water a week or two ago but the road access was never threatened with this spring’s runoff. Turner encourages new paddlers to come out and try it. They will be paired with more experienced paddlers.
“We try and travel as a pack so if you run into problems there’s someone there to help put with a rescue,” said Turner. “Everyone wears life jackets, of course, and we have throw ropes attached to the canoe if someone needs to be towed out of a rough spot.”
This year’s race offers $10,000 in cash prizes, including a Clipper Ultralight canoe raffle prize.
The inaugural Northern Hardware race, organized by the Northwest Brigade Canoe, happened in 1955 and it was an annual event from 1960-1984. The original route started in Fort St. James and ended in Prince George. The route was shortened in 1960 to attract more participants. In 2015, the Two Rivers club revived the race as part of the city’s 100th birthday celebrations.
Paddlers have a shorter alternative on the Simon Fraser route - a 25-kilometre traverse of the Nechako and Fraser rivers from Miworth to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park at the entrance to Hudson’s Bay Slough - or they can go the full 67.5 km distance in the Alexander Mackenzie route.
Only tandem canoes are allowed on the Mackenzie route because of a stretch of rapids near the start at Isle Pierre known for causing havoc. In last year’s race, seven of the 17 boats that went through the rapids tipped over.
At least two sections of rapids on the Mackenzie route – one at Isle Pierre and the other at Mud River (White Mud rapids) – are ranked Class 2 and Class 3 (intermediate) respectively on the international whitewater difficulty scale. The challenge of negotiating the rapids is a factor that limits the number of entries for the longer race.
“For the serious paddlers (on the Mackenzie route) we can count on somewhere between 15 or 20 boats but in the Miworth race the fun things are growing and we’re seeing more standup paddleboards,” said Turner. “We end up with 105 or 110 paddlers and last year we had five or six voyager canoes from different communities and we’re hoping that will continue.”
Turner, who won Olympic gold in 1984 for Canada in rowing eights, has had his share of success in the Northern Hardware race on the Mackenzie route. After finishing second with Greg Blackburn in 2015 he teamed up again with Blackburn to win it in 2016. Turner took the crown again last year with Mike Vincent of Regina (the 2015 winner) at the stern. They beat the Saskatchewan team of Trevor Robinson and Graham Smith by less than a boat length, stopping the clock a second quicker in 3:38:36.
Fay Vincent of Regina and Edith MacHattie of Saskatoon were the women’s Mackenzie class winners. Jacqui and Kevin Pettersen of Prince George took the overall title in the Simon Fraser race last year.