National Slalom Team Trials Update

Hello WO Members:

Please take note of the message from James Cartwright in regards to the upcoming National Slalom Team Trials. Along with James, WO President Steve Pomeroy and Team Trials Race Director Jim Tayler met with Parks Canada staff enroute to the Gull this past Wednesday.  We were also part of a group which included Preserve Committee members John Slot, Jon McPhee, Russ Duhaime, and CKO Executive Director Orest Stanko which met with representatives from the Trillium Foundation regarding our grant application for the refurbishment of the Roger Parsons Centre.  More information will be forthcoming about that meeting and our next steps.

WO Update April 2013

Newsletter April 2013

Welcome to the 2013 paddling season, which is already underway. Brave souls have been out testing their skills and having fun in the cool spring waters, which appear to be flowing better than they did last year!

Early Events:

Thank you to event organizers:

• Cale Reeder and the KWP for organizing Mackfest on the April 6-7; and
• Harold van Winssen and the Moira River Kayak Club for hosting the Credit River Downriver race April 6th.

Over the next few weeks there are events on almost every weekend, as well as many club activities.

Advocacy:

We have been working hard on numerous projects before the paddling season hits.

• Thanks to Kawartha Whitewater Paddlers who fundraised at their Naked in November event for the Save the Petawawa campaign. If YOUR club would like to organize a river advocacy fundraiser let us know!

• Check out the website for letters to and from Xeneca regarding the Petawawa hydro project. Show your support by getting out and racing at Hell or High Water 5 (www.hohw.ca).
• The Cambridge Whitewater Park project recently received funding from the city of Cambridge and they need your support! See (http://cambridgewhitewaterpark.wordpress.com/) for more details.
• WO insurance coverage offers protection to landowners providing river access to WO members. We now have two access agreements that provide coverage to landowners, one on the Irvine River in Slalom just north of Aurora and one on the Skootamatta River near Flinton provided by paddler and river advocate Philip Kompass. New river access information is available on the WO River Wiki (http://www.whitewaterontario.ca/rivers/index.php/Skootamatta).
• There is also new WO signage at 3B falls on the Upper Black. Photos coming soon!
• We really need volunteers and local river advocates for this committee. Please consider joining us on one of our teleconferences to find out more about committee activities. Ontario paddlers need you!

Membership:

• If you have not yet renewed your membership, now is the time to do so. You can join/renew online at our website or through your club.

• We are working on several important administrative updates including automatic renewal notices, membership cards and camping passes. If anyone has any Access expertise they would be willing to share, please speak up!
• We would also like to simplify some of our insurance documents so if you would like to volunteer for WO but would like a discrete task-this might be for you! We have several other tasks like this as well if you have some hours to spare and would like to help-let us know!

Instructor Certification Update:

So far in Ontario there are 5 full instructor courses at different levels being organized for the 2013 season. To inquire about recerting during a full course, contact the course host to speak to the Learning Facilitators. The Leader3/Instructor3 courses were added in 2012, so this is also a great opportunity to upgrade your certification if you will be leading river trips or instructing on class 3 whitewater.

If your club/organization wants to host a course, start by gathering a group of instructors who would like to recertify at the same level. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. '; document.write(''); document.write(addy_text24439); document.write('<\/a>'); //-->\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the list of Learning Facilitators who can instruct a course. Ensure that you have 1 LF for every 6 instructors taking the course. With the assistance of your LF choose the dates and location, and submit an application to host a course to WO.

WO, in collaboration with Ottawa River Runners (ORR) is hosting the trials event to select national junior (u19), U23 and senior teams for the world cup circuit and world championships. This will bring Canada's top slalom racers to Minden. Training will commence May 22^nd with races on Saturday 25^th/26^th For racers, registration info is available here: https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=4714

This will involve hanging slalom gates on the river from May 22-26. Recreational paddlers are welcome to continue using the river, but just need to exercise some caution watching for race boats. The upper section of the river will be closed during the races, which will occur for roughly 2-3 hrs each afternoon May 25-26.

Volunteers are required to help with safety boating. Also, anyone interesting in assisting with timing or judging is encouraged to come out – as we prepare to host the TO2015 Pan Am event we are looking to expand our officials. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to express your interest and the race committee will contact you.

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Whitewater Ontario                                      

411, Carnegie Beach Rd                                            

Port Perry, On. L9L1B6                                              

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Whitewater Ontario is a volunteer-driven organization uniting, supporting, and sustaining the inclusive development of the whitewater paddling community and resources. Further, we advocate safe and environmentally responsible access and use of Ontario’s rivers.