The facility is built around a massive man made river that is divided into three concrete whitewater runs containing rapids of class 1-5 in intensity. The current is created by a continually circulating flow of water powered by a massive pump house. The pumps are built into a structure that act as a dam and pulls the water up from the lower lake area at the bottom of the whitewater runs, back to a lake at the top – it’s a pretty cool feat of engineering.
The Olympic Run
| The last run of the day was an intense trip down the Olympic whitewater training course. It’s probably about ¼ mile in length, includes 10 or 12 tightly spaced rapids, and is an extremely intense experience to say the least. The goal for the Olympic paddler is to negotiate the entire run top to bottom while passing through a series of colored gates that are suspended above the river. Each gate is designated as either an upstream or downstream obstacle and must be run in a specific sequence. To add complexity, the gates are staggered to either side of the river channel and often require them to stop and paddle back up stream or across the intense current to complete the sequence. |
A day to SUP
| By the time I set my camera up I was getting much better at staying on the board for most of an entire run. I was doing my best to not paddle too far down the warm-up channel because the bottom of the run has a long class 3-4 rapid that I just didn’t feel comfortable trying. If you watch the video you’ll see that my hand was finally forced into running it when I fell off the board at the top of the rapid. It provided me the opportunity to see that entire stretch up close and personal. It turned out to be pretty fun but I didn’t have the energy or confidence to run it a second time. Maybe on my next trip. |
Getting to the US National Whitewater Center From downtown Charlotte it's a quick an easy drive out to the center. The website below has current water conditions, trail information, and pass fees. U.S. National Whitewater Center 5000 Whitewater Center Parkway Charlotte, NC 28214 (704) 391-3900 usnwc.org |