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U.S. National Whitewater Center

monsoon

By monsoon
in Charlotte

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JRCLT
JRCLT

Considering there’s already a trail in mind for that area that would connect the silver line to the USNWC. The idea of that trail is in the CharlotteMoves study.

Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy

I’ve never met a bigger narcissist than Jeff Wise. He loves talking about himself and believes he’s god’s gift to the Charlotte outdoor community. And he rules that place with an iron fist to its detr

J-Rob
J-Rob

I was out at USNWC this morning and it was beautiful.  It is one of my favorite places anywhere for a run.  It was very busy this morning, so I hope they fully recover from last year's difficulties.

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eastsider Burg

eastsider

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Suprised that nobody has posted on this thread since the whitewater center has opened. It is well worth the time just to check it out, this place is awesome.

The grand opening is set to take place on Nov. 4, the ropes course appears to already be done and it looked like crews were finishing up work on the massive climbing center last week. More events have also been announced for the usncw, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials will take place in April 2008. Other events include:

The National Slalom Championships opened the park in late August. Heyl won men's kayak; Vanha, women's kayak.

The National Slalom Team Trials in April will select members of the U.S. team for international competition in 2007.

The World Junior Wildwater Championships, with 120 youths aged 14-18, will come in July. The downriver part will be on the Saluda River in Columbia; the sprint event, at the whitewater center.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/spor...rs/15651788.htm

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uptownliving Town

uptownliving

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I went to the "Grand Opening" a few weeks ago and was impressed with the facility too. It is a very beautiful piece of property...you really feel like you are up in the mountains somewhere. It does not feel like Charlotte at all. For the grand opening, Mayor Pat doned a wet suit and went down the rapids in a guided raft while Commish Parks Helms watched from the sidelines.

If you are mountain biker, this is a good place for you too. The park is about 300 acres and has a good amount of biking trails on this hilly terrain.

This center has really gotten the attention of people living in the Asheville area. All my friends and family from up that way have been consistently asking me about this place.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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Since the weather was a record high on Saturday, we finally went out to this place and I was very impressed. It's much larger than I thought it would be and I was surprised at the number of people out there enjoying the facilities. Here are some observations of what you might expect if you travel there:

  • The rapids are setup for kayaking and rafting. You can participate in both.
  • There are are 3-4 courses around the rapids that end up in the same lower lake. They appear to differ in both length and difficulty with the short course having the most exciting rapids.
  • One of the more interesting things about this center is they have a huge moving hill that connects the lower pond to the upper pond were all the courses begin. You sail your kayak or raft to this elevator and you get a ride up to the upper pond. No walking required.
  • There are extensive rock climbing walls,
  • The facilities are very nice with meeting rooms, restaurants, and a very large set of decks where you can observe the the proceedings on the rapids. Since it is built on the side of the hill you get a nice panarama.
  • There are a number of trails. One of them, a fairly short one, will take you down to the Catawba river. This is the section of river between the Mountain Island dam and Lake Wylie. It's a very unknown part of the river as there is almost no development on it and not a good way to get to it except for one very rickety private boat ramp upstream in Mt. Holly. They have built a platform there were you can take your kayak or other boat that you can carry onto the river. It's worth seeing as I have had my boat in this part of the river and it is simply beautiful. Hard to believe you are in a county that is headed towards a million people.
  • There is also a trail that completely circumnavigates the rapids.
  • It's still a relatively difficult place to get to as part of the drive is down a gravel road. Your new car will be covered with dust once you leave. If you have a POS hooptie, I recommend taking that instead of your new Lexus or Mercedes. Travel to this place will get a lot easier when they build their new road and they finish the Western section of I-485 as it is right off what will be the Moores Chapel Rd. exit.

Even if you don't decide to get onto the rapids there is a lot to do. The water was pretty cold on saturday, but there were still people going out onto the rapids.

This is the real thing as this isn't an amusement ride. There were inflatable rafts carrying about 8 people, with an instructor in the back. They were taking the most difficult course and people were routinely being ejected out of the rafts into the water. In once case the entire raft capsized and threw everyone into the rapids. It took them a while to drag the people out of the water as a couple of the people were pretty heavy and they were trying to heave them out of there with rope and the heavy people were not in good enough shape to help with the effort. One girl got a hurt leg. And when an instructor threw a rope into the water to pull out another, he almost de-capitated a kayaker who was coming by who was promply sent to the bottom and there was a concern that he might be drowning. Fortunately he was in good enough shape to re-orient the boat above the water. It was amazing to watch.

I highly recommend that some of you guys head out there to see it.

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uptownliving Town

uptownliving

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Sure, especially for the rafting part. They go through a short training session and all rafts have "river" guides. The Kayaking is really for people more experience since you go alone...but they do offer Kayak Instuction, but right now you have to bring your own kayak.

The rapids at the Whitewater Center are Class III and IV. The rapids here are tougher than what you will find on the Nantahala.

They will rig you up with a helmet and lifevest. Those 2 devices will protect you from drowning or severe head injury, but if you don't follow their training you could knock a tooth out (which I have seen happen) or some other minor injury. So there is risk involved, but if you follow the training, even if you fall out of the boat, you will likely just be wet...and not injured.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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There is an article about this center in this month's Popular Science (or was it Popular Mechanics, oh well). It was a pretty good endorsement.

This center says it has the largest outdoor climbing center in the USA. Costs $13 for all day

It also has what they call a "Challenge Course". This is where you climb 30 feet up into the air and do some navigating on high tight ropes made of steel cable.

If you want to go rafting, its $33 for an individual for 2 hours. That includes a 30 minute mandatory safety course.

Kayaking is $15 for 1.5 hours or $50 for all day. You have to provide your own Kayak.

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Miesian Corners City

Miesian Corners

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Went to check out the USNWC today. Incredible. Their restaurant opened last week and is run by a recent graduate of J&W. The food was good and they're open until 10 p.m. every night. They also have a very large menu of beer and wine--the perfect place to go have a drink and watch the sunset--the view is incredible.

This weekend the facility is hosting its first "official" event: the 2007 US Canoe.Kayak Whitewater Slalom Team Trials. Should be lots of cool stuff to see.

Edited by Miesian Corners
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nyxmike Hamlet

nyxmike

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NCDOT is finally set to approve the funds on Feb.1 for Whitewater Parkway. The plan is for the City of Charlotte to build the road and then be reimbursed by NCDOT for $1.7M.

I know the people that live on the dirt road leading up to the NWC are counting the days for this new road to open.

Is the road currently under construction/when is it suppose to be complete? Will you access it from Moores Chapel Road?

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Raintree21 Town

Raintree21

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Did you ride the rapids? Were they realistic? As good as some of the rivers in the mountains?

I've been told that the 1 1/2 hours you spend on the course is the equivalent to 4 hours up on the mountain rivers and is very much a realistic workout. They mentioned a river comparison but I can't remember if it was the Nantahala or the Ocoee. I also heard that they're having a little trouble with the "river" bottom since it's made of concrete. It has that rough texture like in a pool but on a river, the bottom is usually worn down so it is very smooth. People are getting roughed up pretty good when they hit the sides of the channel.

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cltheel.sdl Burg

cltheel.sdl

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I've been told that the 1 1/2 hours you spend on the course is the equivalent to 4 hours up on the mountain rivers and is very much a realistic workout. They mentioned a river comparison but I can't remember if it was the Nantahala or the Ocoee. I also heard that they're having a little trouble with the "river" bottom since it's made of concrete. It has that rough texture like in a pool but on a river, the bottom is usually worn down so it is very smooth. People are getting roughed up pretty good when they hit the sides of the channel.

Sweet. I've rafted the Ocoee in eastern Tennessee. That was definitely a fun river. They have an Olympic comlex on that river as well.

I hope they can make the channel sides safer, it would suck to come out bloody from this river.

O, btw Raintree, I love your avatar.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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I've been told that the 1 1/2 hours you spend on the course is the equivalent to 4 hours up on the mountain rivers and is very much a realistic workout. They mentioned a river comparison but I can't remember if it was the Nantahala or the Ocoee. I also heard that they're having a little trouble with the "river" bottom since it's made of concrete. It has that rough texture like in a pool but on a river, the bottom is usually worn down so it is very smooth. People are getting roughed up pretty good when they hit the sides of the channel.

Yeah because the turn around is very short compared to rafting in the mountains. I've wondered about someone getting hurt as they are thrown out of one of the rafts. One must have to sign a hell of a disclaimer before they will let you ride on it.

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