BoatBanter.com - Paddling Colleges: Summary

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Tom Menten wrote:
Thanks to all those who responded concerning college towns for
paddlers.
I received email replies as well as those that are posted; here is a
summary of the replies. Much of this information was new to me.

East and Southeast

The concensus choice is University of North Carolina at Asheville.
The
location sounds like the winner for a serious racer/paddler who is
willing to
focus only on paddling, and wants to live in the Southeastern US.
Advantages include proximity to the '96 Olympic site, nearby training
facilities, year round training, presence of other racers, and nearby
year
round challenging whitewater. UNCA seems to be centrally located for

Southeastern paddling in general. Right now the racing circuit is
pretty well geared around the Southeast streamflows, so a racer in
any
other part of the country is bucking the tide (half the racing season
is over by the time the water really gets going in the West.)

Other eastern choices:

" 1. Univ. of Maryland (no skiing, great paddling and race group)
2. Georgia Tech (good paddling, racing; forget skiing)
3. Univ. of North Carolina (reasonably close to Nantahala, unless
he
wants to go to the branch campus at Asheville; some skiing)
4. Dartmouth (great skiing, close to Mitchell's paddling group)
5. Penn State (active whitewater group, but less into racing these
days; ski hill 5 miles from campus with some racing interest)
6. Amherst/U. Mass (close to training sites, somewhat diminished
interest in racing; hot area for cross-country skiing and PC)"

and...

"...the University of Tennesee in
Knoxville might be worth a look. Knoxville is central to the whole
of Southeastern boating from the Gauley to the Chattooga."

"...the rivers were closer in Tennessee: we used to go paddling after
work."

"Georgia Tech might be a thought. There are a lot of the elite racers
living in Atlanta now with the '96 Olympics looming."

Central Rockies

This region seems to be the next choice for racers. I haven't yet
discerned
the paddling/racing season.

Fort Lewis College in Durango.

Durango is a small tourist town on the Animas river, with a permanent
slalom course, a strong paddling community (including slalom racers),
a
USCKT training center, and close to a variety of good recreational
paddling.
Durango hosts national and international level competition each year
(I
believe it will be televised by a major network this year.) An alum
of FLC
speaks very highly of the school and the town.

Other nearby recreation includes Purgatory ski area 25 miles from
town and
Wolf Creek 70 miles East, as well as the hiking and climbing the
Colorado
is known for.

Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

A "Block" plan, with 3.5 week sessions followed by 4-5 day "block
breaks"
facilitates monthly outings. Available outings nearby include the NF
South Platte, Arkansas, and several others. The Arkansas is near
enough for
after school paddling. There is a strong paddling community; not sure
about "racerheads". Also not sure about year round training
possibilities,
or how long the training season is.

Colorado College, like FLC, has other nearby diversions as well
(climbing,
skiing, hiking...). Also like FLC, the town and college are both
small and
the College is high quality.

...and more...

in Utah:

"Well, Utah has been rumored to have good snow, and
we here in Logan love to kayak! The logan river through
town is runnable, and were not far from the Weber, Onieda
Narrows, the Snake, the Green, etc. Utah State University
is a fine school (in my opinion) and so is University of Utah
in SLC."

Southwest

The San Francisco Bay Area gets a strong vote from a happy paddler.
There are a number of well known schools (U. Cal. Berkeley,
Stanford....)
While not immediately surrounded by rivers, There is perhaps the best
variety of difficult rivers with convenient highway access in the
U.S.,
all within several hours to a day's drive. Most kayaking is done on
weekends or multi-day trips, and there is no apparent slalom presence
in the SF Bay Area. There is the possibility of evening trips to the
coast for ocean surfing.

California has three boating seasons: Storm runoff makes the coastal
range
rivers boatable in the winter, Spring (March - May/June/July
depending)
with the runnoff opens up the classics, and during the summer there
are
dam controlled rivers - including AF American, Trinity and the
Tuolumne.

SF Bay Area boaters learn to travel: Costa Rica is a favorite of at
least
two of them.

Other activities include the nearby ocean, great windsurfing,
wonderful
expresso and bookstores. California skiing (lots of firm snow, lots
of
skiers and lots of amenities) is about an "hour" beyond the paddling.

...and...

"...here at Cal Poly we are not very close to whitewater but we have
a
very active whitewater program. The school has an outdoor program
called
ASI Outings that organizes trips and classes for outdoor enthusiasts
and
those that would like to learn,...While we are not right on a river
the
longest drive is 6 hours to the American and only 3 to the Kern,
surfing is
right in our backyard with swells getting as big as 18 feet in the
winter."

Northwest

Oregon State and the Univ. of Oregon have recreational kayaking year
round.
Ocean surfing is and hour away; the outdoor program at U of Oregon
does 75
trips a year. Skiing (again, lots of firm snow) is also "1.5 hours"
away.
Mt. Hood features summer training for world class ski racers

Editor's note:

Some of the above places I've never been (how's that for provincial
:-}).
For those I have been, I note that different folks can have different
perspectives, or different experiences - such as the driving time to
access the rivers. Also, since my son races slalom, I've looked at
the
responses with a particular view, which you may wish to correct.

Since this is a summary; lots has been left out, including phone
numbers
and contacts that were graciously provided to me, as well as lots of
useful
information about the academics of the various colleges. Please feel
welcome
to correct any misinterpretations and add any info you care to.

I know that some info has not made it into the note string, since I
am aware
of paddling communities near Seattle, Wausau, and South Bend that are
not
represented here. No one mentioned college teams, though I am of the

impression there are a few, including one at Notre Dame that
supposedly
offers scholarships.

This has been fascinating, horizon expanding and otherwise helpful to
both
me and my son. Thanks for all the replies.

Tom Menten