Whitewater Parks - Resources
My trip down to Reno got me thinking more about whitewater parks. I'm surprised at how many of them there are around the country. We don't have any here in Washington State yet, but Spokane will begin building one in the summer of 2008. See Tom O'keefe's article on the American Whitewater site for details.
http://www.ripboard.com/ also has a great writeup on existing and proposed parks in the United States. Their information looks a bit outdated (they don't include the Spokane park), but it has good descriptions of each park.
Other Resources
Bardstown Boaters has an interactive map of U.S. whitewater parks.
Paddler Magazine has a good article from 2005
Men's Journal Article on the U.S National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.
List of U.S. and international whitewater parks (updated 5/24/05)
I personally suck as a playboater, and don't have a much interest in it anyway. If I'm throwing ends somewhere it usually means I'm doing some rodeo creeking and anyone following me should take another line. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against playboating. It's great training for river running and - learning how to get thrashed in a hole and still roll up is a useful skill to have.
All these parks look cool, but I'm a bit skeptical of the economic benefits they're supposed to provide. This is a gut feel, not a data-driven statement. I suspect they are similar to ballparks in that they simply shift how entertainment dollars are spent rather than change overall totals (if anyone has information to contradict my gut feel I'd love to see it - email me at otterboy at kayakcult.com).
Back to the Kayak Cult - www.kayakcult.com
http://www.ripboard.com/ also has a great writeup on existing and proposed parks in the United States. Their information looks a bit outdated (they don't include the Spokane park), but it has good descriptions of each park.
Other Resources
Bardstown Boaters has an interactive map of U.S. whitewater parks.
Paddler Magazine has a good article from 2005
Men's Journal Article on the U.S National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.
List of U.S. and international whitewater parks (updated 5/24/05)
I personally suck as a playboater, and don't have a much interest in it anyway. If I'm throwing ends somewhere it usually means I'm doing some rodeo creeking and anyone following me should take another line. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against playboating. It's great training for river running and - learning how to get thrashed in a hole and still roll up is a useful skill to have.
All these parks look cool, but I'm a bit skeptical of the economic benefits they're supposed to provide. This is a gut feel, not a data-driven statement. I suspect they are similar to ballparks in that they simply shift how entertainment dollars are spent rather than change overall totals (if anyone has information to contradict my gut feel I'd love to see it - email me at otterboy at kayakcult.com).
Back to the Kayak Cult - www.kayakcult.com
1 Comments:
I agree about the gut feeling: it just doesn't seem possible to generate the kind of revenue they're talking about. I saw a few articles about some planned parks last December:
http://taintedideals.blogspot.com/2006/12/whitewater-parks-are-getting-closer-to.html
http://taintedideals.blogspot.com/2006/12/more-whitewater-parks-coming.html
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home