Reno Whitewater Festival Photos

By Stephen Wright

Photos

The 4th annual Reno Whitewater Festival went-off without a hitch this
past weekend to record numbers of spectators. With no less than 8,000+
people at any given moment and more than 32,000 over the weekend this is
easily the largest event of the year. A few thoughts on Reno if you’ve
never been there:

• Reno has built an INCREDIBLE multi-use park on an island in the middle of
  the Truckee river downtown.
• There are 2 channels, which are generalized as slolam on river right, and
  freestyle on river left. Just below the confluence is the 5th drop, which
  often has the best quality play on the park.
• Jim Litchfield runs the Whitewater Festival and organizes like no other.
  Athletes are treated like celebrities for a weekend with hotel rooms, meal
  passes, and more support than anywhere I’ve ever been. Every event is
  on-time and well done. Thanks Jim!
• The whitewater park is a great place to experience a wide variety of people
  together: from kayakers, to families, to dog-walkers, to sunbathers, to
  potential Jedi Knights training, to basket ball players and tennis players,
  to people who re-enact medieval warfare in the fields, to the homeless, and
  concert-goers, this is a VERY entertaining place to just people-watch.
• Reno is a great place to be based for many other outdoor activities
  including Ski/Snowboarding, mountain biking, rock climbing, creeking, and
  anything else you could ask for.
  -Within site of the whitewater park is a great coffee shop with free wifi
  access.
• Reno is the home of several world-class kayakers such as Jay Kincaid, Jason
  Craig, Macy Burnham, and Colin Kemp.
• Reno Mountain Sports is the Jackson Kayak dealer that has everything you’ll
  ever need to paddle there.

Now it’s back to Colorado for a month of events, creeking, playing and
enjoying the mountains with Black Dog. Big thanks to my sister Melissa for
watching my puppy while I was gone.

Live from 33,000 feet,

Stephen Wright