Inspired by other big water events like the Whitewater Grand Prix, which is set to run its second edition this December in Chile, the North Fork Championship is being casually referred to by boaters in the know as “the Ship”.
In the first of the weekend’s two events, lesser knowns will compete on a three-mile downriver race through class IV–V water. The top three performers from this event qualify to race against elite boaters from around the world down a second course made up of four gates through Jacob’s Ladder and Golf Course, the rapids that give the North Fork Payette its extreme reputation.
It was the Boise area’s vibrant community of first-rate whitewater talent that prompted event director James Byrd to create the two-tiered format. “I wanted to bring the best paddlers in the world to compete against locals,” he says.
Paddling in their neck of the woods means paddling well, but there are few elitists in the area; just hard-working, humble folks who live for time off spent paddling Idaho’s steep creeks and huge whitewater. The hope is that the North Fork will serve as an equalizer between the hometown crowd and the pros invited to compete.
Not only will the mixed bag of paddlers be competing for bragging rights, there is also an eyebrow-raising cash pot to be awarded to winners. Byrd says that the cash prizes will provide legitimacy to whitewater kayaking in the world of extreme sports and support athletes. “I’m trying to get some money into the hands of paddlers—pros and locals—to get more people into boats,” he says.
Celebrating top-level athletes and the cachet of extreme paddling while promoting the accessibility of whitewater to beginners and average-Joe, class III paddlers is a balancing act the whitewater community has yet to perfect.
Byrd says his goal is to inspire new paddlers, not scare them. “I want to showcase the abilities of the world’s top paddlers and that requires rapids like Jacob’s Ladder,” he says. “If there was a race like this when I was growing up, I would have trained my whole life to compete at this level.”
Whitewater pioneer and North Fork legend, Doug Ammons, is a mentor to top paddlers and respects the skill level and accomplishments of many younger paddlers, including Byrd. But with cash and hefty titles on the line, he questions whether the whitewater community needs events like this.
“The instant you put in prize money and people start viewing a run as a competition, then paddlers focus on themselves rather than the river,” he says.
In the 1990s, Ammons organized the North Fork Payette Fast Get-Together. With an emphasis on get-together, it was so far from being about titles or cash prizes that, in 1994, he canceled the event after being offered a large cash sponsorship deal by ESPN.
Byrd says his goal is simply “to produce a safe, fun and respectful event on the river. I’ve been lucky enough to paddle with some of the world’s best paddlers and I’ve experienced the giddiness we feel when paddling big water,” he says. “The cash won’t change that. We’re just here because we love it so much.”
For dates, entry forms and more info on the Ship, visit www.northforkchampionship.com.
This story originally appeared on page 15 of the Early Summer 2012 issue of Rapid magazine. Read the entire issue here.
