New York paddlers could see some new whitewater flowing through town—three-time Olympic paddler Scott Shipley is working on plans for urban whitewater parks in the communities of Potsdam, Canton and Colton.
The new park will have three sites, says Fred Hass, director of Planning and Development in Potsdam. An expert-level run down the Raquette River’s Stone Valley section, a play park and an area of beginner to intermediate level whitewater.
Shipley’s company, S2O Designs, is behind major parks like The National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC and the Olympic whitewater venue in London, England. He’s drawing on his extensive experience in the worlds of whitewater and engineering to plan a park that will draw as many paddlers as possible to the region.
“What will make a trip from NY or Boston or Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto worth it?” says Shipley. “Design for festivals? Competitions? A great surf wave? These are the questions we’re trying to discover.”
Along with bringing new boaters to town, the parks will fill a gap for paddlers in the area, which has an unfortunate absence of local surf. Colton is already a popular paddling spot—the King of New York series has a race there—but the new parks will make it a whitewater region for those who aren’t ready to run Stone Valley’s class V drops. Clubs like the Carlton University Boathouse currently provide instruction but have no whitewater to run, says Shipley.
It’s too soon to get geared up—the parks are still in early phases of planning, but you can stay up to date on projects from S2O Designs on their Facebook page, Whitewater Parks.
