Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak: Texas Training Camp

Whitewater in Texas? You bet. The San Marcos river emerges from a spring lake in the centre of San Marcos. The water, which is always 70degrees year-round, then works its way to the Gulf of Mexico. An old dam in town has been modified to create a whitewater park for all. The locals use it to swim, tube, raft, canoe & SUP while it is a destination location for freestyle and slalom kayak. Because of the sensitive natural history in the area the river is always kept at a minimum water level ensuring the native wild rice, turtles, snakes and other animals are protected. This guarantees water for paddling.

A 5min paddle downstream from the whitewater is the Power Olympic Outdoor Centre run by Ben Kvanli. This is where we made our home for 9 days in February. Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak lead a trip composed of 12 athletes and 2 coaches from 5 provinces and states. Alberta team members AJ Cole, Levi Severtson, Ryley & Hannah Penner, and Darius Ramrattan joined head coach Mike Holroyd and parent/chaperon/paddler Matt Cole.

Another 5min downstream from the centre, two drops provided hours of entertainment as the paddlers did laps. The first, a three footer, provided an excellent opportunity to work on boofs while the bigger 15 foot drop allowed everyone to practice their waterfall skills.

The week consisted of a lot of paddling! 16 slalom sessions, 3 runs, 2 core, 1 weights, 2 boof/waterfall, 2 flatwater freestyles. Amazingly nearly everyone did all the sessions and with a significant amount of quality. This was helped greatly by the groups' ability to eat well. 5 teams of cooks provided a set of meals for each day ensuring that there was always food ready after each session and enough to get the athletes ready for the next workout.

The highlights on the food front were the Tapas night where everyone pitched in, the Mexican meal, and the home cooked feast from mama Gail!

With paddlers from so many regions the quality of competition was excellent for those with sights on Junior and U23 Worlds in Wausau this summer.

Whether Darius or Hannah was the winner for catching the most turtles is still in debate. For the first few days they were constantly seen with disks in their hands. This was muted somewhat when they realized that often, sleeping next to the turtles, were cottonmouth snakes. While they aren't aggressive the cottonmouth are quite poisonous. Tutles catching stopped seeming like so much fun.

The 7000km trip was a success and while no one is looking forward to the drive itself, going back to Texas is high on the agenda for many of these paddlers. Till next time, Thanks Texas.