fitness paddling » Wyoming Outback

Wyoming Outback Challenge Gone …

Marek — Sat, 08 May 2010 20:11:54 +0000

For the last three years Jerry Nyre from Canoe Colorado organized and sponsored (including cash prizes!) this great marathon race on the North Platte River during Memorial Day weekends. The race started at Hot Springs in Saratoga and run 44 miles down the river across a quite remote area to Fort Steele (I-80 boat ramp). It was usually high and fast water and, typically, some headwind closer to the finish.

Thank you Jerry! I had a good racing and spent together with Connie and our dogs three wonderful weekends in Saratoga.

North Platte River below Saratoga

Unfortunately, the Wyoming Outback Challenge will not by organized any more. The organizers were obviously disappointed by a poor participation. Here is what Eric Nyre wrote at Canoe Colorado forum this year as an explanation:

Last year was the last year of the race.
Local racers weren’t interested.
Racers from other parts of the country wanted free loaner boats/ transportation.
We gave it 3 years, and the crowd kept getting smaller. So no mas, we’re paddling the White instead.

I don’t think that Eric is the best person to comment on that event since during these three years he never showed up at the race neither as an organizer nor as a racer.

I tried to promote the Wyoming race in this blog. You can see the list of related posts with race pictures, reports and results below. Other racers also offered their help in promoting the event.

Last year, I dared to criticize the organizers for a lack of promotion, but also provided some suggestions. I wrote it on the Canoe Colorado forum. What happened?. Eric responded first with some strange and unpleasant comments, then, he erased my posts and banned me from the forum, and, finally, he “nominated” me to an unwelcome person in the Canoe Colorado events.

Well, the river is flowing. Water looks great. I hope to do some paddling on the North Platte River again. If anybody is interested it would be not so difficult to run any informal race on the North Platte similar to what I am trying do on the South Platte. I realize it is much more challenging to setup a more formal race, especially, if you like to offer cash prizes. It was a reason the Canoe Colorado avoided any river access points under BLM jurisdiction

Start of the 2008 Wyoming Outback Challenge below Hot Spring at Saratoga

I would like to see a longer race course. So this year, together with Rob Bean, we are planning to cover 100+ miles of the North Platte from the Bennett Peak campground (above Treasure Island) to Seminoe Reservoir. It will be just a fast training run: two days of paddling, WaterTribe expedition style, probably May 22/23.

Other resources:
The Floater’s Guide to Wyoming Rivers: Paddle and Portage
Wyoming Atlas & Gazettee
map of public access areas by Wyoming Game and Fish Department
North Platte River flow: Northgate, CO | Ft Steele/Dugway
Wyoming Introduces Fee for Paddling and Boating

Paddling under cliffs of Eagle Nest

North Platte River Kayak Racing – 2009 Wyoming Outback Challenge

Marek — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:21:03 +0000

The 3rd Wyoming Outback Challenge on the North Platte River organized by Jerry Nyre from Canoe Colorado took place on May 24 during Memorial Day weekend. The race started at Hot Springs in Saratoga and run 44 miles down the river across a quite remote area to Fort Steele (I-80 boat ramp).

The river was running high, but a little bit lower than last year. Weather was pretty good for paddling. We got some short rain showers, but headwinds in last 10 miles of the race were not so strong as usual.

Only 5 solo paddlers showed up at Saratoga hot springs. 4 race veterans finished the challenge. You can see our results below together with finishing times from the previous two years. The fifth paddler in a very narrow racing canoe overestimated his chances with the fast turbulent river. He capsized just after start and had troubles to retrieve his boat. I am not sure how his story ended (his boat still jammed in a tree?).

2009 Race Results (flow: 6000-7000 cfs)

paddler	class / boat	Pick Bridge	finish time
Scott Cummins Denver, CO	solo double blade Kirton Stiletto Maxi K-1		4:05:33
Mike Lesnik Helena, MT	solo double blade WSBS X-par Missile		4:20:04
Marek Uliasz Fort Collins, CO	solo single blade Sea Wind canoe	1:05	4:44:18
Rob Bean Fort Collins, CO	solo single blade Spencer X-treme canoe	1:05	4:49:06

2008 Race Results (flow: 7000-8000 cfs)

paddler	class / boat	Pick Bridge	finish time
Scott Cummins Denver, CO	solo double blade Fenn surfski	0:57:40	4:05:30
Mike Lesnik Helena, MT	solo double blade WSBS X-par Missile	0:57:43	4:07:51
Marek Uliasz Fort Collins, CO	solo double blade WSBS Thunderbolt-X	0:59:45	4:27:36
Rob Bean Fort Collins, CO	solo single blade Spencer X-treme canoe	1:08:05	5:07:55
Clem McHale CO	solo single blade Bell canoe	1:09:05	5:42:00 DSQ
Bob Willits John Schukei, MT	tandem double blade Fenn Mako Surfski	0:57:41	4:05:50
John Murphy Steve Daniel, CO	tandem double blade Spencer tandem canoe	1:01:15	4:15:00
Sean DeVean Mark Norford, MT	tandem double blade Prijon plastic tandem kayak	1:15:17	5:10:55 DSQ

2007 Race Results (flow: 2000-3000 cfs)

paddler	class / boat	Pick Bridge	finish time
Scott Cummins Denver, CO	solo double blade Fenn surfski	1:06	4:55:10
Jeremy Rodgers Boulder, CO	solo double blade JKK Supernova	1:07	4:58:57
Mike Lesnik Helena, MT	solo double blade WSBS X-par Missile	1:08	5:06:08
Marek Uliasz Fort Collins, CO	solo double blade WSBS Thunderbolt-X	1:16	5:19:37
Danielle Ballengee Dillon, CO	solo double blade Vaihala surfski	1:18	5:28:26
Rob Bean Fort Collins, CO	solo single blade C1 canoe	1:26	7:10 DSQ

My Race

I paddled this year single bladed with Kruger’s Sea Wind canoe and had a quite interesting race against Rob Bean in his Spencer X-treme. I used to train in my X-treme on the North Platte before Texas Water Safari, but it was at a lower water level and I used a kayak paddle (see my old report at Mountain Wayfarer). For sure I was not ready to race X-treme with a single blade. I was considering to take my outrigger canoe, but a few days before the race it wasn’t still clear how high water to expect.

I completed the race in 4:44 hours. It was about 16 minutes longer than in 2008 in Thunderbolt-X kayak. Scott Cummins changed Fenn surfski to Kirton K-1, but had almost the same winning time. Rob paddling X-treme was 19 minutes faster than a year ago.

My speed and heart race recorded by Garmin Forerunner 305 reveals some information what was going on along 44 miles of the river. First hour and first 11 miles of the race were very intense to meet the cut off time (1:20) at the Pick Bridge. I didn’t miss a single stroke. We reached this checkpoint together with Rob in about 1:05. His boat was obviously faster than mine, but he had to avoid bigger waves. I could look for the fastest current and enjoy wave trains in my Sea Wind.

After the Pick Bridge my paddling was a little bit more relaxed. I started to eat and drink more. Rob paddled ahead. I missed a lot of distance in one wrong “shortcut”. However, later Rob took a scenic longer route and I managed to pass him.

A few miles before Eagle Nest rapid I had a little crisis with muscle cramps, but I managed to recover after the rapid and paddled somewhat faster to the finish despite of the headwind.

We saw a lot of wildlife including deer and antelope swimming across the river. Exactly halfway, there was a bald eagle sitting on a tree and obviously watching the race.

Speed (blue) and heart rate (red) from my Garmin Forerunner GPS recording

Is Wyoming Outback Challenge a History?

The Wyoming Outback Challenge has run for three years. It was a great race. A very scenic, fast and challenging course. Generous cash prizes. However, it looks like CanoeColorado is not going to organize and sponsor this race any more.

Racers’ interest and attendance was quite disappointing: 2007 – 6 paddlers, 2008 – 11, and 2009 – 5. Why? A remote location far, far away? Economy situation discouraging longer travels? Other paddling races taken place during the Memorial Day weekend? I think that they are other reasons as well.

It seems to me that CanoeColorado dind’t promote their race. They rely on a traditional “word of mouth” promotion and don’t really use possibilities offered by internet despite running their own website. Try to find information about this race there! The other race they are running in August on the Colorado River has also very low attendance despite cash prizes and other rewards.

I posted several articles on the Wyoming Outback Challenge in this blog including reports, results, pictures, movies, and course description. I tried also to post information on different paddling and racing forums, but I didn’t feel that I have a right to submit the race to different event calendars since I was not an organizer.

I believe that the race to be successful needs not only to attract competitive racers, but also to encourage more advanced paddlers to race. Tight cut off times and disqualifications did not encourage any beginners. Probably, Rob Bean is the only one who started to race on the North Platte. Ironically, CanoeColorado was running a trip on White River during the Memorial Day weekend this year, so in time conflict with the Wyoming Challenge. And in the weekend following the race they will be running a trip on the North Platte River. Why not to allow for some interaction between touring paddlers and racers?

The last three Memorial Day weekends I spent with my wife, Connie, and our dogs in Saratoga racing, paddling before and after the race, photographing, enjoying hot springs, and having great time. Of course, I will keep paddling the North Platte.

Race Pictures

All pictures were shot during the race with Pentax Optio W30 camera mounted on a bow of Sea Wind with the sticky pod. The camera was set in an interval mode to shoot a frame every 30 seconds.

I will try to assembly an animation movie like from the previous year race. Unfortunately, the pictures are not so good this time. I set up the camera too close to the bow and I was getting many splashes on the lens despite my improvised hood. I also forgot to turn a flash off. With cloudy weather the flash fired quite often and drained a camera battery. So, my picture coverage goes only to Eagle Nest rapid.

3rd Wyoming Outback Challenge on the North Platte River

Marek — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:00:56 +0000

Wyoming Outback Challenge, 44 mile race on the North Platte River from Saratoga to Fort Steele is scheduled for May 24, 2009. For details contact the race organizers at CanoeColorado.com.

44 Miles of the North Platte River in 2 Minutes

Marek — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:08:56 +0000

44 miles of
North Platte RIver
in 2 minutes

Wyoming Outback Challenge’08

The 2nd Wyoming Outback Challenge on the North Platte River organized by Canoe Colorado took place on May 25, 2008, during Memorial Day weekend. The race starts at Hot Springs in Saratoga and runs 44 miles down the river across a quite remote area to Fort Steele (I-80 boat ramp).

I had several posts about 2007 and 2008 races in my paddling blogs:

During the race I was shooting pictures with the similar camera setup as in the 2007 Colorado River Race in Glenwood Canyon.

1. The Pentax Optio W30 camera was mounted on a deck of the Thunderbolt kayak. I used a camera mount based on two suction cups from the Sticky Pod . An improvised hood shaded the lens from a direct sun light and prevented at least some of splashes (there were a lot of them with a high water this year).

2. The camera was set in an interval mode: a picture every 1 minute up to 360 pictures. I started the camera a few minutes before the start at Saratoga, completed the race in 4:27 hours, and let the camera shooting with a bow of my kayak facing upstream towards incoming boats.

3. The frames were assembled into a video clip without any adjustments, just with resizing pictures. I did not remove any frames. You see some frames with water droplets.

4. With 1 minute sampling the river looks pretty empty in my animation. I paddled with other boats only for a mile till the first dam, then somewhere below Pick Bridge I was passed by a tandem Spencer canoe. I thought that I stayed with them much longer than 1 minute, but I don’t see them in my pictures. I stopped twice during the race: a short portage over a rock dam in the river side leg and then checking the Eagle Nest rapid. You can notice my stops in single frames if you watch carefully.

I hope that this video animation will give you some taste of the North Platte River and Wyoming Outback Challenge. See you next year in Saratoga!