6th Annual Puntledge River Paddle Festival.

The Best time ever awaits on Vancouver Island May 28-30, 2010

The VIWPS has again worked miracles and was given the keys to the Lamborgini of rivers: THE PUNTLEDGE.

The Puntledge River flows through Courtney, in the Comox Valley. It is a dam controlled river and it will be controlled by paddlers May 29th and 30th with the perfect levels of flows for all types of ability levels. Saturday will be easier and a great start. Sunday promises to push a bit more and get the boys and girls giddy with fantastic experiences.

This is a river with everything….

Class 5 big water ramps and falls. It is some of the biggest, most intense creeking you can experience without going to Norway!

Then, once the adrenaline rush is over, the play run starts. The first 400m of the play run has well over 100 waves to choose from. Then the classic superstar play run begins with features full of names because they all deserve recognition. There are on the fly hole waves, some park and play and some zen surfing in this section. All tricks are to be tried, from the spin on to the helix and beyond.

There is also an easier section that gives us the friendliest wave ever, and some great beginner water with an easy eddy to practice some skills.

On top of the great whitewater, camping is included in the cost of registration, as is vehicle shuttles. There will also be food and all sorts of prizes for everyone because numerous sponsors generously support this event. There will also be a showing of boats from Liquid Logic, Jackson kayaks, Piranha, and Riot Kayaks, as well as gear to test from Level 6, Salus, and Aquabound.

So, other than the great whitewater, awesome everything done for you event and even some gear head pleasures, what else is there??? Sat night promises to be a blast, with rumors of a Check DJ and maybe a beer sponsorship...!

Last but not least, you will be hounded to do a questionnaire. Yes paperwork, but it’s for a special cause. It’s our last and most important year of a recreational study that looks for the benefits of having such a release and its impacts on other users of the river, such as BCHydro. Do the right thing and talk about how much you spend in the Comox valley. This is not a tax audit, so be generous here!!!! Also, feel free to say that it kicks ass knowing the flows in advance and it makes it sooo worthwhile to come all the way to Comox/Courtenay for such an event!