2007 World Freestyle Championships

Trip Report

Worlds freestyle '07 Video	6,534 KB /wmv	1 min 38 seconds	World Freestyle competition in Ottawa Canada 2007 (includes results at the end)

For weeks before, I am excited. The 2007 Worlds Freestyle Championships, and I am going to Bus Eater. For those who don't know, Bus Eater is a gigantic playwave, designed by mother nature, named because it is big enough to eat a bus, and now the site of the Worlds. What this all translates to is the most dynamic freestyle championships ever. I am stoked because; not only will I be able to witness this event, but I will also be able to paddle a wave that I have been dreaming about for years.

As I leave my home in boise, the excitement builds, and I blab my story of "I'm going to the worlds!" in an almost taunting manner to anyone who will listen. The poor lady in the seat next to me, was probably so grateful when I finally dosed off. A verry long travel time, started to bum me out for a bit, but by the time I arrived in Ottawa, that excitement started coming back. I drove streight to Wilderness Tours, and picked up my badge, (media) and I decided to go take a peek at Bus Eater, and my heart jumped. The wave is huge, fast, and unforgiving, and the competition started early! Turnes out that the power companies ended up being able to give less water than they expected. I heard that somewhere between three and twelve powerplants pushed water and cooperated to make this competition happen. For those of you who have never been to the worlds before, the one thing that you need to know, is that there is a huge line. If you want to kayak, its probably not a good idea to try to kayak on the feature until after the competition. In Graz, Austria (site of the 2005 Worlds) the line was sometimes more than 50 paddlers long. (and it was a trashy wave) So for now it was time to curb my enthusiasm, take some pictures, and go find something to eat.

The next morning I headed straight over to one of the biggest waves in the world, camera gear in tote, and had myself a full day of watching the pro's do things that I could only imagine. Inverted moves were standard, and the 15' foam pile began to look easy. All the competitors would just ferry out to the wave, throw a pan am or a helix, and made it look easy. You can only watch so much of it before you start thinking, “I could do that”. Then after a few more hours you start believing that you could easily head over to that nice looking wave, and throw a gigantic air screw. (I have never even squeaked out an air screw) Don't get me wrong, I do know that it is not as easy as it looks, but one of the major reasons that I came, was because I wanted to throw a big move on Bus Eater. It feels like torture to know that you cant even get on the wave yet.

After a huge day of freezing wind, hot sun, and amazing competition, it was finally my turn. The competition had been wrapped up, and everyone was heading to the after party at Wilderness Tours. I did not paddle to the island as Wilderness Tours offered free boat shuttles, which made it easy to get all my camera equipment over. After I got my gear packed I got in the huge line for the boat, and started talking to Emily Jackson. (who by the way took 1st place in Jr. womens) Emily had just returned from Uganda, and referred to it as her most favorite place in the world. I tend to agree. I asked her about winning, and she seemed a bit disappointed about it. She said humbly that she did not do her best, and although she was glad to win, she wished she had made her moves. We continued talking for a while about her ambitions in Africa, and I casually mentioned that I was going to paddle Bus eater for the first time. She then said something that made my stomache turn. “you need to cut in line, and get moving!” “Why” I asked, They have turned off the water from the power plants, and it will be gone within hours, or less. I knew that if I did not get on the wave today, I would not get a chance to do it until next year, or worse.

I did all I could, including running, cutting in line, and ferociously paddling back. Unfortunately Bus Eater, had lost a lot of the friendly bus, and was quickly turning into just an eater. I had not lost my determination, and after all, there were at least three of us there, who were willing to battle this monster. I grabbed the rope, and failed miserably with ferry attempt number 1. Concentrate, I thought. As I caught the eddy for attempt 2, I asked directions from one of the other guys, and found out that you; 1.)Must keep your arm bent, (to absorb shock from bouncing) 2.)The rope must stay tight to start. 3.) Just keep an edge and steer with your hips. Attempt two found me ferrying across the current. I quickly realized that Bus Eater is not the hard part. The ferry starts with paddle in left hand and tow rope in right. You must use the boat edges to turn (thats all you have). As the current grabbed my boat, my right bicep started to burn, as well as my forearms... “this thing is going to rip my arm off” I thought, “I cant do it!” I squinted my eyes, and leaned onto my edge even more. I swear it took me 45 seconds just to get across to the wave. Some people say that the first ride for some, makes them so scared, that they don't drop on to the wave. The crashing foam pile was a relief for me. The wave felt enormous. What happened to the nice looking wave I had been staring at all day? I thought about throwing a trick, but before I got set up, I flushed. Try 2 and my arm was on fire. Lean, I thought, and I put my head almost on the water. I closed my eyes, as the splashing water made it so I couldn't see much anyway. I opened my eyes and found myself in the same place. The people on shore are screaming UP! UP! I am wondering HOW? Finally the tension eases up, and ride 2 begins. I couldn't help but think “this is not like water skiing, if it were, verry few would be able to do it.” I did a spin, and found myself backwards. The wave explodes into a massive foam pile, and envelopes me inside. For a split second, I was surrounded. It was silent, like the eye of a hurricane, I was right side up, and took a breath. I was completely surrounded by whitewater, except for a small green stream of water protruding off the bow. The moment probably only lasted a half of a second, but it is still frozen in my mind. This made the whole trip worth it.

Six rides, and it felt like I had been hit by a bus. I was already physically wiped, and Bus Eater had turned into a 15' man eating hole. Everyone was done. Although my best move had been a marginal blunt, and a back stab, I was satisfied. (not quite the pan am that I had in mind) This also meant that I could still attend the party at Wilderness Tours. The closing ceramony's kick off with an amazing display, with bagpipes and everyone cheering. The whole thing was put together beautifly. And plus you always have fun seeing certain pro kayakers getting drunk and literally swinging from the chandeliers. Of course you unfortunately also get the other side of that. I felt sad and angry when certain french paddlers boo'd winning competitors, and shouted profanities. I decided to make it an early night and go paddling in the morning.

With bus eater gone, Ben Stookesberry, Devon Barker, and I went to a playhole called warm apple pie. A cold wind was blowing hard from the north, and was strong enough to blow us out of the hole sometimes. The sun had been out, but it was deceptively cold. With the hole only marginal at this flow, and the howling wind, it did not take long before Ben decided to rename the hole “cold cod sandwich”. After a while Ben and I decided to make a 45 min warm up paddle upstream, and find a wave. When we arrived at this amazing rapid with three playwaves, we encountered a big line, and were tempted to start asking paddlers if they had ever done a loop four feet out of the water. "let me tell you about warm apple pie, and how there is no wind, and the swedish female paddlers were there." It was too hard for even us to believe. The waves were great, but after only a few rides, we both decided we were cold hungry and a bit tired. All in all it was a good day of paddling.

A storm had been forecasted for the next day, and I decided that it was time to leave. I had an amazing time in Ottawa, and was definitely not looking forward to another grueling day of travel. One of the best things about Ottawa and the worlds, is all of the nice people, great memories, and good friends. Despite the difficulty of travel, and the money that you spend, It is well worth your time to spend some time in Ottawa.

Thanks for reading,
Jeremy.