Animas River Days slalom races were held on Saturday. This is a paddling town, and these kids are fast. World class fast.
This path goes beside the rapids and the race course is set right on this stretch of river. People leave their boats and gear on the grass until it’s time for their class to race.
A kayak slalom course has 18 - 22 gates and takes a few minutes to run. You go through the red gates against the flow of the river, and the green gates with the flow. Each gate is hanging from a cable stretched across the river, so the race course can be changed from race to race. When there isn’t a race, the gates are pulled over to the side of the river.
In an eddy near the head of the course, the paddlers wait their turn to run the gates.
Here’s a kid approaching the first gate. He makes the drop before the gate, and then starts turning his boat upstream
rotating around that firmly set paddle blade.
He clears the gate, quickly turns his boat for Gate 2
and squeaks through.
And then he’s gone around the bend.
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