It's one more year until Boater Chick Festival 2012. Every year when the festival ends everyone talks about how they can't wait until next year. By Sunday afternoon of BCF 2011 all of the cabins were booked up for 2012. That says a lot about Boater Chick Festival 2011.
BCF started up over four years ago with the idea to bring women paddlers of all levels together in one location for a weekend to paddle and hang out. That idea began to grow
and BCF is now a tradition going on it's 5th year. Many people said this years festival (2011) was the best yet and it was. Everyone started piling in late Friday evening. Breakfast by Riverbone was ready to go at 7:30am Saturday as everyone gathered in groups for the days activities. There were a lot of activities going on. Trips, clinics, and competitions on the Nantahala, Cheoah, Ocoee,and Tuckaseegee rivers.
A favorite competition to both participate in and watch is the Cheoah Chick Boatercross Race. 1.7 miles of giving it all you've got in consistent class IV+ whitewater. It's not easy. The Cheoah is a roadside run so spectating is easy. A dangerous favorite is to chase down the racers via an automobile full of people. Everyone is running fast and snapping pictures. At the finish line the racers are smiling big.
An interesting place to be is behind the scenes looking at the dynamic of each river event. Some were exciting like Shayne's advanced creeking clinic on the Cascades. Some were hard like Kat Levitt's advanced playboating clinic on the Ocoee or Casey Jone's beginner playboating clinic on the Tuckaseegee. Juliet Kastorff's slalom clinic was a fantastic learning experience in a great environment. All of the river trips were fairly relaxed.
Saturday night the party started around 6 or 7. We ate dinner, gave out awards, and gave away a bunch of gear. thanks in ALL to our sponsors. The fine folks from First Descents dropped by to talk about who they are and what they do. All of the proceeds from BCF are now donated First Descents.
After all of the awards and speeches were given Mary Ann Grell received the Boater Chick of the Year award! Mary Ann is a great boater with a lot of respect from her friends and fellow, or should I say chick, paddlers. She does many things to better the boating community and the paddlers within it and she deserved this award. Congrats, Mary Ann!
The party continued and we were all up as early as we could be Sunday morning. Literally everyone was a little late. Because of that no one had to wait long and all the trips went perfectly. I'm most grateful to Andria Davis for leading BCF's 1st ever class V trip down the Green Narrows. All of the chicks loved the river and the guide. I wish I could have been there.
Mark your calendars for the 3rd week in May of 2012. The festival is in a secluded campground on a beautiful mountain side by night and on the rivers by day. I hope you will consider coming to Boater Chick Festival 2012.
