Begun in 1991 with a few dozen participants, the festival, a celebration of paddling on the Potomac River, has grown to 145 participants, including 65 paddlers in this year’s competition. The all-volunteer organization organizes the festival to promote and support American Whitewater, the sole national organization that works to protect paddlers’ ability to enjoy America’s rivers by working with local and national authorities to secure river access. In addition to the Great Falls race, the festival’s other events include an attainment (upriver) race, a freestyle competition, a so-called boatercross—multiple kayakers racing side-by-side—and a community paddle through the Potomac’s Mather Gorge. And of course, what festival would be complete without a post-competition party?
The most-anticipated event of the festival remains the Great Falls race. The DC area is home to some of the country’s best kayakers, including many current and former U.S. National Kayak Team members, and the Great Falls race allows them to go head-to-head in friendly competition, down one of the country’s most famous stretches of whitewater. As a freelance photographer who shoots outdoor activities, this was a spectacle I did not want to miss.
So with my rain gear in hand, I arrived at Great Falls at 7:00 a.m. That gave me plenty of time to hike up to the top of the falls before the 8:30a.m. scheduled start of the race. As many paddlers will attest, the most dangerous part of the race can sometimes be negotiating the hike to the race’s start. On a dry day, ascending the jaggedly strewn boulders along the falls’ edge can be an arduous, shin-scraping affair. On rain-slicked rocks, it can become perilous.
With my camera backpack protruding beneath my rain shell, I carefully picked my way towards the falls’ summit, no doubt looking like the hunch back climbing the bell tower at Notre Dame. Arriving at the top of the falls, I watched as the competitors began to arrive, several negotiating the same path I took, but with a kayak slung over their shoulders. Some were bare foot. In this race, it helps to not only be like a duck in the water, but like a billy goat on the rocks.
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