Gossip
Wave Shapers!!!!
By Tanya ShumanMay 23, 2007
Wave Shapers: The Future in Freestyle Kayaking
Yesterday I had the opportunity to be apart of the test team at the Adventure Sports Center International course in Wisp, Maryland. This will be the first whitewater course that uses Wave Shapers; an adjustable feature that offers different types of waves, holes or combinations at one location…creating ideal whitewater play, practice and training opportunities. I believe these Wave Shapers will set the precedent for future whitewater courses.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to be apart of the test team at the Adventure Sports Center International course in Wisp, Maryland. This will be the first whitewater course that uses Wave Shapers; an adjustable feature that offers different types of waves, holes or combinations at one location…creating ideal whitewater play, practice and training opportunities. I believe these Wave Shapers will set the precedent for future whitewater courses.
On the test team with me were top World class freestyle kayakers both on waves and in holes; Jimmy Blakeney, Marlow Long, Kelsey Thompson, Bryan Kirk, and Brian Jennings. We met up with the head designer, Rick McLaughlin, who designed ASCI course with John Anderson. Together with Risa Shimoda, the strategic planner, we tested the course and its four Wave Shapers.
That’s right FOUR Wave Shapers throughout the course. The Wave Shapers to me are like automatic seat adjusters in your car. With a button pushed here and there, you get to your ideal setting. With Rick on the controls, each Wave Shaper was tested to its perfect setting. Its amazing though a slight adjustment of the Wave Shaper can change the wave into a green glassy wave or into a munchy hole.
That’s right FOUR Wave Shapers throughout the course. The Wave Shapers to me are like automatic seat adjusters in your car. With a button pushed here and there, you get to your ideal setting. With Rick on the controls, each Wave Shaper was tested to its perfect setting. Its amazing though a slight adjustment of the Wave Shaper can change the wave into a green glassy wave or into a munchy hole.
The best two Wave Shapers were A and B.
Wave Shaper A was more of a wave where you could air blunt, back stab, and helix.
Pics of Wave Shaper A
Kelsey clean blunting BJennings AirBlunting
BJennings surfing Wave A Jimbo surfing Wave A
Jimmy Surfing it up!! Kelsey Blunting again and again!!!
Wave Shaper B was more like a hole where you could cartwheel your brains off and loop.
Pics of Wave Shaper B
BKirk cartwheeling away!!!
More cartwheeling at Wave Shaper B.
Looping!!I was very impressed by the course. ASCI is deep and you’re not going to be scrapping yourself of the bottom of the course if you swim or hitting your head when you flip over. Each rapid or section ends in a pool making it easy to get out of your boat or if you were swimming. The eddies are big and not pushing. There are splat rocks and spin rocks toward the end of the course too. The whole look of the course is very natural…looking like the Animas River in Durango, Colorado.
Rick, the head designer, is a perfectionist. There is still some fine-tuning to be done on the course. The Test Team gave him insight on what needed to be done to have the ultimate whitewater course. He was extremely receptive and video us as we explained to him how to make each feature better. He plans to fix this changes within the next month.
Although the course is not optimal yet, it is far superior to any whitewater course built by leaps and bounds. And I have been to almost every whitewater course in North America. This course took a lot of planning and ingenuity. For more information on it take a look at: http://www.mclaughlinwhitewater.com or http://www.adventuresportscenter.com/.
See you on the river.....Smiles, T.Shuman
