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The International Canoe Federation and
The American Canoe Association
present
The 2020 Wildwater
Canoeing World Cup A set of 4 races, featuring the fastest paddlers in the world, on the
Cheat River in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
May 2-8 2020, Albright, West Virginia
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Introduction The Cheat River is one of the longest undammed watersheds in the Eastern USA, running through the Allegheny Mountains to the confluence with the Monongahela, creating a ribbon of beautiful whitewater in sparsely populated areas. As such, the whitewater sections of the Cheat River became a destination for canoeists and kayakers, and home to a thriving rafting industry over 50 years ago. The river was the birthplace of squirt kayaking, which in turn lead to the development of
low volume kayaks now used to race in the Olympics. In 1994, the T&T Mine flooded the Cheat Canyon with acid mine drainage, ruining the water quality, killing wildlife for many miles and gutting the local rafting industry. Since then, many individuals and a number of organizations including our partners, Friends of the Cheat, have worked tirelessly to clean up the Cheat Canyon and protect it in the years to come. Although some tributaries still add pollution to the Cheat River the water quality has improved dramatically, numerous easements protect natural habitats along the Cheat Canyon, and developments are being made to increase the accessibility of the Cheat River to the public. Therefore, it is time to celebrate the recovery of the Cheat by inviting paddlesports athletes from all over the World to race in 2020. Wildwater, or Downriver, racing is the simplest form of canoe sport, pitting competitors in single or double canoes or kayaks against the clock on natural whitewater courses of 2 lengths: Sprint (4-800m) and Classic (2-15 miles). The Cheat River has hosted downriver races for over 40 years, but it was the advent of the Cheat Canyon Downriver Race, held on the eve of the annual Cheat Festival, that really introduced racing on the most difficult section of the river, the 12 mile Canyon. The Cheat hosted an international ranking race in 2019, and will host a 4 race World Cup Series in 2020. The last set of multiple World Cups held outside of Europe was in 2009, in Tasmania, Australia, and Wildwater World Cups have not been held in the USA since 2003, and have never been held in the Eastern USA. Therefore, this is a unique opportunity to celebrate the Cheat River and witness some of the best and fastest whitewater paddlers in the World Compete locally.
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Location/Travel Albright/Kingwoodisatwinnedcommunityofapproximately3000ontheCheatRiverinPrestonCounty,WestVirginia.Thiseventisawildernessevent,asignificantdistancefromanylargecity.
ThenearestinternaFonalairportisPiGsburgh(approximately2hours).However,fordirectflightstoEurope,theclosestairportsareWashingtonDulles(IAD,3.25hrs)andBalFmoreWashingtonInternaFonalAirport(BWI,3.25hours).WeanFcipatethatteamswillflyintoAtlantaorCharloGeandoutofBWIorIAD.
TeamsareresponsiblefortransportfromNOC,whilecompeFngatthevenueandwhenleavingfortheairport.
WeatherinMay
HighTemperaturesof67°F(19.4Celsius)to74°F(23.3Celsius),rarelyfallingbelow53°F(11.6C)orexceeding83°F(28.3C),lowtemperaturesof46°F(7.7C)to54°F(12.2C),rarelyfallingbelow34°F(1.1)orexceeding63°F(17.2).
Currency
TheUSDollaristheonlylegaltenderintheUSA.
EntriesandPar3cipa3onFees
Entryfeeforthe4raceWorldCupSerieswillbe$140.BankingdetailswillbedistributedinthenextbulleFn.
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Visarequirements
VisafreeentrytotheUSAisallowedforciFzensofthefollowingcountries:Andorra,Australia,Austria,Belgium,Brunei,Canada,Chile,CzechRepublic,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Japan,Latvia,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Monaco,Netherlands,NewZealand,Norway,Portugal,SanMarino,Singapore,Slovakia,Slovenia,SouthKorea,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,TaiwanandUnitedKingdom.
AllotherciFzensrequirevisas.FulldetailscanbefoundathGps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program
TrainingFacili3esavailablenearby
FlatwatertrainingisavailableatTerraAltalake,AlpineLakeresort(thehousingsite),Cheatlake,YoughLake,DeepCreekLakeetc,allwithin45minutesdrive.
WhitewaterTrainingisavailablethroughouttheCheatwatershed,aswellasatASCI(formersiteofSlalomWorldChampionships),onvarioussitesontheYoughioghenyriver(siteofmulFpleNaFonalWildwaterchampionshipsandselecFonevents),ontheNorthBranchofthePotomacandSavageRiver(siteof1989WorldChampionships).Allofthesesitesarewithin60minutesdrive.
Con3ngencyPlan
TheCheatRiverisundammed,soahighorlowwatereventispossible.However,theproximityofsomanyotherpotenFalracesites,manyofwhichhavebeenusedformulFpleinternaFonalornaFonallevelraces,allowmassiveflexibility.InaddiFon,thelengthoftheCheatrivershedallowsuseofexcellentcoursesatveryhighwaterthataresuitableforwildwaterracinge.g.theDryForkoftheCheat.
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Boatrental
Anumberofkayaksandasmallernumberofcanoesareavailableforrentalonafirstcome,firstservedbasistonon-USpaddlers.PricesarenegoFable,dependingonthecondiFonoftheboat,butwillbeapproximately$30/dayatbothWorldsandWorldCups.SomeboatsmaynotbeavailableforuseinWorldCup4whereboatdamagecouldbesubstanFal.However,anumberofplasFcwildwaterkayaks,includingWavehoppersandFastwaves,areavailableforrenttonon-USpaddlerwhenpracFcingthiscourse.
Customsregula3onsImportaFonofequipmentwillbehandledthroughtheNantahalaOutdoorCenterinNorthCarolina.Thisapproachwasusedsuccessfullyin2015fortheJuniorandU23WildwaterWorldChampionshipssowedonotanFcipateanyissues.BoatsmustbetransportedfromNOCtoAlbright,andthencebacktotheircountryoforigin.AllboatsandequipmentmustbereturnedtotheircountryoforigininordertoavoidimportduFes.TheorganizaFonisnotliableforcustomsduFesincurredbyindividualsorteams.
Boattransport
Unfortunately,theWorldCupcannotcannotfacilitateboattransportfromNOCtoAlbright,orlargescaleshuGlingofathletesandboatsatthevenue.NOChasnegoFatedacarrentalagreementwithEnterprisethatwillallowrentalofavehicleinAtlantaandreturnofthatvehicleatIADorBWI.AjertheWorldCup,theorganizerswillbeonsiteforonlyoneday(May9th),soallboattransportfromAlbrightmustbearrangedwithinthiswindow.
Boatrepair
WorldCupcourses3and4(parFcularly4)mayincursignificantboatdamage.WedoappreciatethatshippingrepairmaterialsinternaFonallycanbechallengingso,ifprovidedsufficientnoFce,wecanorderrepairmaterialsforourcostandprovidetoolsforyoutouseatacentrallocaFoninAlbright.
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Accommoda3on
LocalAccommodaFoninWestVirginiaisverylimited,soinordertoensurethateveryonecanbehoused,pleasebookthroughtheWorldCuporganizaFonbyemailingStephatcheatworldcuphousing@comcast.net
AccommodaFonincludes:CampingattheCheatRiverCampground,orTetersCampground,immediatelyadjacenttotheCheatRiverFesFvalgrounds.WedonotrecommendthisopFonforFridayMay1storSaturdaymay2nd,asthesecampgroundsareextremelycrowded
andveryloudduringtheCheatfesFval.Rather,werecommendcampingatCooper’sRockStateForest.
Cabinrentalsofvarioussizesareavailablelocally,includingonthegroundsoftheAlpineLakeResort,15minutesdrivesfromallvenues,withflatwatertrainingsitewithinwalkingdistance.PreferenFalrateshavebeennegoFatedandverydependingonthesizeofthepropertyandthenumberofathletesandsupportstaffstaying.Typicallytheseratescanvaryfrom$15-70/head/night.Pleasenote:AlpineLakeresortisagatedcommunitywithstrictspeedingandnoiseenforcement.
HotelaccommodaFon,includingmeals,isavailableeitheratAlpineLakeresort,orinHazelton.PreferenFalrateshavebeennegoFatedandrangefrom$65-90/night.
AsmallnumberoflocalhomestayswithlocalpaddlersmaybepossibleforindividualcompeFtorsorsmallteams.
PleasebookhousingONLYthroughaTeamLeader,asitisessenFalthatwebookhousinginthemostefficientwayinordertofiteveryonein.
TeamshouldplantoprovidetheirownnutriFonandmeals.,andlocalsupermarketsinTerraAltaandKingwoodareavailableforpurchaseoffood.
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May 1st Annual Cheat Canyon Downriver Race, open to all, not an ICF race.
May 2nd Open Practice, Cheat Narrows
May 2nd Evening Opening Ceremony, Cheat Festival Grounds, Albright, WV (during the annual
Cheat Festival)
May 3rd a.m. Open Practice, Cheat Narrows
May 3rd afternoon Heats for World Cup #1, Sprint through Calamity Rapid, Cheat Narrows, all
classes May 3rd Evening Finals for World Cup #1, all classes
May 4th a.m. Open Practice, Cheat Narrows
May 4th afternoon World Cup #2, Classic Race, Cheat Narrows, from the Driveway to Pringle
Run, all classes
May 5th Open Practice Cheat Canyon
May 5th Evening Reception and Team Leaders and VIPs Dinner, Alpine Lake Resort
May 6th Open Practice Cheat Canyon May 7th a.m. Open Practice Decision Rapid
May 7th afternoon Heats for World Cup #3, Sprint through Decision Rapid, Cheat Canyon, all
classes
May 7th Evening Finals for World Cup #3, all classes
May 8th noon World Cup #4 Mass Start, C1W, C2W and C2M classes
May 8th 5pm World Cup #4 Mass Start, K1M, K1W, C1M classes May 8th Evening Closing Ceremony, Cheat Festival Grounds
May 8th Evening Farewell Celebration, Alpine Lake Resort
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Provisional Program
Course Details
World Cup #1
Sprint through Calamity Rapid on the Cheat Narrows
Length 60-75 seconds, depending on natural flow levelClass II/III, deep water, irregular waves, boils and one large holeNot much chance of boat damageTeams must launch at Classic start and take out below Classic Finish, but support will be available at sprint course
World Cup #2 Classic race on the Cheat Narrows.Length 11-15 minutes, depending on natural flow level.Calamity rapid is the most difficult, but large pools interspersed with 3-400 m rapids with irregular waves and boils.Not much chance of boat damageTeams must launch at Classic start and take out below Classic Finish, but support will be available at sprint course
WorldCup#3
Bigger and rockier than the Narrows sprint or classic – very big if water is highLength 60-75 seconds, depending on natural flow level.Some chance of boat damageTeams can launch at Classic start and walk back up between runs.Dept of Natural Resources Area – no vehicular traffic in the immediate area.Videos at https://www.wv-art.com/Archive/Videos/2019-Cheat-River-Race/i-sFhtHFH/A and
https://www.wv-art.com/Archive/Videos/2019-Cheat-River-Race/i-pwn3Mjw/A
World Cup #4 Classic race on the Cheat Canyon. This is a wilderness course. River is 400m wide at start – readily accommodates a mass start. 2 major start times in the day to allow multiple classes to be raced.Length 45-55 minutes, depending on natural flow level. Class 3-4.
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Significant chance of boat damage during training and the race. Road access to finish is “not great”. Once past Decision rapid there is only an ATV/Mountain bike trail until the finish and no cell phone service.Videos at https://www.wv-art.com/Archive/Videos/2019-Cheat-River-Race/i-dNdtJn5/A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHGZAR5RXYA&t=5s (please ignore the lines here)
Contact InformationChris Norbury/Codorus Wildwater ClubWildwater World Cup 2020 Organizer [email protected]: +1 717 304 4793
For Housing/AccommodationSteph [email protected]
Sponsors
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