Positioned at the end of a gloriously paved private road, the U.S. National Whitewater Center is a utopia of outdoor fun. Mountain bike trails, high-ropes courses, and zip-lines adorn the property, and a well-stocked brewery is situated nicely above the competition whitewater channel where Olympians train and SurfSUP Adventures guides crash.
The Center has become a mecca of instruction and competition for whitewater SUP (standup paddleboarding), thanks largely to the innovation of Trey Knight, the program manager. Trey has worked vigorously with the ACA (American Canoe Association) to create comprehensive courses for students and instructors in all disciplines of paddleboarding. Furthermore, the Center hosts what is arguably the most challenging whitewater SUP race in the world during “Tuck Fest” each April.
To escape the frozen waters of Pittsburgh, Ian Smith of SurfSUP Adventures partnered with Trey to collaborate on a Whitewater SUP Skills Class. The two-day program covered an extensive array of river skills including; paddle strokes, ferrying, eddy catching, river surfing, and running rapids. The progression of participants and river-wide grins illustrate perfectly how world-class instruction and an idyllic facility can create experiences that last well beyond the paved road.
For more information about the U.S. National Whitewater Center, please visit:
http://usnwc.org/