Paddlers challenge 'Wild Mile' this weekend

The 34th annual Bigfork Whitewater Festival gets under way today with kayaking events on the “Wild Mile” of the Swan River

More kayaking events and a triathlon are planned on Sunday.

The festival starts with registration at the Garden Bar from 9 to 10 a.m. today, followed by the opening kayak event, a beginners slalom race on a lower section of the Wild Mile at 11 a.m.

Organizer Nikki Dizzani said the festival typically attracts 50 to 60 paddlers from around the region, but most competitors are locals.

Dizzani said the expert slalom event, which starts at 2 p.m. today, is typically the most popular for spectators.

Competitors must negotiate their way through gates, without touching them, as fast as possible on a course on the more difficult rapids in the upper reaches of the Wild Mile.

“The crowds really get into it, because you can kind of watch the whole course from different areas on the river,” Dizzani said.

Each paddler does the course twice, using the best time for the competition.

On Sunday, a Down River competition starts at noon, with paddlers working their way down the Wild Mile, from top to bottom, as fast as they can. The event will be carried out in heats, with paddlers starting in groups of three or four.

The 2 p.m. Boaters Cross competition, by contrast, has the entire field of paddlers starting simultaneously.

That event has typically been run on the lower half of the Wild Mile, Dizzani said, but this year the race will go the entire distance of the Wild Mile.

Dizzani said there currently are medium flows on the river of just over 3 feet on the boaters’ gauge, compared to about 4 feet most years.

Higher flows make for faster times while lower flows can require more technical skills in navigating the river.

The festival’s triathlon will be held on Sunday starting at 9:30 a.m.

The triathlon typically attracts about 70 competitors. It involves a four-mile paddle on the calm waters of the Swan River above the dam, followed by a 14-mile bike ride and a four-mile run.

The festival wraps up at 4 p.m. Sunday with an awards party at the Garden Bar.

Spectators can view the Whitewater Festival from the north side of the river by following the trail from Electric or Grand avenues in Bigfork. On the south side of the river, there are access points for spectators off of Montana 209.

For Whitewater Festival information, contact Mike or Nikki Dizzani at 892-2256.

For triathlon information, contact Stan Watkins at the Kalispell Athletic Club at 752-2880.