The International Canoe Federation and The American Canoe Association present

The 2020 World Cup

A set of 4 races, featuring the fastest paddlers in the world, on the

Cheat River in Wild, Wonderful .

May 2-8 2020,

Albright, West Virginia

1 Introduction The is one of the longest undammed watersheds in the Eastern USA, running through the to the confluence with the Monongahela, creating a ribbon of beautiful 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 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 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.

2 Location/Travel Albright/Kingwood is a twinned community of approximately 3000 on the Cheat River in Preston County, West Virginia. This event is a wilderness event, a significant distance from any large city.

The nearest internaonal airport is Pisburgh (approximately 2 hours). However, for direct flights to Europe, the closest airports are Washington Dulles (IAD, 3.25 hrs) and Balmore Washington Internaonal Airport (BWI, 3.25 hours). We ancipate that teams will fly into Atlanta or Charloe and out of BWI or IAD.

Teams are responsible for transport from NOC, while compeng at the venue and when leaving for the airport.

Weather in May

High Temperatures of 67°F (19.4 Celsius) to 74°F (23.3 Celsius), rarely falling below 53°F (11.6 C) or exceeding 83°F (28.3C), low temperatures of 46°F (7.7C) to 54°F (12.2C), rarely falling below 34°F (1.1) or exceeding 63°F (17.2).

Currency

The US Dollar is the only legal tender in the USA.

Entries and Parcipaon Fees

Entry fee for the 4 race World Cup Series will be $140. Banking details will be distributed in the next bullen.

3 Visa requirements

Visa free entry to the USA is allowed for cizens of the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom.

All other cizens require visas. Full details can be found at hps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program

Training Facilies available nearby

Flatwater training is available at Terra Alta lake, Alpine Lake resort (the housing site), , Yough Lake, Deep Creek Lake etc, all within 45 minutes drive.

Whitewater Training is available throughout the Cheat watershed, as well as at ASCI (former site of Slalom World Championships), on various sites on the Youghiogheny river (site of mulple Naonal Wildwater championships and selecon events), on the North Branch of the Potomac and Savage River (site of 1989 World Championships). All of these sites are within 60 minutes drive.

Conngency Plan

The Cheat River is undammed, so a high or low water event is possible. However, the proximity of so many other potenal race sites, many of which have been used for mulple internaonal or naonal level races, allow massive flexibility. In addion, the length of the Cheat rivershed allows use of excellent courses at very high water that are suitable for wildwater racing e.g. the Dry Fork of the Cheat.

4 Boat rental

A number of kayaks and a smaller number of canoes are available for rental on a first come, first served basis to non-US paddlers. Prices are negoable, depending on the condion of the boat, but will be approximately $30/day at both Worlds and World Cups. Some boats may not be available for use in World Cup 4 where boat damage could be substanal. However, a number of plasc wildwater kayaks, including Wavehoppers and Fastwaves, are available for rent to non-US paddler when praccing this course.

Customs regulaons Importaon of equipment will be handled through the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina. This approach was used successfully in 2015 for the Junior and U23 Wildwater World Championships so we do not ancipate any issues. Boats must be transported from NOC to Albright, and thence back to their country of origin. All boats and equipment must be returned to their country of origin in order to avoid import dues. The organizaon is not liable for customs dues incurred by individuals or teams.

Boat transport

Unfortunately, the World Cup cannot cannot facilitate boat transport from NOC to Albright, or large scale shuling of athletes and boats at the venue. NOC has negoated a car rental agreement with Enterprise that will allow rental of a vehicle in Atlanta and return of that vehicle at IAD or BWI. Aer the World Cup, the organizers will be on site for only one day (May 9th), so all boat transport from Albright must be arranged within this window.

Boat repair

World Cup courses 3 and 4 (parcularly 4) may incur significant boat damage. We do appreciate that shipping repair materials internaonally can be challenging so, if provided sufficient noce, we can order repair materials for our cost and provide tools for you to use at a central locaon in Albright.

5 Accommodaon

Local Accommodaon in West Virginia is very limited, so in order to ensure that everyone can be housed, please book through the World Cup organizaon by emailing Steph at [email protected]

Accommodaon includes: Camping at the Cheat River Campground, or Teters Campground, immediately adjacent to the Cheat River Fesval grounds. We do not recommend this opon for Friday May 1st or Saturday may 2nd, as these campgrounds are extremely crowded and very loud during the Cheat fesval. Rather, we recommend camping at Cooper’s Rock State Forest.

Cabin rentals of various sizes are available locally, including on the grounds of the Alpine Lake Resort, 15 minutes drives from all venues, with flatwater training site within walking distance. Preferenal rates have been negoated and very depending on the size of the property and the number of athletes and support staff staying. Typically these rates can vary from $15-70/head/night. Please note: Alpine Lake resort is a gated community with strict speeding and noise enforcement.

Hotel accommodaon, including meals, is available either at Alpine Lake resort, or in Hazelton. Preferenal rates have been negoated and range from $65-90/night.

A small number of local homestays with local paddlers may be possible for individual competors or small teams.

Please book housing ONLY through a Team Leader, as it is essenal that we book housing in the most efficient way in order to fit everyone in.

Team should plan to provide their own nutrion and meals., and local supermarkets in Terra Alta and Kingwood are available for purchase of food.

6 Provisional Program

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

7 Course Details

World Cup #1 Sprint through Calamity Rapid on the Cheat Narrows Length 60-75 seconds, depending on natural flow level Class II/III, deep water, irregular waves, boils and one large hole Not much chance of boat damage Teams 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 damage Teams must launch at Classic start and take out below Classic Finish, but support will be available at sprint course

World Cup #3 Bigger and rockier than the Narrows sprint or classic – very big if water is high Length 60-75 seconds, depending on natural flow level. Some chance of boat damage Teams 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.

8 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 Information Chris Norbury/Codorus Wildwater Club Wildwater World Cup 2020 Organizer [email protected] Tel: +1 717 304 4793

For Housing/Accommodation Steph [email protected]

Sponsors

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