angst squirt nationals

angst squirt nationals rodeo

1999 results not available

Date: The year 2004 date is Saturday April 24

Contest will start at 2:30 pm

Directions to the site: Look for the town of Erwin on a map. It is in east Tennessee south of Johnson City. A couple miles west or Erwin take the Jackson Love exit. There will be a Holiday Inn Express there. Take the road that goes in front of the Holiday Inn. It parallels the highway. Take your first left. This road will take you close to the river and you will be following it upstream. You will come to a 4 way stop at a hostel. Turn left and go over the bridge. Take the first right after the bridge and continue upstream. You will come out at the rafting outposts. The event site is a 100 yard float downstream.

Directions to camping and Registration: Camping is encouraged at the nolichucky Campground (423 743 8876) which is at the take out. Camping fees are not included with your rodeo entry and they will probably be around $8 a person a night. We will attempt to negotiate a reduced fee for you (probably $5). Also nearby is the Noli. Hostel and Cabins (423 735 0548)

We will party hardy at the campground Saturday night. Anyone that has access to firewood please bring it and we will have a bonfire.

Parking: Camping at the campground will get you around this problem. If you are not camping you must pay the campground guy a couple of bucks to park there. As an alternative if you have multiple vehicles you can leave them near the bridge. If you choose to park at the outposts at the takeout use great discretion. If you make a presence and an imposition on the rafting companies they will certainly remember our behavior.

Registration: $20 this will include entrance into the contest plus a special gift, keg, dinner, and prizes from great sponsors like Red Bull, NRS, Mountain Surf, Power Paws, Kayakoutfitting.com and more. . There will be two classes, the national championship class and an amateur class. There will be a women's class if there enough interest. Registration will be at the campground on Friday night.

Format: Its pretty simple. Mystery moves baby, thats what we are here to see. You will have 5 tries at a mystery move. Your total mystery move time is added up and highest time wins. (Yes 0s' will count, ouch). Your time starts when your head disappears and stops when either your boat or your shoulders break the surface. An additional style score or either + or - one half a second will go on your score for an extraordinary flashy exit or sloppy exit. This doesn't mean that you score higher by coming up and then cartwheeling down to the bridge. What it means is that the exit is testament to the control of the mystery and the first moment of your surfacing will tell a lot about what was going on underwater.

Spectators: This will be a grand daddy of a crowd pleaser. You will see boats and people disappear underwater longer than you thought was possible. The site itself is an almost nothing looking rapid just down from the normal Noli takeout. There is a nice river stone beach to hang out on river right. You can get there from the NOC parking lot by either floating in a boat or walking down. To walk down on river right does involve wading in water about thigh deep. You can also watch on river left without having to wade in water. It is not as comfortable seating but is a very good view of the action and the crowd. Bring a chair. To get to river right access: follow the directions to the intersection of the hostel and bridge. Go straight across the intersection and keep following the paved road up river left. After a while the road will begin to climb. You can park at or near the switchback here and walk down to the railroad tracks and find the spot from there. Please do not park at the pull off at the base of the hill across from the house. We are trying to keep as low a profile as possible.

Toilets: there are no facilities at the site itself. The campground is your best bet. If you end up using the bathrooms at the NOC please take great care not to make a mess of them. The guides and staff are responsible for cleaning them and they will not likely forget it if we cause them extra work.

Other FAQ At the event site I will monitor FMRS (those little cobra, motorola radios) radio channel 6 for those trying to contact me to pay or with other questions like finding the site itself. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday I will most likely be at Cowbell itself.

Water levels 1000 to 2000cfs is ideal but we will run the event at whatever we get. There will not be an alternate date. There is a pretty fair window on either side of that level that is usable. The 2001 event proved that you can work the spot at very minimal flows. Year 2000 event proved that you could work the spot at 4000. The contest will be at 2:30 to allow you time to run the river in the morning. You can view the USGS gage here. For the current water level.

Beer. It is not a dry county but beer is only sold at a few convenience stores. You will have to ask around in Erwin for a place that sells. Beer is not sold on Sunday there so plan accordingly.

I will build this page more as need dictates. You can either e mail me your questions or post on the Angst message board