Tamihi Five-0 - Open Canoe Slalom

Chilliwack River, BC

September 19-20, 2009  ~ 2nd Annual ! ~

Aloha!  Welcome to the Tamihi Five-0

The Tamihi Five-0 is a fun whitewater slalom race for open canoes.  "Five-0" stands for fifty, meaning 50 seconds, which is the time penalty for missing a gate!  The Five-0 is a social event for whitewater canoeists around Vancouver to come together and have some fun.  Trying the slalom gates is a great way to challenge yourself and improve your skills!  Whitewater canoeists - advanced paddlers and those who dabble with whitewater on the odd weekend - can test their skills on this class II+ race course.  Whitewater skills and equipment are required, a sense of humour is recommended.  Bring your family and friends. Find tandem partners and compete for King or Queen of the River!

2009 is the 2nd annual!  This is not a race where you'll find lots of trained racers.  It's mostly a race where you'll find "normal" river-runners just having some at trying the slalom gates, with very little experience, practice or training.

The Tamihi Five-0 is organized by volunteers, many from the Beaver Canoe Club, with the generous help of the real slalom racers from the Chilliwack Centre of Excellence (CCE).

The Chilliwack racers maintain the slalom course at Tamihi Rapid, where many local, national and international slalom events are held.  Although many open boaters usually avoid Tamihi, water levels in mid-September make the course, which avoids the more difficult entrance to the rapid, runnable for intermediate whitewater canoeists (just in case, the water is at its "warmest", and bring a throwrope!).

Slalom Clinic 

Last year we held a pre-race clinic in August to give people an idea about paddling gates.  If there's interest in a clinic this year, please volunteer to set one up!  

Details for the 2008 clinic are available here.  Plus, you can check out these tips and links.