By Steve Hubrecht

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Photo by Sarah Klintworth

It’s finally time for whitewater race enthusiasts to get their paddle on once again.

The annual Toby Creek Race, which is the premier whitewater race in the Columbia Valley, if not the entire Kootenay region, is set to go ahead in a little more than a week’s time, from Friday, July 22 to Sunday, July 24.

The race began way back in 2015 and has since grown into a multi-category event that brings 80 to 90 racers and a couple hundred spectators to the valley each summer. COVID-19 put paid to the Toby Creek Race in 2020 and 2021, but now that life is — for the most part — back to normal it’s back on.

“It’s pretty exciting. It’s been a long break. The community is pretty excited to have it back,” race organizer Simon Coward told the Pioneer.

The Toby Creek Race’s absurdly viewer-friendly location — on a stretch of the Toby Creek right alongside Toby Creek Road — turns the event into a festive occasion.

It’s really unique to be able to view a whitewater race up close so easily. Often the stretches of river that are good for racing are in very hard to access spots, back in the middle of woods, so there’s almost no spectators at all,” said Coward. “But at our race, we get really large crowds, because you can literally drive up, pull over and watch. It’s great.”

Racers will compete to navigate their watercraft around slalom gates in a variety of categories including intermediate kayak (on a Class II/III section of river with a long runout and plenty of safety), a youth category, intermediate SUP (in Class II features), advanced kayak (on a continuous Class IV section of river), elite kayak (with qualifiers also on a continuous Class IV section of river and then the finals at the notorious Slipping Rock rapid), and boater cross.

We always have an excellent, fun atmosphere. There’s strong local turnout, but there is prize money there for the top competitors, so we do draw some good paddlers from all over,” explained Coward. “It’s one of bigger paddling events in western Canada, but it’s not a global-level race by any means. Which means it retains a great local flavour.”

Part of what makes the Toby Creek Race is a success is how it runs the gamut of levels from elite down to intermediate and with a youth category as well. “This allows us to appeal to a wide range of people,” said Coward.

It takes a while to become proficient at whitewater paddling, but those that get past that initial hurdle often become hooked, he explained. “Whitewater is a very immersive experience. It gives you a shot of adrenaline, but there’s a technicality to it as well,” he said.