Kelly's Whitewater Park

This past weekend, Kristin and I headed to Cascade, Idaho to meet with some of the folks leading the development of the new whitewater park there. This park, which will be known as Kelly's Whitewater Park (KWP) and looks like it will be SWEET.

Thanks to the mayor of Cascade, we were given a tour of the site and the visitor's center which is under construction. The in-stream features look really promising, though it will be hard to tell what they're like until the water comes up this spring. What's probably the most amazing part of the whole place is the visitor's center. They've decided to go all out for this thing, with rough log finishing and stone floors. There will even be fancy granite counters in the restrooms. Plus, there is an amazing, huge viewing room. This room has giant glass walls with 180 degree views of the features. There's a fireplace for you to warm up around after surfing, and a committee is working on museum of the history of Cascade. Pretty impressive.

Along with the new facility, the Friends of KWP are planning several key events this summer. First, there will be 4 Hometown Throwdowns for local paddlers to participate in. And, on the 4th of July there will be a giant concert.

But what we're probably most excited about is the group's plan to provide 5 free lessons to all kids from 9-18 in Valley County. This is a huge opportunity for the youth of that area, exposing them to a lifetime sport that they can access in their backyard. We're trying to help them with this mission, and know that it will be wildly successful.

Our trip to Cascade reaffirmed our desire to permanently settle our campus in that area. We were able to stay with a wonderful local family who gave us lots of beta on potential sites for the school. We're hopeful that our dream of a basecamp will be realized in the very near future!