Champion Roundtable

Boise National Forest invites River Rangers to network
amidst the North Fork Championship in Banks, Idaho

Amidst the roar of class IV whitewater, crowds line the North Fork of the Payette River. Every boulder holds a cheering fan as one by one kayakers fight along the infamous North Fork to establish the best time. The North Fork Championships, while hosted by RedBull, is held on BLM and Forest Service lands. This rowdy event is filled to the brim with every whitewater fan’s paradise. Boaters line the narrow strip between the highway and river to watch world renown athletes compete for glory. Every night is filled with merchants, film festivals, parties, and floats along the river. Last year, Dane Jackson and Sage Donnelly won the glorious titles of champion. This year the roster is filled with Sage Donnelly, Darcy Gaechter, Darby McAdams, Nouria Newman, Natalie Anderson, Dane Jackson, Alec Voorhees, Jeremy Nash, Andi Brunner, Joe Morley, and many more.

The world famous Payette River encompasses multiple forks of river. The North Fork begins at Cascade reservoir, through a milder section of river, before becoming the famous Nork Fork of the North Fork Championship. This class V section is considered the ultimate teacher for class V whitewater kayakers. The south fork of the Payette slides along a canyon section of technical class IV whitewater (with a portage around class VI Big Falls), through an intermediate Swirly Canyon, before joining the middle fork to become the South Fork (Staircase) class IV section. Once the North Fork and South Fork have pushed their boaters through some testing rapids, it mellows out to a more family-friendly class III Main Payette. The Payette River boasts the highest day-use section of river in Idaho due to its multiple runs and proximity to Boise, Idaho.

The Boise National Forest recognizes that while this event is not directly run by a public lands agency, it brings a lot of public land enthusiasts from all over the world. They would like to extend an invitation for a meet and greet breakfast and roundtable to river rangers (and river adjacent positions) who are attending the event. The roundtable will be hosted in the Morning of June 17^th prior to the qualifier event in Garden Valley, Idaho. For questions, or to RSVP to this event, please email Erika Schaubach at [email protected]. They would like to further this invitation for contact to boaters and river professionals in the Pacific Northwest who would be interested in a river ranger exchange or volunteer patrol ride-along.

RMS is posting this event on behalf of member Erika Schaubach with the Boise National Forest and encourages other RMS Members, rangers and river professionals to meet up and connect!