The Gunnison Valley Paddle Club will hold an open meeting on July 25 at 6pm. We will meet at the white water park to discuss.... the White Water Park. We have a disscussion planned with people from the County this wed (july 19) and we would like to pass any new information on to you. Also to discuss hazards and any concerns in the entire Gunnison River Basin and possible group projects or trips. Contact: gosgood(at)gmail.com
Just a few quick ideas reguarding the Gunny Park:
-This is an extremely valuable recreational asset to Gunny. It needs to be maintained. Back in the first 2-3 years the park was great, but changing water levels have altered the features.
-The county should keep in mind that we need quality features in Gunny in order to continue the tourism flow and income generated by the park. Nobody will show if the features are blown out.
-Gunny's play park has started to appear as a "phony" to me because after the RICD appropriation went through, the county has not maintained the features. The feeling I get is, "The park got us our water right, but now that we have it why waste more money on the park?"
-Gunny should not attempt another "Colorado Adventure Sports Fest" until these features are fixed, this is a waste of athletes, sponsors, spectators, organizers time for a mediocre at best play hole. But a damn good party afterwords!
I sure that the paddle club can make some things happen for the 07 season, but should act sooner than later...........
yeah im lurking before i go boating today, to answer you bowen;
CAS was planned and permitted by people who work very hard and care alot about the rec. scene in gunny, yet unfortunately, are a little out of touch with freestyle kayaking (i dont meen mattp), had the comp been two weeks earlier we would have had rodeo on a type of feature that to my knowledge, no other colorado playpark offers(save pueble at 3k+ apparantly), a slightly crazy wave. That would have conflicted with FIBArk, not only would that be a travesty, but nobody would show up at ours either. What Ive been told is that the Todd Crane group of Western State kids has no more money and will not be holding anymore events, so in case i cant make it to the meeting tonight, we should rally for a new event next year, in late may rather than late june, in conjuction with the OB race which is probably being held again next year would be perfect.
i seem to have plans to do an incredibly low water run on the upper east tonight, otherwise id definately be there. (at the meeting)
Id like to remind everyone at the meeting of the lessons we can learn from the rainbow family (haha) low key gatherings like the one we had this year would not have really needed a permit and we don't really need sponsors either, victors purse can be split from entry fees in each category, judges can be volunteers as well as safety and we dont need to be selling beer or having live music either.. it would be a total throwback to the old days of freestyle, all we need to do is advertise minamally, if the event is a success on a "i came cause i wanted to" basis, then expansion into legitimacy can be considered the following year. what im talking about is a kayakers only event, not to alienate rafters but their numbers would make the event too conspicous. yeah its not much but thats the idea, to do more with less and have a good time .
You haven't missed anything. The Meeting is next week Tuesday (July 25). Hope you can make it.
Brian,
Thank you for your input. Just to clarify, the County does know that this is an asset that needs to be maintained and this is why they have instigated a discussion about it. Come to the meeting on tuesday to hear what we learned from the County and what we reproted to them. Hopefully this will be a great step to continuing the great fun to be had at the Gunnison Park.
Remember, Gunnison has over 50 miles of extremely varried navigable terrain to choose from and if all you are paddeling is the park you are missing out on the true soul of river running.
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you know sometimes i wish i would have chosen something like baseball but, i didn't and i'm a kayaker so this is what i do." -Nick Turner (Wehyakin)
bring me a ... DISHWASHER!! .. i mean.. yeah i really need to keep this job.. im good until 3pm at which point i need to be at work.. so call it 2:30 .. so lets get out there w/ our boats at 6am tomorow and hitchike it
ohyeah sorry to anyone who i misinformed about next tuesdays meeting, it was not tonight... but since nobody showed up i think you knew better..
call me i will do it seriosly all we have to do is get his truck and we can go up there but he is at nt crested butte so we might have to hike a bit aka (alot) haha but call me i will go
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you know sometimes i wish i would have chosen something like baseball but, i didn't and i'm a kayaker so this is what i do." -Nick Turner (Wehyakin)
Greg, Sounds like you guys are doing the right thing by having a discussion with the county. Marlene and her staff are good people, I just think that the local boateres need to convey the correct info to her...good luck with this and let me know if I can help...I have photos, video, and newspapers from the Gunny Park in 02-04. Good work with the paddle club.
The information that we were able to share with Marleene and Alan from Gunnison County Public Works and their initiative to get the ball rolling is very encouraging. They really want to make our park work and when the time comes we need to show up in numbers to show how much we want this.
They were able to clarify some things and explain why some things are or are not happening. Come on Tuesday to find out the scoop. After the meeting I will publish the main points here.
Right now it is important that gunnison paddlers show some solidarity. If you are at all interested get a hold of Greg, Matt P. Bob Jones or Scott Travis so that we can get a hold of you as things change or if we need a bunch of people to show up at a Comisioner meeting or something.
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