And Fun Was Had By All

The 6th annual Nantahala Open was yet more fun with more competitors and more antics and more post-Falls festivities than ever. Thank you thank you everyone who shared time with us!

The event At the Falls...
We cut off the participation at 60 this year which meant prizes and fun for just about everyone! There was definitely more creativity this year than ever before, giving us lots of new category winners:
Old School Moves for an Old School Boat Award – Chris Singletary
Prom Queen Award – David Gray
Greatest Top Hole Ride EVER Award – Shaun Geist
Commitment to Diversity Award – Mary Mills
The LARA Bar® Endurance Award – Jim McKinley
I Learned It from Watching You Award – Bob & Bob Wiggins
Best Face-Ton/Carnage Award – Alyssa & Garrick Taylor
Snorkel Award – Robert Akins
The Rock Star Award – Cole Dobbs
We Don’t Need No Steenking Paddle Award – Bryson & Selena Popp
Walking the Tightrope Award – General Lee
Big Brother/Little Sister Award – Brian Simpson & Erin Dodge
The Personal First Descent at the Falls Award – Madalyn Hession
Grand Finale Award: Best Alternate Form of Transportation Through the Falls – Louis Boulinger, Lori Helman & Michael Kellis(coming through in an inflatable tiki hut)

Once the party started up back at ERA, everyone enjoyed complimentary pizza from Pizza By The River (PBR) and brownies (compliments Courtney and Juliet) and ice cold beer compliments of the Nantahala Brewing Company all the while jamming to the tunes of local blue grass legend from Aaron and the boys and enjoying a gorgeous evening in the Gorge.

The event video is of course the highlight of the evening and this year was no exception. It is not only a recap of all the antics at the Falls all day, but a glimpse into the mind of our own Brian Snyder who narrates the video from start to finish (yes, he is funny for a full five hours!).

The video was played, we all laughed very hard, prizes were distributed thanks to our awesome sponsors, and then the grand prize raffle.....
Raffle Grand Prize Winner: Tom Hession - who chose a brand new Wave Sport Fuse for his daughter Madalyn!

Every participant of the Open is included in the raffle, and then we offer additional raffle tickets with the proceeds going to Team River Runner. This year we DOUBLED the money raised for Team River Runner, with $650 totaled at the end of the evening. Outstanding!!!!

The Open would not happen without Team Wave Sport - both in their contribution of time, and donation of a boat-of choice. Bryan Kirk is a fixture at the event. And this year he not only coordinated the Open, but blew away the competition at the Dagger Shootout placing first in the men's pros division!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then our sponsors. Thank you so very much for supporting the paddling community:

• Nantahala Brewing Company
• Northwest River Supply (NRS)
• WRSI
• Shred Ready
• Snapdragon Spray Skirts
• Stohlquist Waterwear
• Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours
• Nantahala Village Spa
• Sweet Helmets
• Fluid Kayaks
• TeamScum
• the Burger Basket
• Level Six
• Pizza by the River
• our very good friend and Open anonymous donor (we know who you are!!)
• Larabar
  
• and of course Wavesport for the grand prize boat of choice.

[Win one of the prizes? Take a minute to write the manufacturer and say 'thanks"]

And thanks to the paddling community. The Nantahala Open would not happen without you!