The Whitewater Grand Prix (WWGP) is currently the pinnacle event in whitewater kayaking, at least when it comes to crowning the all around best whitewater paddler and producing extremely impressive media content. The event is not live spectator friendly, but the media assets produced during the two week event attract more eyeballs than nearly any other event in the sport. The stated goals of pushing the progression of whitewater and showcasing the talents of top whitewater padders is what the WWGP is all about. The event does also have its critics, stemming from the hard partying that happens along side the hard charging paddling, along with judging and safety concerns that have been called into question over the event’s 4 year run thus far. Recently Outside Magazine published an in-depth article, by Frederick Reimers, about the event, which has caused quite a stir on the internet. The article is extremely well written and includes some quality imagery, but doesn’t exactly paint a flattering image of either the event or many of the world’s top paddlers.
Outside Magazine: Kayaking’s Wildest Competition
Photo Gallery: What the WWGP Really Looks Like
The title of this article was changed from “The Most Dangerous Party on Earth,” when published in the April 2015 Outside Magazine Best of Travel issue, to “Kayaking’s Wildest Competition” when published on Outside Online, March 23, 2015. The article seems to be circulating with social media under the title “A Glorious Way to Die,” which is the title used in the teaser of the print article by Outside, which reads: “It’s hard to say which is scarier at the Whitewater Grand Prix—the ice-choked Class V rapids or the quantity of alcohol its participants consume the night before running them. Frederick Reimers drops in on kayaking’s wildest competition.”
The lead in to the Outside article provides a good idea of the angle it takes: “The Whitewater Grand Prix is paddling’s most insane event, a scrappy, alcohol-soaked gauntlet that sends competitors down some of the most fearsome rapids in the world. It’s so dangerous and spectator-unfriendly that many sponsors won’t go anywhere near it. But it might be exactly what the struggling sport needs.”
Patrick Camblin provides a thorough response to the Outside Magazine article, on behalf of himself and the Whitewater Grand Prix event: Response to Outside Magazine’s Article “A Glorious Way to Die”. The following quote sums up the feel of the response: “I appreciate that Outside Magazine put resources forward to publish something on the Whitewater Grand Prix, and I do believe there is merit in some of the pictures painted in the article — but — the title, the focus on alcohol, the article undertones, and the photo & pull quote selection seem to portray the event as a frivolous, fool hardy and forlorn endeavor.”
Rush Sturges, a top competitor at the WWGP, had this to say about the Outside article: “There’s some partying, and there’s some dangerous stuff that happens. Welcome to any Action Sports event. But overall I think they missed the heart and soul of the Grand Prix. I liked working with the writer (Frederick) but I’m super disappointed to see the angle he took. Rather than portraying us as athletes who train and work our asses off to compete in a prestigious competition, he casts us as poor, booze loving gypsies with a death wish. That is simply not true, and I think the article is misleading and inaccurate.”
It’s great that mainstream outdoor outlets are featuring more and more whitewater content, but it’s really sad that a LARGE majority of that media is focused on the negative aspects of the sport, like womanizing, hard partying and carnage. Besides the Outside article, another great example of this is the post just published on the TGR site: Perfect Example of How Not to Whitewater Kayak. I also wrote about the image issues in whitewater kayaking back in Oct. 2012: Today’s Pro Kayaker Image. Sadly online media is all about attracting the short attention span of the general internet using public, and this is by far easier to do through action packed content with a negative spin.
The Outside piece provides a great look inside the inner workings of the WWGP, is extremely well written and I’m sure is producing high web traffic, which in return produces advertising dollars. My hope is that it isn’t negatively effecting the future of one of the sport’s top events, the already suffering whitewater kayaking industry and the general perception of the sport as a whole. I know that I wait anxiously each year to view the media from the WWGP that showcases the top paddlers in the world doing battle with massive whitewater and each other, while opening my eyes to the true potential of the sport. Hopefully the old adage holds true; there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
(The 2012 Highlight real is a solid example of the truly jaw dropping media produced, and talent on display, during one of the world’s toughest whitewater kayaking events.)
(Update 3/26/15) The follow is the quality response to this article by Frederick Reimers on Facebook. “This article of mine has become surprisingly controversial in the close-knit paddling community. The question it attempts to answer is this: why is there no prize money in the world’s most challenging kayaking competition, in which that’s sports best do very difficult things very skillfully? It portrays life behind the scenes at the Whitewater Grand Prix. In such a crucible there is, naturally, a lot of steam to be blown off. I believe the steam was blown off in a fun way, and that it is a community of people who work hard and play hard. As someone who has been a part of that community for years (less so lately), I always identified with the grittier aspects of the lifestyle, which means a lot of time on the road, which is never glamorous. But that’s a hallmark of all sports that involve risk-taking and people fanatical enough about their sport to do whatever it takes to practice it as often as possible, from mountain biking to surfing to skiing. I certainly admire the organizer Patrick Camblin, and believe he is doing yeoman’s work to bring together an amazing event and am certainly impressed with the level of skill and stamina of today’s top paddlers. Hopefully this article reflects all that.”
(All photos in this article are the sole property of the Whitewater Grand Prix and their respective photographers.)
