i-Paddle 2011

iPaddle 2011 Itinerary

6:30 - Introduction
6:40 - Sea Kayaking Video - Spray Skirts & Sea Otters
7:00 - Fitness for Paddlers - exercises to get you ready for the paddling season.
7:45 - Sea Kayaking - local options with a mixture of photo's from the Orcas of Johnstone strait, the Nuchatlitzarea and the Broken group Islands.
8:30 - Canoeing Tips for Trips, with some showcasing of theMcLennan Lakes and Bloodvein river.

iPaddle2011:

University of Calgary Outdoor Centre Hosts SecondAnnual Celebration of the paddling sports.

 

On Monday, May 2^nd from 6:00 – 9:00pm, the University of Calgary Outdoor Centre is hosting it’s annual paddle event – ipaddle. This year the emphasis is on canoeing and kayaking, two easily transportable craft that river guides say are an instant passport to adventure.

 

“If you want to see parts of the wilderness that are virtually untouched by the human race, then you need to discover the view from a canoe!” Angela Harder has been a canoe instructor and river guide with the University of Calgary Outdoor Centre for many years and has always loved to be out on the water. “It’s surprising for a lot of people who live in cities and drive cars, but there are places in this country that you still can only get to by a canoe, and they’re magnificent.”

 

Harder says that she’s seeing an interesting trend over the last few years  - while her trips and classes used to be filled with just adults, she says that in the last few years she’s noticed a marked increase in families interested in the sport. “My family canoe instruction course is almost full,” says Harder, “and we’ve seen  growing numbers of families enjoying ourAlberta river trips. It’s a great way for a family to really share a vacation together and to create memories that I feel are more profound and lasting than a motel and car-trip some place.”

 

iPaddle will feature slideshows on some more exotic trips and some tips on how to get in shape for paddle season. Carlynn Stilling is a certified personal trainer with the Faculty of Kinesiology’s Health & Fitness Programs Centre. Carlynn says that with a few precautions paddling is a great exercise for people with bad knees. “If you have arthritis, or bad feet or knees – paddling can be agreat way to get exercise without walking or hiking. Like anything else though, you have to be ready, you just can’t get up and go on a two week paddling trip!”

 

iPaddlewill also feature free slideshow presentations on canoeing and kayaking in some exotic locations like the Bloodvein or on the beautiful west coast. “If kayaking off the west coast with the Orca or Sea Otters on a magnificent summer morning isn’t on your ‘bucket list,” says Calum MacDonald, The OutdoorCentre’s kayak program leader, “then it really should be!”

 

iPaddle is being held in the University of Calgary Kinesiology Atrium, from 6:30 to 9:00pm. Everyone is welcome and the event is free.