Playspot

Playspot

A playspot is a term used by kayakers and canoeists to describe favorable stationary features on rivers, in particular standing waves (which may be breaking or partially breaking), 'holes' and 'stoppers', where water flows back on itself creating a retentive feature (these are often formed at the bottom of small drops or weirs), or eddy lines (the boundary between slow moving water at the rivers' edge, and faster water).

Playboating

Playboating is sometimes performed on dynamic moving features such as haystacks (large boils) and whirlpools, or on flat water (this is often referred to as flatwheeling). Playspots are found on natural whitewater, on artificial weirs, on artificial whitewater courses, and occasionally on tidal races in the sea.

Popular Playspots

Natural playspots

* Lunch Counter on the Snake River in Wyoming
* Hell Hole on the Ocoee River in Tennessee
* The Rabioux wave on the Durance in France
* Rock Island State Park in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee
* School House Rock "KRH" playhole in California
* Kaituna "bottom Hole" Rotorua, New Zealand
* Zoar Gap rapid on the Deerfield River near Charlemont, Massachusetts
* Hawaii-sur-Rhône on the Rhône River, in Lyon, France

High volume rivers

Often run for their playspots (quite commonly featured on playboating videos):

* The Slave River in Canada
* The Ottawa River in Canada
* The White Nile in Uganda
* The Zambezi in Zambia
* The Lachine Rapids in Quebec

Weirs

* Hurley Weir on the Thames, near London
* Sluice on River Liffey, Lucan, Ireland

Man-enhanced playspots

* The Gutter on the Payette River in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho
* The U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina
* The Salida playhole in Colorado
* The Golden Kayak Park in Golden, Colorado
* The Lower Saluda River in Columbia, SC. Specifically, Millrace Rapids near the Riverbanks Zoo
* Rio Vista Park on the San Marcos River in San Marcos, Texas
* Slumber Falls on the Guadalupe River near New Braunfels, Texas

Tidal races

* Skookumchuck Narrows in Canada
* The Bitches in Wales
* The Swellies on the Menai Strait, Wales
* The Falls of Lora in Scotland
* The Arches, Malahide Estuary in Dublin, Ireland
* Cohasset Tidal Rip in Cohasset, Massachusetts
* Sheepscot Reversing Falls in Newcastle, Maine
* Clifden Hole, Clifden, County Galway, Ireland

Others

The Tryweryn in Wales, the Dee near Llangollen in Wales, the Washburn in England, and Hambledon Weir on the Thames have been modified (by moving boulders on the river bed, or in the case of Hambledon by installing pneumatic kicker ramps on the river bed) to create better playspots.

Construction has been completed on Brennan's Wave a project in Missoula, MT that is converting a broken diversion dam into a playpark for kayakers.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Playboating — is a discipline of whitewater kayaking or canoeing where the paddler performs various technical moves in one place (a playspot), as opposed to downriver whitewater canoeing or kayaking where the objective is to travel the length of a section of… …   Wikipedia

  • Millrace Rapids — is a popular kayaking playspot, located on the Lower Saluda River in Columbia, South Carolina. Contents 1 History 2 Features 3 Events and Competitions 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Kayaking and Canoeing on the River Thames — The River Thames is a very popular river for kayakers and canoeists, and has been practised for over a hundred years at clubs such as the Royal Canoe Club.Tidal watersThe tidal section is popular for sea kayakers and experienced tourers. One of… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of canoeing and kayaking — Kayakers view of Lake Coniston, Cumbria The following outline is provided as an overview of canoeing and kayaking: Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe. Open canoes may be poled (punted), sailed, lined and tracked …   Wikipedia

  • Dragon boat — This article is about Dragon boats and racing. For the festivals and holidays associated with dragon boats, see Duanwu Festival. Dragon boat Traditional Chinese 龍舟 Simplified Chinese 龙舟 …   Wikipedia

  • Canoeing — A family in a canoe Whitewater kayak Can …   Wikipedia

  • Duanwu Festival — Hong Kong Discovery Bay s dragon boat races Official name Duanwu Festival (端午節), Tuen Ng Jit Also called Double Fifth Dragon Boat Festival (龍船節) Gō͘ go̍eh cheh/Gō͘ ge̍h choeh (五月節) Gō͘ …   Wikipedia

  • Sea kayak — A sea kayak on Valdes Island, British Columbia, Canada. A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the… …   Wikipedia

  • Chasse-galerie — La Chasse galerie La Chasse galerie also known as The Bewitched Canoe or The Flying Canoe is a popular French Canadian tale of voyageurs who make a deal with the devil, a variant of the Wild Hunt. Its most famous version was written by Honoré… …   Wikipedia

  • Outrigger — For hotels and resorts company, see Outrigger Hotels Resorts. Outrigger on a contemporary Hawaiian sailing canoe An outrigger is a part of a boat s rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or gunwale of a boat. In an outrigger canoe and …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”