With work on the Bow River weir project complete, Calgary kayakers are back on the water, taking part in a new extreme sport called “boater crossing”.
The kayakers race through what used to be a very dangerous stretch of rapids dubbed “the drowning machine”.
“We go head to head or four at a time, racing against each other from one spot at the top through all the rapids, and then touching a finish line at the bottom”, says veteran kayaker Mathew Graham Burton.
Burton travels the globe teaching people how to drop off waterfalls in a kayak, and he can’t say enough about Harvie Passage: “It’s an amazing resource. I wish every city in the world had a spot like this”.
The revamped weir is now a much calmer part of the Bow but it can still be dangerous, and there’s concern there could be trouble ahead once summer rafters hit the river.
“People in rubber duckies will be just floating down the harder bits of the white water and not be prepared”, says Burton, “some will have no lifejackets or safety equipment whatsoever”.
Burton wants everyone to understand the risks and rewards, and what’s at stake.
“The last thing we want to see is someone to get hurt. Calgary is extremely lucky. It just needs people to respect Harvie Passage, because if they don’t, we are going to lose it”.
A public safety and education program is in the works.
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