Sioux Falls Whitewater Park Goals

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park Goals

1.       Whitewater park – A whitewater park will give our organization more training options locally.

a.       River SUP Level 1-4                

b.      River Canoe Level 1-4

c.       River Kayak Level 1-4

e.      Rafting Level 2-4

f.        Safety and Rescue 2-4

2.       Certified ACA instructors - This will help expand our option for training courses to the public. We hope to get classes in Sioux Falls and help cover some cost of the classes.

3.       Free paddling classes – Certified instructors to instruct about paddling and safety. This will help make sure people are educated correctly.

4.       Involve students and young adults – We want to help educate all ages of students and young adults on the safety of paddling and help build skills for them. We would also like to fund certifications for the young determined paddlers. We want to work with outdoor programs, schools and universities to help get kids and young adults outside, have fun, and get an education on paddling.

5.       Regular Pool Session – Our goal is to have pool sessions during the winter months. Pool session help build skills and get new people into paddling. Pool session make it possible to be in a safe and education environment. We would like to host two pool sessions a month during the winter months.

6.       River Clean Ups – In order to enjoy the river we don’t want trash floating next to us while we cruise down the river or do tricks on a wave. We hope to host around four clean ups a year in different location in Sioux Falls to help clean the river over all.

7.       Equipment – We hope to obtain paddling equipment for those just starting out to get the correct training and safety knowledge. With a fleet of equipment it will help teach the community about safety and paddling skills. We can also reach groups of people that normally wouldn’t have an option to paddle.

8.       Trips - We hope to bring groups on different trips to different locations. These trips will be educational, fun, and maybe competitive. Trips can be anything from slow cruising trips, competitive events, river clean ups, or stretches of rapids in other communities.

9.       Access – We hope to get more access points to rivers in the area. Being a nice canoe/kayak launch or nice set up strategically places boulders to help get in and out safely. We want to work with local cities and governments to make the best of our rivers.

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a lot of big goals. In addition, the whitewater park will also boost the economic income in Sioux Falls,  help raise awareness of our rivers and lakes and help promote outdoor activities.

With help of donations we can make these goals all happen! We are thankful for any type of donation. Donations can be made for us to decide where you want funds to go to or you can select from 8 different options where you would like your funds to go towards.

Please contact us at info@siouxempirepaddlers.org about larger donations so we can work out sponsorships.

DONATE HERE

Raffle Time - Sioux Falls Whitewater Park 2014-2015 Kayak Raffle

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park is running a raffle from December 8, 2014 to June 13, 2015. Funds will be used to get a engineering company into town to evaluate the site, conceptual design, speak with stakeholders and city, give a price estimations, and answering general public questions. If SFWP raises funds beyond the first goal, those extra funds will go towards the construction and permits of a whitewater park.

Ticket Prices: 1 for $10.00 or 5 for $40.00

Free logo decal with purchase of FIVE raffle tickets!!

Where can you purchase Ticekts?

SFWP Board Members

 SDCKA Board Members

SunNFun (41st Street)

Next2New Wireless (Sioux Falls locations)
PhoneNFix (Sioux Falls locations)

email us: info@siouxempirepaddlers.org

Message us on Facebook and we can try to meet you somewhere

2014-2015 Raffle Rules and Regulations 

1. Original ticket purchases must be made in the state of South Dakota.
2. Must be 18 years or older on or before June 13, 2015, to purchase a ticket.
3. By purchasing a ticket, purchaser agrees to release Sioux Falls Whitewater Park, its Board and members, from any and all liability for damages or injury resulting from participation in this raffle packages.
4. By purchasing a ticket, purchaser agrees to allow Sioux Falls Whitewater Park to use purchaser’s name and image without compensation for any promotional activity related to this or any future raffle. Sioux Falls Whitewater Park will not share purchaser’s address or contact information.

5. Drawing will be held June 13, 2015 3:00PM CT. Winner need not be present to win. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to complete each ticket with a valid name and phone number for notification.
6. All winners will be notified in writing or by phone of the prize won and any requisite procedure to claim the prize. If a selected winner is unable to be contacted or located after a period of four (4) months from the draw date of any Raffle drawing, the prize or its cash equivalent will be deemed to have been donated to Sioux Falls Whitewater Park for use by their charitable foundation.
7. Single ticket price is $10.00 or five tickets for $40.00. A maximum of 5,000 tickets will be sold. Tickets are non-refundable. If fewer than 500 tickets are sold, Sioux Falls Whitewater Park reserves the right to pay one-half of the collected ticket money to the raffle winner in lieu of the kayak package.
8. In the event of a winning ticket; that ticket number is only eligible to win one of the prizes. To be eligible to win more than one prize more than one ticket is needed to be purchased.

Prizes and Prize Description 

1. Grand Prize: One Leisure Sports Kayak Paddle (Black), one Onyx All Adventure Penin Vest (color red and charcoal), and one Perception Sport Swiftwater 12.0 (Color may vary from photo)
2. Second Prize: Fluid Do It Now Kayak (size: small) (Red)
3. Third – Fifth Prize: One Leisure Sports Kayak Paddle (Black paddle).
4. Sixth Prize: One Onyx Penin Vest (Color: yellow)
5. Seventh Prize: 808 Canz Bluetooth Portable Speaker (Red in color)
6. Eighth – Twelfth Prize: One Sioux Falls Whitewater Park T-Shirt (M, L, XL available)

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR FUTURE UPDATES

SDCKA Annual Conference 2015

Its going to be a great conference. I hope everyone can check this out. There will be great speakers and Sioux Falls Whitewater Park will have a booth to answer questions and sell raffle tickets.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

11:00 – 3:30 p.m.

The Outdoor Campus

4500 S. Oxbow Ave

Sioux Falls, S.D.

Annual Conference

11:00   Social / Booths The Outdoor Campus Lobby

12:00   Welcome Steven Dahlmeier, President - SDCKA

12:05   The South Dakota Canoe & Kayak Association: Past, Present, Future

            Steven Dahlmeier, President - SDCKA

12:20   Racing: How to Prepare
Braxton Carter

12:30   MR 340: Team Racing

Kati Albers, Board Member - SDCKA

12:40   Missouri National Recreational River
Lisa Yager, National Park Service - Biologist

1:00     Boat Building Adventures
            Matt Story, Board Member - SDCKA

1:20     Business Meeting / Election of Officers

1:30     Break - Booths

1:50     Keeping Our Waterways Clean

            City of Sioux Falls

2:10     The Jay Heath Legacy: South Dakota Waterways

            SDCKA Board Members

2:35     American Canoe Association

            Christopher Stec, ACA Chief Operating Officer

3:00     Whitewater! Dave Hillman, Board Member - Iowa Whitewater Coalition

3:30     Closing

            Steven Dahlmeier, President - SDCKA 

SIOUX EMPIRE PADDLERS WEBSITE

Fall Pool Session- wow!

Fantastic turnout for our first pool session of the season.

We had boats galore, spraydecks and paddles for everyone who wanted to try a whitewater boat plus a couple of extra. 

I had no idea so many people wanted to work on their roll. Way to go!   We needed three more of me to go around. I discovered that 8 boats in a pool is similar to 30 kids in a classroom.

Nine people all wanting to work on rolls!

Awesome!

First we practiced popping off the spray deck for a wet exit, then I helped the new folks increase their comfort and confidence while upside down. Mitchell, Josh, Dan and Stephen all helped with hip snaps, then we started working the paddle into action. 

Every student progresses at a different pace when they are learning to roll, so after about 15 minutes, everyone was at a different place in their learning.   Oh my!


Learning complex motor skills doesn't happen instantly, because training muscles and complex new movements takes time.  Have you ever tried to learn to play an instrument?




I think this youngster was at his first pool session getting his first rolling lesson and he did great.


I can't wait for our next pool session!

 

Check our Website for Future Pool Sessions

WhiteWater Skills = Touring Skills

I'm having fun planning some informal teaching sessions for our first pool session this year. My plan is to have three "skill learning stations" that folks can rotate through, if they want, to gain some introductory rolling and paddling skills. What is rattling around in my mind, all day today, is that these skills, and all whitewater skills for that matter, are not just whitewater skills. They are kayaking skills that are used in coastal areas, lakes, and river settings-- basically everywhere people kayak.

Helmets are also used in surf, rock gardens, and sea cave exploration, in addition to the Klondike rapids.
Spray Skirts are essential in chop,  surf, wind, and cold conditions, at a coast, lake or river. They also help prevent sunburned legs!
WW strokes and maneuvers: Power forward stroke, reverse strokes, rudders, draws, sweeps, etc are all useful strokes when launching, landing, dealing with boat wakes, waves, turning around, looking backwards, maneuvering to another boat, and when dealing with intersecting currents at wing dikes or river mouths.
Boat balance & edging skills are essential in rapids, but also come in extremely handy when skirting around obstructions like wing dikes and river snags, and when dealing with wind and waves.
Rolling and bracing- power boat wakes, wind-driven waves, and wing dikes have capsized many touring and racing kayaks. High, low, and sculling braces are essential tools to prevent capsizes and wouldn't it be nice to roll back up if you do capsize, so you don't have to swim your boat to shore &/or struggle to clamber back in, soaking wet, and pump it out after a flip, especially in cold water?

What I'm trying to say, is that even though our pool & training sessions utilize whitewater boats, they will offer you the opportunity to become a better paddler by gaining skills that may be useful in all your kayaking adventures.

And they're fun.  I love pool sessions!  Can't wait!

Check Our Website for Future Events

Big Sioux River Clean Up a Success

When you go down the river for a daily float you will see the random trash and I pick it up on your way down. Once you are there to actually clean the river you then see all the hidden trash that has been left behind or floated downstream. I don’t know if this area of the river has been cleaned before but from what we got out of a small area I’m guessing it hasn’t been cleaned for many years.

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park conducted their first river clean up on The Big Sioux River at Lien Park in Sioux Falls South Dakota. On Tuesday September 16, 2014 5:30 pm we had a total of six volunteers. Two were working the river by boat and the other four were working the banks of the river. We were fortunate to have Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation donate bags and rubber gloves for us. They also provided us with trash pickup so we just needed to pile the trash in a designated area. We chose Lien Park first because this is the area that is best fit for a whitewater park. Lien Park has flow from Skunk Creek, Sioux Falls Diversion Dam, Silver Creek and the Big Sioux River. This area also doesn’t complete freeze either so it could possibly be used year round in the correct gear.

With six people we were hoping to cover a good area. Soon as we started it was clear we were going to have a big job ahead of us. We covered about 400 feet of the north river bank and came out with 28 bags of trash, tire, old lawn chair, some piping, and some car parts. We stopped around 7:30pm because we were losing day light. This area was mainly full of old aluminum cans and plastic shopping bags.

Here are some pictures of spots we were not able to get to because of daylight availability. As you can see trash accumulated in this strainer. We hope to get out there with a grain shovel with drilled holes to pick up the majority of this and maybe take care of this strainer.

If you have been down the Big Sioux River in town this fall you are aware of the garbage lining the banks. SFWP hopes to conduct 3-4 clean ups in 2015 to get a handle on this. We hope to see more people out there as our organization grows.

 

If you have questions, concerns, areas of rivers that need attention, or would like to take part in this great cause. Please email us at info@siouxempirepaddlers.org or message us on Facebook Sioux Falls Whitewater Park.

SIOUX EMPIRE PADDLERS WEBSITE

SFWWP Pool Session October 26, 2014

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park will be hosting their first of many pool sessions at the EMBE downtown Sioux Falls South Dakota. This pool session is open to the public with limited availability. We can handle 10-15 paddlers depending on the style of boat. Our main concentration will be whitewater boats so we can have more people attend. There will be a fee for this pool session of $10.00 a person or $15.00 a person if you need to borrow equipment. We do have extra whitewater kayaks, paddles, skirts, and PFD’s to spare but this is a very limited amount of 5-6 boats. We hope to have a few trained paddlers to help the newbies and less advanced paddlers to help get in the right boat and learn some new skills. It is best to come with a buddy so you are able to practice techniques together but it’s not necessary and we can pair you up with someone.

What we hope comes out of the pool session:

Expand the knowledge of whitewater boats and kayaking to new people and let them try out a boat

 

Show new and existing paddlers safety techniques such as wet exits (being able to exit the kayak correctly and not being injured), bracing (a technique to keep your boat upright), Edging (pretty much a need to know for advancing playboating skills, getting around in whitewater, and advancing paddling skills in all types of kayaks), Eskimo roll (rolling your kayak back upright after going upside down in your boat), and other safety features (for instance: we will have a throw bag to help practice saves).

Have fun and try something new.

Please think about attending! As of 09/26/2014 we have 6 attending and 5 maybes, so reserve your spot as soon as you can. You can do this by going to our Facebook Page "Sioux Falls Whitewater Park" and checking out the events.

If you schedule doesn’t work for this date we hope to have a few more in the winter of 2015. Please email us (siouxfallswhitewaterpark@hotmail.com) or message us on Facebook if different dates and times work for you. We try to work around the majorities schedule to get the most out of these pool sessions.

If you just want to check out what we are doing and see if this is maybe something you would like to do. You are more than welcome to come watch, take pictures, and ask questions. There are bleachers for you to sit on and watch. No charge for viewing and questions!!