Paddler magazine is hosting a three-race event August 1 on western Washington's famous Skykomish River.

The day will include a mass-start, up-river challenge and a time-trial through Boulder Drop, which culminates in a four-boat, head-to-head final. The title event is the Downriver Race, a mass-start, seven-mile endurance challenge through the Skykomish River's Class II, Class III and Class IV granite-studded whitewater. (REGISTER HERE) (Adult waiver here). (Minor waiver here). (Video here).

To accommodate those who aren't willing to race through Boulder Drop, event organizers created the Relay Division, which breaks the seven-mile course into three legs: Leg 1 is Class II+. Leg 2 includes Boulder Drop and the course's toughest whitewater. Organizers are hoping Leg 3, will attract paddlers who are anxious to race through Class I and Class II rapids.

August is a peculiar time to host a race that depends on snowmelt. And by August, the snowmelt is almost all gone; the Sky's once-marketable Boulder Drop has become Boulder Drip. Waves have become holes. Holes have turned into rocks. Rocks become rocky little beaches.

And though the riverbed is still plenty deep with about 1,300 cfs of cool, emerald green water, most of the Northwest creeks have run dry by then. 

That's why early August is the time of year when Seattle-area paddlers congregate on the Skykomish River in Index, Washington. And it is one of the few times of year when locals can count on a sunny day. August 1 is, in fact, the second driest day of the year. Rain has fallen over northwest Washington just 10 times in the last 116 years of record.

Organizers are hoping to attract up to 50 to 100 competitors to the race and they believe the timing of the event will help them to achieve that. The whitewater event takes place on the same day and near the same venue as the annual Index Arts Festival, which features live bands, and local art. It occurs at a time when the only other option for whitewater intensity is to travel up to British Columbia or over to the North Fork of the Payette in Idaho. And it's one of the few events that consolidates the Northwest's eclectic array of whitewater skills into a single event.

Ninety percent of the profits (if there are any) will be devoted to the Heybrook Ridge Fund.
Two years ago, W.B. Foresters, the logging company that owned the coniferous northeastern wall of Index announced its intention to scalp the 95-acre ridge of its trees and sell them. Some motivated locals, led by Louise Lindgren, pleaded with the logging company not to. But the only option with which the logging company responded was this: If you want to buy it from us, we won't cut the trees. The price: $1.21 million. The deadline: August 1, 2008.
 

With the help of some very motivated locals and the generosity of an anonymous donor, who pledged $500,000, the Friends of Heybrook Ridge met the offer and the Snohomish County Council accepted the deal August 4, 2008.
  The Friends of Heybrook Ridge had $40,000 leftover and with that money, they are hoping to turn the ridge into a place for eco-driven recreation.
 

Future Divorcees Division is Saved

Ten happy couples will still have the opportunity to test the mettle of their relationships on the Skykomish River August 1, thanks to the efforts of two SKY RACE volunteers.
Robin Rider, a professor of mathematics at the University of Washington, has offered to drive the 13 hours to the Outdoor Retailer Show to pick up two of the five Dynamic Duos lent to the SKY RACE by Jackson Kayaks.
The other three Duos will arrive in Vancouver, Washington, courtesy of Anthony Zanetti.
Zanetti had already planned a trip to Salt Lake City next week for the OR Show to represent a Jackson Kayak competitor—Drago Rossi. Zanetti also represents Nookie gear.
Two months earlier, Eric Jackson, president of Jackson Kayaks, had pounced on the opportunity to lend five kayaks to the SKY RACE’s Future Divorcees Division.
And Christian Knight, a senior editor at Paddler magazine, had planned to pick up the Dynamic Duos during the Outdoor Retailer Show.
In early July, however, Knight learned he would not be attending the show on behalf of Paddler magazine and realized those five Duos would be stranded. The five couples who had previously reserved the Duos for the SKY RACE would be disappointed.
After all the plans for getting those boats back to the Northwest failed, Knight reluctantly decided to give up on the effort.
At a July 8 volunteers’ meeting, however, a University (of Washington) Kayak Club member and professor offered to drive the 900 miles to Salt Lake and bring them back.
The one hitch: She needed a trailer for all five.
Efforts to borrow a trailer failed, but very quickly, Zanetti offered to carry up to three back to his home in Vancouver, Washington.