2009 American Whitewater Gauley Fest Presented by Subaru Wrap-Up

Another year, another awesome American Whitewater Gauley Fest presented by Subaru!

Gauley Fest is of major importance to AW as it's our biggest fundraising event. All the funds raised at this national level event go back to funding AW's River Stewardship work all over the United States.

As important as this event is, however, the 8 full-time staff members of AW simply couldn't do it alone. This year, nearly 250(!) volunteers helped out. Led by our longtime Volunteer Coordinator, Stacey Johnson of Hood River, OR our many volunteers made the daunting task of putting on Gauley Fest possible. Every time we turned around we were impressed by their hard work and professionalism. Thanks so much to all our volunteers!

Attendance at this year's fest was up over recent years too with 4,000 people coming through the gates. Of course, this had the unfortunate effect of overwhelming the drive-in camping space available meaning we had to ask people to walk in with their stuff in order to camp. This was a necessary change to ensure attendee safety and a change that will continue for future years. However, the vast majority of attendees we heard from preferred this less hectic, and safer arrangement of vehicles and camp sites.

Of course, Gauley Fest wouldn't be Gauley Fest if it wasn't for the sweet deals to be had on gear and awesome benefits for American Whitewater members. This year, Woody Callaway of Liquidlogic Kayaks held another huge Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament with over $3,500 in prizes for AW members only. Likewise, Jackson Kayaks, Werner Paddles, Pyranha Kayaks, Immersion Research, Clif Bar, Kokatat, Subaru, Smith Optics, Keen, Seal Line, Girls at Play, NOC, Diamond Brand and Dagger Kayaks either held mini-fundraisers for AW during the fest, or contributed in some similar way. Thanks!

As always, American Whitewater would like to thank all festival attendees, our many dedicated volunteers, the town of Summersville, Nicholas County Veterans Memorial Park and the many attending vendors for making this such a oustanding event.

See you next year!