Diamond Brand Outdoors (Charlotte Street in Asheville, and Hendersonville Road in Arden) ....... website

Rock Creek Outfitters (Ocoee and Chattanooga, TN) ..... website

Green River Adventures (Saluda, NC) ...... website
Second Gear (Asheville, NC) ......website
Astral Buoyancy (Asheville, NC) ......website. <<<< Your only mail order site for stickers, calendars, and beer coozies.



These 2009 sticky calendars and beer coozies are now for sale also. Some of the calendars got sold before we started stapling them, and they can fall apart too easy without the staples. If yours fell apart you can have another one. The calendars are now available for sale via mail order from the Astral factory store (above), $5 each and 3 for $10. Big thanks to Bryan Owen and the folks at Astral for the mail order sales program and supporting the Access Fund.

To date (4/22/09), purchases of bumper stickers, beer coozies, and now sticky calendars have raised over $1700 for the Green River Access Fund.

Additional inquiries about or contributions to support a long term access solution to the Green River (Upper and Narrows both) can be made by contacting:

Green River Access Fund
1437 Dana Road
Hendersonville, NC 28792
(828) 698-5778

To go back to the AW Green Narrows page, click here.

To go back to The Green Race Information Page, click here.


Thanks, John Pilson







Leland Davis, author of the best NC guidebook, North Carolina Rivers and Creeks, fires it up one more time.

(When I got a new yellow boat a couple years ago, someone told me "The Monkey Likes Bananas!")

Kevin Colburn finishes Frankenstein with the race line boof. This photograph was taken by the
super smooth Trip Kinney (mentioned elsewhere in The Notch description) --- and is one of the single best
Green Narrows pics....ever. Level for the pic: 100%, taken January 2000. Chris Bell heading into Groove Tube.... Very Old School. Photo taken by Leland Davis. Andria Davis entering the top hole of Zwick's. Andria was the winner of the Women's Division in the 2006 Green Race.

If you haven't had "some kind of issue" at the top hole here, then you just haven't run it enough.

The eddy in the foreground is fun to catch, but requires the artful paddler to make it happen just so. When done right, surprisingly little effort is required.

A sneak actually exists here too, scooting over to river right behind where Andria is, doing a minor wheelchair move and coming out just below that guard rock at the base of the hole. The only real point in doing it is that it's an interesting angle to look at the hole from and watch some other boaters come through --- because you can stop and sit there during the wheelchair program.

Leland Davis taking the right line at Pencil Sharpener. Race line is center or far left. The "Birthday Eddy" is in the left foreground. This is Squeeze ---- the righthand sneak line of "Go Left".
Photo taken on Race Day 2003 and copyright Chris Bell of boatingbeta.com.

Paddler unknown.

Great photo taken on Race Day 2002, and copyright Chris Bell of boatingbeta.com.

Anybody know who the paddler is?

2006 Green Queen Andria Baldovin drops into The Notch, and then four things happen:

1. She makes the eddy
2. She meets a nice man there
3. She says yes
4. She changes her name to Andria Davis.

Shot of the right of Neis' Pieces from above (from the mid-stream boulder), on Race Day 2006 Leland Davis exits the cave at the bottom of Sunshine. Photo from sometime in 2000.

Back in behind this cave is a super-duper Top Secret people-only cave, behind the rock making the main drop itself. Tricky (and a bit spooky) to access, requiring near-submersion, it opens up into a very cool, sublime, and much larger chamber. Well worth a guided trip into for a visit on a hot summer day.

This page is for shuttle directions to the put-in and take-out for the Green Narrows, and to the hike-in trail.

To Fishtop (the take-out) from Asheville:

26 East
Exit 59
Left off exit, and go 200 yards
Left on Green Cove Rd.
3 miles downhill
"Fishtop Access" lot on your left

To Put-in from Fishtop:

26 West
Exit 53...."Upward Road"
Right off exit and go 1.5 miles
Right on Big Hungry Road (after brick church)
first Left on Big Hungry Road
first Right on Big Hungry Road
first Right on Gallimore Road
Follow to bottom
"Keyholder Lot" on your right, trail on your left, .6 miles gentle downhill (first 2/3 on old roadbed).

To Pulliam Creek Trail (to hike in to the heart of the Narrows) from Asheville:

26 East
Exit 53...."Upward Road"
Left off exit and go 1.5 miles
Right on Big Hungry Road (after brick church)
first Left on Big Hungry Road
first Right on Big Hungry Road
DON'T TAKE first Right on Gallimore Road....
...But continue 3.1 more miles
Park in unmarked pull-off on right
Cross little log bridge
~2 miles of mellow downhill ...and some uphill after crossing Pulliam Creek
Don't take offshoot trails
Cross two log bridges after crossing creek
Drop off to the right after large bend around to the left, see flagging tape, ropes, trail.
This part is wicked steep*, 150 yards tops,
Then jump across the creek, and you're at Groove Tube
Good trail leading upstream a couple hundred yards to Gorilla.
*.....It's not all that bad, really. I took my 73 year old parents in three years ago, and they did just fine.



Tips for those hiking in to watch the race: Allow about an hour for the hike, and plan to get there well before 12 noon to look around and get situated. The trail will be crowded. Don't underestimate the time required. Also, you'll be in there for a few hours, and it's colder down in there so dress accordingly. If you're early, scamper even further upstream of Gorilla as there lots to see up there. Bring water, food products, and a little box to capture pixels with. Parking for the race is normally very tight, as only a few spots are technically "off the road". Some locals out there have been upset in the past. Please use caution, do the best you can, etc.

The hike can take only 30 minutes if you're really stepping right along, but on race day the trail will likely be way crowded.

All people hiking or paddling in the watch the race would be wise to read the cautionary article written by veteran
Green Narrows racer Adam Herzog in the AW Journal, linked to in this photograph.



To go to the AW Green Narrows page, click here.

To go to The Green Race Information Page, click here.


For the bottom drop (pictured above), you can either boof right, kinda like a micro sunshine, or use the left side to boof out straight downstream. There's a rock-spin move on the "baby sunshine" side, too. Above this bottom drop there are a couple different ways to enter, with plenty of pesky little guard rocks scattered about. The channel to the boater's left is ok for Plan B -- albeit with minor pin potential -- if one of the guard rocks above sends you there.

Way over on river left, well out of frame, is "Baby Hammer Factor", with its own set of options --- all of them best taken with more than low summer levels.

Photo of the bottom drop of Boof or Consequences, with the main drop just over his left shoulder.
Level looks a bit over a 100% release.. Date of picture: 10/04. Here's another shot of the main drop behind this boater.

Photo used with permission: Sam Drevo Photography, http://www.enrgkayaking.com/
History of Parking, Access, Trail, and Release issues for the Green Narrows. --- (5/18/07)

1980's --- Early explorers use Upper Green put-in. See this excellent 1990 period piece (AW Journal article) by Woody Callaway.
1990's --- Use of the Ring's lot began when?
1994 --- The State of NC considers purchase of portion of Gamelands from Duke Power (AW Journal article).
1999 --- Attempt to shut down Gallimore Road (AW Journal article).
2000 --- Death of a kayaker at Chief prompts discussion about access via Pulliam Creek Trail (Hendersonville Times article).
2003 --- $20 Key and $5 Day Parking with honor system (here's how it was described).
2003 --- NC WRC temporarily blocks access to Pullimam Creek Trail "due to erosion" (Hendersonville Times article).
2003 --- Fundraising campaign by American Whitewater begins to purchase lot and build access trail.
2003 --- NC WRC denies AW a new access trail (Hendersonville Times: story #1, story #2), foiling land purchase and permanent access.
2004 --- $60 Key and $5 Day Parking with honor system
2005 --- $60 Key and $5 Day Parking with honor system
2006 --- $60 Key and $5 Day Parking with honor system
2006 --- Zimmer Orthopedics donates $10,000 to Green River Access in memory of Daniel DeLaVergne (AW Journal article).
2007 --- $60 Key only, honor system abandoned
2007 --- Discussions about paddler input to improve the releases from Tuxedo Hydro (see below, after Sutton's statement).
2008 --- $60 Key
2009 --- $60 Key, (see main page for details).

AW Statement in 2003 (by Sutton Bacon) after failing attempt to gain access from a nearby lot.

Current access to the middle portion of the Green River Gamelands, including access out of the Upper Green and entrance into the Green Narrows, sits entirely on private property rented by the boating community for parking use. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission maintains only two parking spaces with ready access to the middle portion of the 10,000-acre Green River Gamelands, and those spaces are explicitly reserved for hunters and fishermen. Access to Green River Gorge at its middle is popular with whitewater recreationalists as a takeout for paddlers on the Upper Green and the put-in for paddlers of the Narrows. Although Narrows boaters can paddle through the Upper Green to proceed into the Narrows, Upper Green paddlers do not have another takeout option.

American Whitewater prefers public access solutions to private river access points. When land acquisition are possible to provide for public access, AW attempts to work with local, state, and federal officials to make free, open access a reality. Thus was the case on the Green in 2003. American Whitewater identified a parcel of unrestricted land sharing a long border with the Green River Gamelands and raised enough funds through generous donations from Green paddlers to purchase a 2-acre access point to be transferred to the State of North Carolina Parks and Recreation, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, or Henderson County to provide for management of the site. American Whitewater finalized negotiations with the landowner and AW's offer was accepted.

At the very beginning of the land acquisition, AW consulted with NC WRC to allow for rudimentary trail maintenance on an existing logging road and permission to construct a simple switchback in the trail (with the help from the professional trailbuilders from the Dupont State Forest Trailbuilding School) to connect the overgrown logging road running from the property with the existing access trail. Nearing the end of AW's fundraising phase, on April 30th, 2003 American Whitewater received notice from local North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission representatives prohibiting access to the Green River Gamelands from AW's proposed site. This occurred after what seemed to be a productive meeting with WRC on-site, during which, American Whitewater was optimistic that WRC would allow a small amount of structural maintenance on the existing logging road from the proposed site into the Gamelands.

AW appealed to the very highest levels on the State of North Carolina to no avail, including a generous offer to help reconstruct the naturally-eroding Pulliam Creek emergency access trail out of the heart of the Green River Narrows, but ultimately, WRC's decision did not change. That decision effectively eliminated the opportunity to provide permanent public access to the Green River and the Green River Gamelands from this site. American Whitewater remains deeply troubled by WRC's decision because it reinforces its policy of limiting recreational use of the public lands it manages. While the Green River Gamelands was purchased with taxpayer money through the Natural Heritage Trust Fund, it is managed with funding from hunters and fishermen. American Whitewater works closely and cooperatively with the Wildlife Resources Commission on many projects throughout the state, but we feel that its single-focus management of the public lands it oversees is a violation of the public trust and an inappropriate use of public resources and taxpayer funding.

AW volunteers and staff worked tirelessly and expended hundreds upon hundreds of hours toward providing permanent access to the Green River. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the paddling community, American Whitewater raised more than enough money to purchase the small parcel necessary for an access point. However, the late April decision by the WRC undercut our efforts to secure the site in perpetuity and develop a public access point to the Green River Gamelands for all users: hikers, fishermen, hunters, bird watchers, and boaters.

It was made clear to American Whitewater that the only "acceptable" users of the Green River Gamelands were the handful of hunters and fishermen that visit there annually, not the thousands of boaters that float on the Green's majestic waters. Their decision forced AW to abandon the land acquisition, and American Whitewater refunded the donations raised from its membership, applied them toward conservation and access areas in the South (and elsewhere as directed by the donor), or earmarked them to the current parking arrangement.

AW continues to thank those individuals who made financial gifts, or gifts of their time and expertise, to help preserve Green River access. Thank you for believing in us and we hope that you will continue to support AW as it works to protect and enhance responsible river access around the country.

Possibility of Scheduled Releases.... (2007)

On Friday June 29th at 9:00 p.m. there was a meeting at Green River Adventures in Saluda. The meeting was to discuss possible scheduled recreational flows on the Green, or to find ways to improve the existing situation, instead of the way it is now ("determined daily", lots of 60% flows running overnight, etc.). The meeting was called by Sara Bell of GRA and Woody Callaway of Liquid Logic, and all interested were invited to attend. You can read some background in this snippet from the Tryon Bulletin (6/19), and in this Boatertalk thread (6/20). The hope was (is) to find common ground with those in the fishing community, the local business community, and the private paddlers as an approach to Duke Power is undertaken that would benefit all groups.

A synopsis of the meeting written by Harrison Metzger can be found in this Boatertalk thread posted the next day (6/30), and extended commentary by other paddlers follows. In short, the group of 40+ present at the meeting had near unanimity in going forward with requesting no nighttime releases and less/no 60% releases. Additionally, the group had no interest at all in scheduled Thursday-Sunday releases with guaranteed water for those days. If there are no nighttime releases and also no or very limited 60% days, then the point may be moot as the Green will be running most days anyway in a normal year. Many private paddlers, particularly those living several hours away from the Green, would also like more consistent announcements the day before at the least and would be happy with some sense of a "schedule". Both the fishermen and women, and GRA, can live with what the paddlers at the meeting spoke for, and most people left the meeting feeling positive about being on the same team as the anglers.

I'm not calling it fine literature, but the discussion continued on Boatertalk --- and in the interests of being able to access the various points of view in the future, here's another thread (7/6), and another (7/9).

Beginning in late summer 2007, as a direct result of GRA contacts with Duke Energy, the Tuxedo Plant essentially stopped the round-the-clock 60% releases on weekends, and began a fairly consistent Fri-Mon. 7a.m.-11a.m. schedule. Come Novemeber, they changed back to mostly weekday morning releases to better match peak power demand.

Throughout the historic drought of 2007, the level of Lake Summit was maintained with Tuxedo running at 100% for 16-20 hours/week in the Summer, and closer to 25 hours/week through the Fall and early Winter. In a "normal" year, the boys at Tuxedo spin the turbines far more often.



Cooper smooths into Polk County at the entrance to Go Left. Photo courtesy of http://www.lithiumkayaking.com/.

For another neat angle on this entrance, click here.

This is the left line at Nies' Pieces. The very small eddy to the boater's right is sometimes caught, but only by rock stars.
Date of picture is January 4th, 2007, and the level is 100%. This is the far left side of the unnamed drop below Frankenstein. There are two-three other standard ways it's run.

Photo used with permission: Sam Drevo Photography, http://www.enrgkayaking.com/.

Wanna see video of someone pinned in that hole on the right? Ok, then Grab that bitch.

click it

The Green Race Information Page

Click Here For All Results
(fantastic database from Chris Bell and boatingbeta.com)

The Next Race Will Be On
Saturday, Nov. 7th, 2009 @ 12 noon

No doubt the single most famous, most respected, and most competitive creek race on the planet, the annual Green Race remains a fabulous and homespun little affair held each Fall on the steepest section of western North Carolina's Green River Narrows.  Local boaters train here for much of the year due to the reliable flows, and though people come from far and wide to compete, it's local boaters who win. More than five hundred friends and family members either hike or paddle in to watch and cheer on every racer, scattering themselves along the river's boulders and bedrock near the photogenic signature rapid called Gorilla -- a.k.a. "The Monkey" -- heart and soul of the entire run.

Looming larger than life in any paddler's mind, the Green Race is -- save for a few individuals -- largely not about winning.  It's more about having clean lines and a safe run, making a personal best time, beating (or losing to) a friend by a few seconds, and simply participating in such a unique event and the fine community that surrounds it all.  And yet to date, in thirteen years, with perhaps a couple thousand people having navigated and portaged themselves down the Green in total, only 317 people have entered the race.

Some of the well-known dangers found on the Narrows are mentioned in this waiver that all racers must agree to and sign prior to entering.  For example .... "lacerations" .... "impalement" .... "extensive dental damage" .... and my personal favorite: "I have been warned of the stupidity of this activity".  So yeah, sure, Class V, but not just skills does it take; rather, a sense of courage more than the rest of us have -- have we the skills or not.

The Green Race began in 1996 and has been scheduled to start at 12 noon on the first Saturday in November ever since.  Racers start from the river right side of the long pool below Bride of Frankenstein and finish about five minutes and one half of a miracle mile later on the river left side of the pool below Rapid Transit.  The racers take off in one minute intervals, starting with long boats (the "open" division -- anything goes), then short boats under 9', with the known racers seeded to keep passing to a minimum.

Initially born from a conversation between friends during a Gauley shuttle drive thirteen years ago, Leland Davis then organized the first Green Race, and kept them running through 2002.  Jason Hale, also in from the beginning, took over in 2003 and has been the main organizer since then.  He's helped by a host of volunteers, Christy Dobson and Dixie-Marie Pickett among them.

Please note that this is not an official page for the Green Race.  There is no "official page".  Jason Hale puts some information out there close to November each year, and pulls the million details together to make it happen.  Additionally, Chris Bell has collected all the prior years' results into one clickable and sortable database (linked above), and is now handling online registration on his boatingbeta site.  This page right here is just a collection of information pulled together into one place, designed to answer the random Green Race trivia question and help you kill time until you're out paddling again.

Hiking Directions

Race Reports from Blogs and Websites

• Leland Davis' website short report and results 1997
• Xacters.net (dead link) brief report on 2004
• Jackson Kayak report from Clay Wright 2005
• The Green Race According to Hale Results and Tidbits 2005
• Groundswell Project report from Clay Wright 2005
• Jackson Kayak piece by Eric Jackson 2005
• Team Eskimo report from Chan Jones 2006
• Team Riot report from Nathan Silsbee 2006
• Team Dagger report on Pat Keller's race 2006
• Team Dagger second report, 2006
• Downstream Movement report from Cooper Lambla 2006
• Watergirls at Play account by Andria Baldovin 2006
• Shred Ready team commentary from Tom Sherburne 2006
• Atlantic Kayaker report from Kelsey Thompson 2007
• Water Tribe blog report from Chan Jones 2007
• ZoarOutdoor blog from Fergus Coffey 2007
• Team Dagger interview with Andrew Holcombe 2007
• Jackson Kayak report from Chris Bucksey 2007
• Jackson Kayak report from Nick Troutman 2007
• Jeremy Lauck's report on Chasingrain.com, 2007
• Matias Nunez's report, in Spanish, 2007
• Shane Benedict's Boofing into a Stadium fine report 2007
• Shane Benedict's write-up for Kayak Session, 2007
• Rob Tompkins' blog report & photos, LVM Giant Slalom, July 2008
• LVM-TV's race report, video, and results, Giant Slalom, July 2008
• Hannah Grace Cole's fine series of pics, Giant Slalom, July 2008
• Team Shred Ready report from Tom Sherburne, 2008
• Andrew Bentley's report on WorldKayakBlogs, 2008
• Anna Levesque's report on WaterGirlsAtPlay, 2008
• Team Werner report from Danny Mongno, 2008
• Team Riot report from Chris Gragtmans, 2008
• Team Pyranha report from Chan Jones, 2008
• Nick Murphy's story about his 1st race, 2008
• Matias Nunez's chatter, in Spanish, 2008

Newspaper and Magazine Articles

• AW Journal article by Leland Davis about the first race in 1996
• Hendersonville Times-News article about Al Gregory's victory in 2000
• Paddler Magazine (dead link) account in 2001
• Hendersonville Times-News pre-race article 2003
• CanoeKayak.com article about 2005 race
• Hendersonville Times-News pre-race article 2006
• Denver Post article about Dagger's role in 2006
• GoUpstate.com pre-race article 2007
• BlueRidgeNow.com pre-race article 2007
• BlueRidgeNow.com piece about Leland/Andria 2007
• Paddling Life (online magazine) article about 2007
• Outside Magazine article, in Portugese, 2007
• Paddling Life (online magazine) article 2008
• The Mountain Xpress' short article, 2008

Photo Albums

• Chris Bell's photo archive on Boatingbeta.com 2001, 2002, 2003
• Randy Pegram's archive of undated early pics 2002, 2003
• Dallas Shaw's (dead link) collection on Lithiumkayaking.com 2005
• Ben Edson's collection on Downstreamphoto.com 2005
• Ryan Bednar's (dead link) collection on RyanBednar.com 2006
• Ben Edson's collection on Downstreamphoto.com 2006
• Ben Edson's & Ben Wiggins' pics on Downstreamphoto.com 2007
• Thomas Oliver's & Glenn LaPlante's photos on Flicker 2007
• Mike Justus' slide show at BlueRidgeNow.com 2007
• Bryan Owen's shots at AstralBuoyancy.com 2007
• carolinatexas' gallery of stills on YouTube, 2007
• Karlshred's (??) photos on Picassa 2007
• Judy Ranelli's gallery on Smugmug, 2007
• Phil Raber's gallery on Picassa 2007
• Jim Wei's gallery on Picassa 2007
• Randy Pegram's slideshow 2007
• Ben Edson's & Ben Wiggins' Gorilla pics, Downstreamphoto.com, 2008
• Patrick Elliot's pics from Gorilla and Go Left on Photobucket, 2008
• Thomas Oliver's & Glenn LaPlante's photographs on Flicker, 2008
• Chris Port's photos from Go Left, Riverlight Photography, 2008
• Valerie Blanchette's photos from Go Left on SmugMug, 2008
• Arlyn Agababian's photos from Go Left on Picassa, 2008
• teledave's ?? photos on TetonGravityResearch, 2008
• Ben Gaston's Zwick's pics, Gradient Imagery, 2008
• John Blackshire's picture gallery on Flicker, 2008
• Randy Pegram's Gorilla slideshow pics, 2008
• Anthony Bellemare's gallery on Flicker, 2008
• Seth Richardson's photos on Picassa, 2008
• Mark Van Liere's mostly Gorilla shots, 2008
• Phillip Turner's mostly Gorilla shots, 2008
• Robert Hurst's fisheye lens shots, 2008

Video Clips

• LVM #11's race carnage, 2:15 into this YouTube 2003
• Ryan Scott/CRG Productions clip from 2004
• LVM clip #1 from 2004
Note: All (save for one) LVM links on this page temp. out of service, 11/08
• LVM clip #2 from 2004
• AutoBoof Productions clip from 2006
• Stephen Beeson's YouTube clip 2006
• Clayton Gaar's (and Nathan Silsbee's) YouTube 2006
• LVM-TV pre-race chatter #1 from October 2007
• LVM-TV pre-race chatter #2 from October 2007
• LVM-TV post-race interviews and race clips 2007
• Matt Alverson's YouTube clip from 2007
• Nick Troutman's clip for Jackson Kayak 2007
• Big Kahuna's YouTube clip 2007
• Ryan Richardson's YouTube clip (with Cooper) 2007
• Shane Benedict's pre-race chatter clip, October 2008
• IceBurg Studioz' shredder Gorilla, YouTube, 2008
• Josh Dalton's mostly carnage, YouTube, 2008
• Bottoms Up Kayaking's Gorilla carnage, 2008
• Virginia Balfour's Gorilla YouTube, 2008
• Peter Savage's Gorilla YouTube, 2008
• LVM's post-race quickie clip, 2008

Full-length Films

• The Green Race Movie (2007) Chris Gallaway's fine film about the history and challenge of the Green Race, as well his own efforts to train and compete in 2006. Chris' movie won Best Whitewater Film at the 2008 Reel Paddling Film Festival, as well as Best Documentary and Best of Show at the 2008 National Paddling Film Festival.

LVM Back Issues Featuring the Green Race

Issued quarterly, Lunch Video Magazine is your Asheville-based source for the good shit worldwide.  Often filmed close to home, too, with plenty of Green Race footage through the years.  Relevant Back Issues:  3, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21.

Other Video

• Playin' In The Backyard (2000) Leland Davis' full-length video devoted to the entire Narrows, including a rapid-by-rapid breakdown and a separate section about the Green Race.  Most of the footage shot in 1997/98, and included in the extras is a Pat Keller helmet cam of the race course (fast run).

The 2008 Winners

Division	Paddler	Time
Open	Pat Keller	4:31
Women	Adrienne Levknecht & Laura Farrell (tie)	5:40
Short Boat	Eric Deguil	5:01
Hand Paddles	Keith Sprinkle	5:23
C1	Will Lyons	5:44
OC1	(none)	----
Ironman	Chris Gragtmans	9:39

Race Records

Division	Paddler	Time	Year
Open	Andrew Holcombe	4:27	2007
Women	Robin Betz	5:23	2007
Short Boat	Pat Keller	4:40	2007
Hand Paddles	Brandon Roy	5:23	2002
	Keith Sprinkle	5:23	2008
C1	Dave Hepp	5:03	2007
OC1	Eli Helbert	8:29	2005
Ironman	Pat Keller	9:08	2007

Open Class Winners by Year

Year	Winner	Time	Boat
1996	Clay Wright	4:57	Pyrahna Mtn. 300
1997	Jason Hale	5:13	Prion Tornado
1998	Jason Hale	5:04	Prion Tornado
1999	Tommy Hilleke	5:03	Prion Tornado
2000	Al Gregory	4:59	Pyranha Master
2001	Tommy Hilleke	4:42	Prion Tornado
2002	Tommy Hilleke	4:49	Prion Tornado
2003	Tommy HIlleke	4:42	Prion Tornado
2004	Tommy Hilleke	4:35	Prion Tornado
2005	Tommy Hilleke	4:34	Prion Tornado
2006	Pat Keller	4:36	Dagger Green
2007	Andrew Holcombe	4:27	Dagger Green
2008	Pat Keller	4:31	Dagger Green

Participation by Year

Year	Total	Women	Ironmen
1996	16
1997	21	4
1998	25	1
1999	39	1
2000	37
2001	64	3
2002	65	5
2003	57	4	1
2004	8
2005	75	3	5
2006	116	6	9
2007	105	6	18
2008	92	3	9

Green Race Fun Facts

• Most races so far:  Tommy Hilleke, 11, Jason Hale, 11
• Oldest Green racer:  Jerry Jascomb, 54, in 2008
• First Ironman:  Glenn LaPlante (Long and Short boats), 11:40, 2003
• First Superman:  Paul Stamilio (Long, Short, Handpaddles), 16:48, 2007
• Total number of racers in 13 years:  317
• Number of men who have raced:  299
• Number of women who have raced:  18
• Total number of runs:  764
• Number of first-timers in 2008:  35
• Release Levels:  100% .... ( '04 @ 250%, '07 @ drought special - 2x 60%, '08 @ low drought 100% )

More Green Stuff

• First Full Descent:  Tom Visnius & John Kennedy, November 1988
• Fastest Top-to-Bottom time:  27:45....at Jerry's Baddle, March 2007, Toby McDermott & Chris Gragtmans (tie).
• Most laps in a day:  10 (West, Shanin, Bowman), July 2006, AW Journal
• Early (1990) AW Journal "Two-Gallon River" (Callaway, Koll)
• Two headcam clips of full run, Chris Gragtmans, 2006

info on this photo

Messing About in Green Boats

A host of old school long boats have been used over the years in attempts to win or place well in the Green Race. Since 2006 three separate limited edition boats have been designed with the Green Race specifically in mind.

Prion Tornado -- The workhorse of winning boats for years, having won 8 out of 13 races to date.  Made from 1995-2000(?) and now out of production, coveted, and hard to find --- with the aluminum mold lying in disrepair outside some damp 'n gloomy factory in Germany --- the Tornado will become a relic.

Dagger Green Boat -- Introduced in 2006 and a Pat Keller/Snowy Robertson design, the Green Boat has now won the last three races and became available commercially in March 2008 -- leading to 32 of the 60 long boats in the 2008 race being Dagger Green Boats!

Wavesport Momentum -- A Robert Peerson design in 2006...(more soon)

Liquid Logic Remix 100 -- Local designer Shane Benedict's offering, out just in time for the 2007 race.  Here is his description of the process he used to build it, some pictures of the first runs, and one other nice photo.

....What?  You're not a
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Sign up here.

This is a test

 

An excellent portrayal of what's happening on the Green Narrows from a gradient perspective. The image was created and is copyrighted by Chris Bell of boatingbeta.com. To see the Green compared to a few other common rivers in WNC, . Gravity is not just a good idea, it's The Law.

A fine portrayal of what's happening on the Green Narrows from a gradient perspective.
The image above was created and is copyrighted by Chris Bell of boatingbeta.com.
To see the Green compared to a few other common rivers in WNC, click here.

Nice shot of a fine line at Hammer Factor, taken June 10th, 2007 at about 7.5". Todd Johnson entering the left line at the top of Bride of Frankenstein. Level is a 7.5" Summer 100%. 2007 Green Queen Robin Betz heads towards The Notch on her way to victory with a record time of 5:23.

In 13 years of Green Races, and 317 total competitors, only 18 of them have been women.

Photo taken on November 3rd, 2007 and the level was 10".

As an aside, you'll see Bo Wallace standing at river left at The Notch itself in the photo above. A year prior -- to the week --
there was something else in his place when he came through.



Info about the chicken photo.

Fantastic picture from Cooper Lambla of Pat Keller running the left line at Sunshine.
Check Cooper's blog site, downstreammovement, for more. Gareth Tate barebacks through Toilet Bowl. Photo taken June 10th, 2007, at a low Summer 100% level. Isaac Ludwig, who tragically died on the West Prong during the high water remnants of Hurricane Fay on August 26th, 2008,
here styles his way through "Naked Lady Boof" on the run-out of the Green Narrows. Summer 2007.


Sure, it's pretty obvious why Sunshine is named Sunshine. But if you had any lingering doubts, this small section
of topo map should pound it in pretty good if you have a look at it.

The rapid called Sunshine is one topographic click south from the confluence of Pulliam Creek and the Green River,
and the contour interval is 20ft. on this map.

The Narrows as a run is said to be 2.88 miles long. Although no actual scale is shown above as I had to leave that part off the map,
from the county line to Pulliam Creek is very close to 1/3 of a mile according to my ruler. For a reference, a viewing of the Polk County
GIS aerial photo shows the county line to be crossing the Green exactly where the log is in Go Left.

After another small stretch down from Sunshine the map shows the river splitting with an island in the middle. That upper channel
is a dry stretch of riverbed now, beginning around the rapid "Triple Cracks" (also, the Green River Cove Trail heads downstream from
here, on river left. See the Groove Tube rapid description for a link to the trail map). Another one of those dry channels begins at
Frankenstein on river left, but it didn't make it on this map.

Big Hungry Creek pays tribute to El Rio Verde at the beginning of the run, as shown in the top left.

After the first long stretch of shoals downstream of Sunshine, it's Camp Creek that comes in from river right as the river bends to the left.

To see the whole map, go to this Libre Map Project page for North Carolina, scroll down and open the Cliffield Mountain Quad map as a TIFF file.