All,

 

            This Friday we will be co-hosting a kayak roll session with UTOP and the Chota Canoe Club. Eric Jackson is the guest of honor. Eric is currently freestyle kayak world championship runner-up. He has been world champion four times (1993, 2001, 2005, 2007). Eric has been a member of the US Kayaking Team, either in freestyle or in slalom, every year since 1989. In 1992, Jackson competed in Barcelona as part of the U.S. Olympic team. He is a two-time winner of the Everest Award and the author of several instructional books and videos teaching many aspects of whitewater kayaking, including river running, playboating, rolling and bracing. His children Emily and Dane are also competitive kayakers.

 

This one ought to be a don’t miss. I’ll have more on this at the meeting on Wednesday, but here’s the official announcement

 

Later,

 

Randy

 

Special Roll Session with Eric Jackson January 29 from 7 to 9 at the UT Aquatic Center.

 

On January 29 the Chota Canoe Club, in conjunction with the UT Outdoor Program (UTOP) / UT Canoe and Hiking Club (UTCH) will be hosting a kayak roll session with Eric Jackson. Cost for attendance is $5.00 for people not associated with UT.

 

UTOP has reserved the diving well and 12 lanes of the Student Aquatic Center Pool for our use, so well have a huge amount of space! Members are welcome to bring their own boats, but we’ll also have use of UT’s kayaks and some Jackson boats that we can demo. Please make sure that all personal equipment is clean and free of debris.

 

Directions:

From I40 East or From I40 West.

• Exit onto U.S. 129 (Alcoa Highway) south (toward Airport and Smoky Mtns.).
• Take the Hwy 11 / Hwy 70 Kingston Pike Avenue Exit and turn left (East) onto Cumberland Avenue at the bottom of the ramp.
• Continue on Cumberland Avenue for apx. 2/10 of a mile and Turn Right onto Volunteer Boulevard. Volunteer Boulevard is just beyond the railroad overpass and before the Pilot station.
• Continue on Volunteer Boulevard to the first red light and take a left on to Andy Holt Avenue.
• The UT Aquatic Center is the second big building on your right. The Student Aquatic Center Parking (SAC) lot is on the east side of the Aquatic Center.
• The entrance to the building is on the south side, opposite the street. Please pay the $5.00 at the desk and get a wrist band.

 

Parking/boat unloading:

• Please refer to the UT campus map at: www.utk.edu/maps/campus/. Display Map #6 when the web page loads and locate the Student Aquatic Center.
• Show up early! Parking will be a nuisance, so I’m going to recommend that everyone show up early. We will have access to the Aquatic Center starting at 6:30.
• Boat unloading. We will use the Student Aquatic Center  (SAC on the map) for boat unloading. This lot is typically very busy. More than likely, we will need to double park to unload boats. To minimize congestion, students from the UTCH will be on hand between 6:30 and 6:55 to assist with moving boats from the parking lot to the Aquatic Center.
• Parking. We can park at the SAC and any of the blue S number lots. There is also street side parking on Volunteer Boulevard one block south of Andy Holt that is reasonably close.
• The SAC usually clears out by 9:00, so loading boats after the event should not be a problem.

 

Special thanks to Ed McAlister for booking Eric Jackson and Benjy Darnell from UTOP for getting the pool!