(Joe Scouts Grace Under Pressure)

Tom McEwan was one of the first people to ever tackle the mighty waters of Great Falls of the Potomac. Tom has been running a locals race on the falls for many years now and I have been lucky enough to be a part of the race for the past three years. The race is always held early in the morning the day of daylight savings, providing an extra hour of sleep to nurse that hangover from all the Halloween parties the night before. Tom ran this years race through Liquid Adventures, his whitewater kayaking school based out of Cabin John, MD.

(Bryon boofs Grace while Joe runs saftey)

The level for this year's race was about 3.4 on the Little Falls gage, which meant that the race would be held down the center lines of Great Falls. The center lines consist of Grace Under Pressure, consisting of a small ledge hole with a short pool into a large cascade, two small boof ledges, and the Finger, a narrow slide to cascade. The race started against a rock on the Virginia shore and ended about half way down the flake in the pool below the Finger.

(Joe races towards the boofs below Grace)

Joe Stumpfel and I both showed up in Solo Prototypes. Joe was paddling the latest generation L Solo Proto and I was paddling the last generation S Solo Proto. Have I mentioned that these boats are fast!!! Joe came in third and I came in fourth in the race, with less than a second separating us. The two people that beat us where both slalom racers and in long boats. (For full race results Click Here.)

(Joe sets up for the boof on the slide in the Finger)

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(Joe styles the Backchannel of the Fishladder after the race)

I'd first like to thank Tom for yet another fun and safe Great Falls race. I'd also like to thank Thilo for these great pictures. A big thanks goes out to all the paddlers, support people, and spectators that made this year's race so much fun.

I hope to see you all again next year- Bryon Dorr