The Southern Highland Reader

NANTAHALA–Nantahala Outdoor Center has announced its title sponsorship of the 2010 Outdoor Industry Association Rendezvous in Asheville, NC. OIA’s Rendezvous is an annual leadership conference for the outdoor industry, and NOC along with the Asheville Chamber of Commerce welcome these leaders October 5-7, 2010.

“In a way, we’re welcoming home a group whose industry is a fundamental part of why the Asheville area is such a compelling destination,” said Tim Lampkin, Director of Convention Sales & Group Services at the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This is a region that celebrates its natural treasures, so we heartily welcome the businesses and associations that help us make our natural assets economic ones.”

Rendezvous will bring together leaders from across the country for a week of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, networking opportunities, recreation and entertainment, capped off with a volunteer service project to give back to the host community.

“We are excited to partner with NOC for Rendezvous 2010 and look forward to bringing the industry to Asheville next fall to showcase their efforts, as well as all the density of outdoor recreation and retailers in the area,” said Ann Obenchain, vice president of marketing and member services for OIA. “NOC’s leadership as a business in the Southeast and as a retailer in the outdoor industry is paramount and we are looking forward adding more paddlesports and retail influences to the event with their help.”

On the final day of Rendezvous, OIA attendees will give back to the community by working together to cleanup recreation areas in and around Asheville. This event will prove to be a special opportunity for leaders in the outdoor industry to make an impact on Asheville’s outdoor and paddling communities.

NANTAHALA-Western North Carolina’s largest outdoor gear fair will feature an unprecedented number of events, when NOC’s Guest Appreciation Festvial (GAF) kicks off September 25-27, at NOC’s headquarters on the Nantahala River.

This is the 26th year for the end-of-season sale and swap. A destination event, visitors can expect games, giveaways, video premieres, rafting, live music, restaurant specials and much more throughout the weekend.

The event begins on Friday, when NOC opens its Used Gear Marketplace. At the same time, the Outfitter’s Store opens its doors to blowout brand new bikes, boats, apparel, tents and more. NOC’s famous Outfitter’s Store is the biggest specialty retailer of whitewater gear in the country and also features a wide selection of general outdoor apparel, so expect to find a variety of sale items.

This installment of GAF features more live music than ever before, with Woody Pines, The HumBuckers, The Steve Wohlrab Jazz Trio and additional musicians performing throughout the entire weekend.

In addition to sales, live music and regularly-scheduled rafting trips, Saturday features a packed line-up of events, including The Subaru Sumo Thunder Challenge, the ShredReady/IR Pumpkin Pursuit, a Crowded Canoe Competition, the Jackson Kayak Big Trick Competition, Foamy Boat Building, free fishing and kayaking clinics, restaurant specials, games, video premieres, kids contests and more.

Also during GAF weekend, the International Whitewater Hall of Fame will hold its 2009 induction ceremony on Saturday evening at Relia’s Garden Restaurant. There are meetand-greet events with the honorees, open to the public on Saturday afternoon.

NOC’s Guest Appreciation Festival usually sees visitation around 2,000 people. Visitors should be prepared to use marked satellite parking lots east of NOC on Highway 19, and ride the NOC-provided, free shuttles to the event.

BRYSON CITY—Nantahala Outdoor Center’s head of wilderness medicine and adventure travel recently returned from a seven-week expedition to previously unexplored jungle communities in the Pacific island of Borneo. Sunday, August 23 he will give a slide presentation about this trip at The Pourover, the new riverside pub at NOC’s Nantahala River resort beginning at 7pm.

The presentation is titled “Headhunters with Toothbrushes” and gives a first-hand account of Bryant’s medical relief expedition in Borneo. This presentation is free and open to the public.

Bryant founded and coordinates the medical relief charity ‘MedicForce’, an organization that provides immediate medical and dental care in poor countries. Many of these communities are semi-nomadic, relying on the jungle for food and natural medicines.

The communities’ ways of life are under threat from the logging industry, and levels of poverty and illness have increased. MedicForce provides care in the form of doctors, dentists and eye specialists, and also works simultaneously towards attaining health sustainability, promoting rural first-aid education and healthcare training.

This year, a team of six medical students, a Malaysian doctor, a dentist and one of the US’s leading eye surgeons from Seattle treated 920 patients, pulled 150 teeth, diagnosed 30 cataracts and prescribed over 200 pairs of glasses.

Jonathon Bryant is a Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO) Wilderness EMT trainer at Nantahala Outdoor Center outside Bryson City. He is currently planning two more medical relief trips, one to Belize and the other to Bolivia. Find out more information about these trips at the presentation.

STATEWIDE–The North Carolina legislature is divided over ways to attack the state’s $4 billion budget shortfall. They’re a long way apart.

Writes Mark Binker of the Greensboro News and Record:

“Senators favor a rewrite of the tax code that lowers income and sales tax rates but taxes more items. House budget writers are leery of those changes and would rely more on raising the sales tax rate and creating new upper-end income taxes.”

In an effort to bridge the divide, Governor Beverly Perdue floated a tax plan of her own this week, and at least one of its provisions would have an impact on the mountain tourism industry.

Among the changes Perdue suggests:

• Reducing the top three income tax rates but adding a temporary “emergency surcharge” for high income earners, defined as $500,000 for a single taxpayer.
• Adding an “emergency” 1 cent sales tax that would end on Sept. 30, 2010
• Applying the sales tax to a bevy of new items, including certain online purchases, courier services and plastic surgery.
• Raising taxes on cigarettes by 50-cents per pack and raising taxes on beer, wine and spirits.

Among the items and services that might see added taxes are recreation and entertainment venues. While the specifics are still being knocked around, its safe to say that big ticket items like rafting trips, train rides and so forth would make the list.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center’s Charles Conner told the Hendersonville Times News: “We believe such legislation threatens the state’s tourism industry as a whole, and we admire the efforts of our peers statewide as we all battle the ongoing economic slowdown.”

NANTAHALA–Richard Bernabe, one of the nation’s preeminent outdoor photographers and author of South Carolina Wonder and Light and the upcoming The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography will host a slideshow presentation Friday, June 12 at 7:30. His free two-hour show will take place at The Pourover, Nantahala Outdoor Center’s (NOC’s) new pub beside the Nantahala River, and will feature some of his best Southeastern photographs.

Additionally, Mr. Bernabe will teach a beginner’s digital photography workshop at NOC September 18-20th, which will take advantage of NOC’s location on the doorstep of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Mr. Bernabe serves as editor-in-chief for Nature Photographers Online Magazine and as a managing partner of Mountain Trail Press. Canon USA’s 2009 corporate calendar, Portraits of Wind, features 13 of Mr. Bernabes photographs.

This presentation will be the third in the “NOC Adventure Travel Presents” series which features presentations from NOC Adventure Travel veterans. The first presentation, “The Kanekatok Return: Fishing for Salmon and Rainbows in Southwest Alaska” by JEB Hall, author of Western North Carolina Fly Guide, is scheduled for Saturday at The Pourover.

REGIONAL–Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) President and CEO Sutton Bacon will testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business tomorrow. The “Heroes of Small Business” hearing is scheduled for 10am.

An excerpt of a release published on SNEWS:

At the hearing Bacon will discuss NOC’s $48 million impact on western North Carolina’s economy and the company’s plans to open NOC’s Great Outpost, an 18,000-square-foot LEED certified flagship store in Gatlinburg, TN bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

NOC’s Great Outpost is a rare example of dynamic small business expansion during the current economic slowdown, and Bacon will testify on the importance of innovation and new product development through tough times. The new store will occupy an anchor position in Gatlinburg’s downtown shopping and entertainment district, one of the most popular vacation destinations in the Southeast with over 14 million visitors annually, and will feature a wide selection of top outdoor apparel, camping, climbing, cycling, paddling, hiking and travel brands. When it opens it will become the largest retail store in Gatlinburg, creating approximately 55 jobs.

According to a recent Western Carolina University study, NOC, the nation’s largest outfitter, contributes $48 million to the economy of western North Carolina and supports over 579 full-time jobs in a region that had been reeling from a loss of traditional manufacturing jobs. Bacon’s testimony will emphasize the importance of outdoor recreation as a regional economic driver. According to the Outdoor Industry Association—of which Bacon is a board member—the outdoor industry sustains 6.5 million jobs and contributes $730 billion to the nation’s economy.

The release goes on to describe NOC’s 18,000 sq. ft. “Great Outpost” flagship store, soon to open in Gatlinburg.

Read the entire release here.

BRYSON CITY-Nantahala Outdoor Center will host its first-ever Watershed Week April 27 through May 1, with environmental enhancement projects in four locations across the Southeast.

NOC river outposts will conduct river clean-ups or other projects, culminating in a festival on the French
Broad River.

NOC raft guides and staff will begin the week with river clean-ups on the Nantahala River on April 28 and
the Nolichucky River on April 29. A river clean-up typically involves a floatilla of rafts and kayaks traveling
downstream, stopping along the way to remove items of trash from the water and from the riverbanks.
Staff at NOC’s Chattooga River outpost in Mountain Rest, SC will work to improve area mountain bike trails
throughout the week.

The Headwaters Institute will host an interpretive presentation on Thursday, April 30 at NOC’s French
Broad River outpost in Hot Springs, NC. Open to anyone, this presentation features facilitators from various
professional disciplines sharing information about the French Broad River’s natural history, flora and fauna
and ecology.

Friday marks the start of the 2009 French Broad Festival-a weekend of music, food, outdoor races and
fun. National advocacy group American Whitewater is partnering with Riverlink and NOC to lead a river
clean-up on Section IX of the French Broad River, Friday morning. A small reception will be held at NOC’s
Hot Springs outpost after the clean-up.

The French Broad River clean-up is open to the public, and both rafters and paddlers are needed. Boaters
should be comfortable paddling Class III-IV whitewater. Volunteers must be at least eight years of age to
raft the French Broad River and signed waivers will be required for all participants. Anyone under 18 years
of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. NOC will provide a free shuttle and lunch for
volunteers.

Anyone interested in participating in the cleanup should contact American Whitewater at (866) 262-8429
prior to April 24, 2009 so that lunch and shuttle arrangements can be prepared.

Spring Whitewater Rafting
Why wait for summer to have a whitewater experience? River rafting trips at Nantahala Outdoor Center begin in spring, with big thrills and big discounts. By mid-March, regularly-scheduled trips will run on six of seven Southeastern rivers, meaning rafters can choose a trip to fit anyone’s adventure level. Western North Carolina’s newest river, the Cheoah serves up heart-pounding rapids for rafters with previous experience on three weekends in April. Save up to 25% off summer prices by rafting before May 1.

Fishing at NOC
NOC is now a complete outfitter for fishing adventures in the Smokies. Our fishing team is led by local expert and author of Western Carolina Fly Guide, JEB Hall-an international fishing guide and Bryson City native. Guided wade and float trips are available, as well as kayaking fishing, a growing sport that takes anglers to hidden coves and quiet waters that characterize our area. Visitors can stop by our new fly shop, inside the Wesser General Store to reserve a guided trip, buy licenses and get the latest reports.

April Events
NOC will host two events in April at their Nantahala campus, one old and one new. Bi-athletes will relish our twist on traditional race events with the NOC Duck & Run, April 11. Competitors will paddle a ducky (inflatable kayak) from Fereby Park on the Nanty to NOC, where a five-mile run on Flint Ridge Trail will complete the course. A spring fixture, NOC’s Demo Daze kicks off summer with an entire weekend of free kayaking clinics, pool rolling and super deals on gear, April 25-26. Don’t miss the Junior Team Trials for whitewater slalom hopefuls, April 4-5, hosted by the Nantahala Racing Club.

NOC’s Watershed Week
NOC staff, guests and press are invited to join us in our first ever Watershed Week, from April 27 through May 1. Each of our seven river outposts will conduct river clean-ups and other environmental projects throughout the week, capped off by an interpretive presentation by the Headwaters Institute on Thursday, April 30 at NOC’s Hot Springs outpost. The French Broad River Festival kicks off the following day with a massive river clean-up sponsored by American Whitewater and an evening of live music. If you’d like to get involved in these efforts, contact Barbra Rodichok (barbra.rodichok@noc.com) or Jeff Paine (jeff@americanwhitewater.org).

This is the time of year when seasonal workers in the outdoor industry make plans for summer employment. A major asset on outdoor resumes is wilderness medicine training. Wilderness medicine certification is valuable to anyone who works or plays in the outdoors, including camp counselors, professional guides and recreational providers. Wilderness medicine training prepares leaders with techniques to handle emergency situations where primary care is not available.

Nantahala Outdoor Center, in partnership with SOLO Southeast will offer several wilderness medicine courses this spring. Below, I’ve included a complete schedule from now through Memorial Day. I’ve also included descriptions of each of these courses. The quickest way to get more information is to visit http://www.solosoutheast.com . Students who register for these wilderness medicine courses are eligible for discounted lodging and dining at NOC’s Nantahala Resort.

Wilderness First Aid (WFA)
This 16-hour course covers topics ranging from preparation and prevention to assessment and treatment of backcountry injuries. WFA is a two-year certification that does not include CPR. American Heart Association (AHA) HeartSaver CPR is an optional extra that can be taken on the evening of day one. This is a two-day class.

Advanced Wilderness First Aid (AWFA)
The Advanced Wilderness First Aid course provides in-depth information and practical backcountry first aid skills ranging from medical and environmental emergencies to improvising litters and litter carrying techniques. This intensive, four-day, 32-hour course is the outdoor industry standard. AHA HeartSaver CPR is included in this course.

Wilderness First Responder (WFR)
SOLO’s Wilderness First Responder course includes 72 hours (8 or 9 days) of intense training in standards for urban and extended-care situations. WFR offers a comprehensive and in-depth look at the standards and skills of dealing with:

• Response and assessment
• Musculo-skeletal injuries
• Environmental emergencies
• Survival skills
• Soft tissue injuries
• Management of traumatic injuries
• Medical emergencies
• AHA HeartSaver CPR

AWFA to Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Upgrade.
Students who have completed the AWFA class within one year can upgrade their qualification to the industry standard for backcountry leaders, WFR. The Advanced Wilderness First Aid to Wilderness First Responder five-day course takes the AWFA and focuses in more detail on long-term care and leadership in the wilderness. CPR is an optional extra.

February
14-15 Wilderness First Responder Re-Certification

March
(Feb)28-Mar 7 Wilderness First Responder
7-8 Wilderness First Aid
14-15 Wilderness First Aid
28-29 Wilderness First Aid

April
4-5 Wilderness First Aid
13-16 Advanced Wilderness First Aid
25-26 Wilderness First Aid
27-28 Advanced Wilderness First Aid Re-Certification

May
9-12 Advanced Wilderness First Aid
12-20 Wilderness First Responder
25-29 AWFA to WFR Bridge
30-31 Wilderness First Aid

NANTAHALA-Competitive whitewater paddlers will converge at Nantahala Outdoor Center in the first major race of the year, the Bank of America U.S. Open March 28-29 on the Nantahala River.

USA Canoe/Kayak officials sanction both days of racing, with a qualifying race on Saturday and a final race on Sunday. Racing begins each day at 10am and ends at 4pm. All Olympic classes will be represented including Kayak Men, Kayak Women, Canoe Women, Canoe Men, Canoe Men’s Pairs and Wildwater. This is not an Olympic qualifying event.

The race is organized by the Nantahala Racing Club and features two events; whitewater slalom, where competitors race through a series of gates hanging in key locations throughout a rapid, and wildwater racing, where competitors paddle down a section of river in the fastest possible time.

In slalom competition competitors get two runs of the course, which is typically paddled in less than two minutes. The paddlers negotiate 20 gates-14 downstream gates and six upstream gates-incurring two-second penalties for any touch of a gate, and an insurmountable 50-second penalty for displacing a gate by more than 45 degrees, proceeding in the wrong order or passing through upside-down. The competitors’ two times are added together, with the fastest combined time winning the race.

Wildwater racing features a Sprint competition, where the course is 500-750 meters long, and a Classic competition, which could be up to nine miles long. In wildwater racing, all paddlers compete in one run, head-to-head.

Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) hosts one of the only competitive events where the entire course is in spectators’ view. NOC’s Nantahala resort will be open for parking, shopping, lodging and dining before and after the race.

NANTAHALA–Wilderness Medic Jonathan Bryant of the Nantahala Outdoor Center is working to kick-start a “sustainable charity,” to extend his efforts to provide health care in rural Belize and Guatemala.

Bryant travels to these countries and others when he isn’t working at the NOC, and uses motorcycles to reach communities inaccessible by car. Here’s his self-told piece in the Asheville Citizen-Times. Here’s an excerpt:

The amount of poverty I encountered [during my most recent trip] was heartrending, but seeing people’s determination was incredibly inspirational.

I funded this research project myself but I’m seeking self-funded volunteers for this year’s expedition, scheduled for departure Nov. 20. I’m looking for a doctor, dentist and four EMTs or wilderness first responders. Most of the work will be in Southern Belize on the Guatemala boarder.

We’ll fix up the derelict clinic there, which services 320 people, stock it with medical supplies and raise funds to staff the clinic for two hours a day after we leave.

I figure if I can launch one fully operational clinic a year, it’s a start.

BRYSON CITY – This March Nantahala Outdoor Center will debut Adventure Essentials: First-Aid for the Thru-Hiker, a SOLO course aimed at the Appalachian Trail thru-hiker. The course is offered through SOLO Southeast, the Southeast’s premier destination for wilderness medicine located in the mountains of western North Carolina, and will be the only course of its kind.

The March course is timed to coincide with the annual arrival of northbound thru-hikers to NOC, a favorite stop along the trail. For northbound hikers, NOC is located at mile 133.9 of the Appalachian Trail (2,041.1 when heading south.) After 10 days on the trail, hikers are often ready to take their first ‘zero day’ to enjoy a rest by the river, take a hot shower and savor a hearty meal-all of which are available at NOC. Now, hikers can also get valued instruction on how to keep their adventure on track with first-aid prevention and care.

The course covers topics pertaining directly to injuries and incidents common on A.T. thru hikes, including sprains, infection, heat exhaustion, hypothermia, stings, blisters and much more. SOLO Southeast coordinator Jonathan Bryant, who has more than 10 years experience teaching wilderness medicine and leading expeditions in the rainforests of the Amazon and Borneo, will teach the course.

Courses are offered March 1, 14 and 21 of 2009. The cost of the course is $65/person. Each day begins at 8:30am with a break for lunch, and ends at 5:00pm. Spaces can be reserved by calling 800-232-7238.

NOC is an ideal location for thru-hikers to pick up these vital skills; upon leaving NOC, hikers face one of the trail’s steepest ascents to 5,062-ft. Cheoah Bald, and then onto Fontana, the gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and some of the most unexpected terrain and challenges along the A.T.

SOLO Southeast will offer nine distinct wilderness medicine courses in 2009, including the traditional Wilderness First-Aid and Wilderness First Responder. The partnership between NOC, the Southeast’s leader in whitewater adventures and SOLO, the originators of the Wilderness Medicine certification system provides a new venue in the Southeast for classes in outdoor preparedness. SOLO Southeast students learn in the outdoor classroom that surrounds NOC-the rugged and beautiful Nantahala Gorge.

Nantahala Outdoor Center is the nation’s largest whitewater rafting company, rafting seven rivers in the southeastern United States including the Chattooga, Cheoah, French Broad, Nantahala, Nolichucky, Ocoee and Pigeon. Additionally, NOC operates an adventure resort in Wesser, NC where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Nantahala River. The resort features four restaurants, multiple lodging options, the world-class NOC Paddling School and the NOC Outfitter’s Store named “the best whitewater store in the country” by Men’s Journal. Good Morning America and National Geographic Adventure named NOC the “#1 Vacation with a Splash” and The New York Times noted NOC’s reputation as “…the nation’s premiere paddling school.”
For more information, please visit www.noc.com.

Nantahala Outdoor Center is the nation’s largest whitewater rafting company, rafting seven rivers in the Southeastern United States including the Chattooga, Cheoah, French Broad, Nantahala, Nolichucky, Ocoee, and Pigeon. Additionally, NOC operates an adventure resort in Wesser, NC where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Nantahala River. The resort features four restaurants, multiple lodging options, the world-class NOC Paddling School, and the NOC Outfitter’s Store named “the best whitewater store in the country” by Men’s Journal. In November of 2007 National Geographic Adventure named NOC “One of the Best Outfitters on Earth.

(No events posted at this time)