Canoe Classic Moving To Liberty Lake High Water Forces Event Organizers To Move Course Offo Spokane River

With little hope for the swollen Spokane River to settle down by next weekend, organizers of the Spokane River Canoe Classic have not abandoned ship.

They simply changed the venue to Liberty Lake.

“I think I’d rather take my chances with the rapids than with the Jet Skis,” one boater joked as he picked up an entry form last week at a local sports store.

“The river is way up into the trees and brush along the shore,” said Robbie Castleberry, co-organizer for the Classic. “Somebody could tip over and get their life jacket caught in the brush. It’s not worth it.”

Racers must register Saturday between 8 and 9 a.m. at the original starting point in Corbin Park, along the Spokane River near Post Falls.

“Then, everyone will move a few miles to Liberty Lake County Park,” said Castleberry.

Instead of a downriver race with rapids, the event will be a flatwater race around the lake. People who enter the recreation category will paddle once around. Paddlers in the marathon or relay categories will paddle a longer course to get in at least 16 miles, she said.

Participants are required to wear a lifejacket during the race.

For nine years, racers have launched their boats on the Spokane River in Idaho and paddled downstream through rapids and flatwater to test their skill.

This year - the 10th running of the event - the river is too high to be safe for an event that caters to novice as well as experienced canoeists, Castleberry said.

“One year, I think it was 1989, we had a bunch of international marathoners, so we went ahead and ran the race with the river at 22,000 (cubic feet per second),” she said. “I was a nervous wreck. The pro boaters could handle themselves, but at high water, with the river up into the brush, it’s very difficult to get safely to shore if you tip over.”

The Spokane River at Post Falls Dam was gushing at flows around 30,000 cfs last week.

In 1992, race organizers discontinued offering prize money and made the Classic more of a recreational event, with ribbons for winners in various categories, plus T-shirts and prizes for everyone.

The entry fee is $10 per paddler. Profits from the race are earmarked to build and improve boating access sites to the Spokane River, Castleberry said.

In the past, Washington Water Power has been able to assist the race by closing the gates at Upriver Dam to reduce the Spokane River to safer flows.

“There’s so much snow still up in the St. Joe drainage we don’t see any chance of that this year,” Castleberry said.

Even with flows in the 9,000 cfs range last year, 13 of 24 marathon-event boats capsized at Sullivan Rapids.

“Maybe next year Mother Nature will behave,” Castleberry said. “In the meantime, we’ll be safe.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GRAB A PADDLE Registration forms are available at paddling shops and other outdoor stores in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. For information, call (509) 624-8384.