Trend: Paddlers who prefer whitewater canoes, rather than kayaks

The Knoxville News has the story:

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Dooley Tombras’ paddling friends rag him about his whitewater canoe. “They give me a hard time. ‘When are you gong to grow up and get a kayak?’ they ask. But I really enjoy the challenge of paddling an open boat,” he says.

The Knoxvillian is part of a small, but growing, community of paddlers who prefer powering whitewater canoes. “The nice thing about Knoxville is that there are a couple of fantastic rivers that you can do after work.” He and hundreds of other paddlers monitor weather reports and post updates on message boards, such as boatertalk.com. “If it’s raining in Gatlinburg, everybody leaves work and heads up there. You live for those days,” says Tombras, 26, an advertising account executive who averages about 80 days per year on the water.

He recently canoed the Upper West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. It has about 100 rapids in the two-mile run from the Chimney Tops trail head to the Chimney Tops picnic area. This section drops at a rate of 600 feet per mile. “It’s pretty dangerous because it’s difficult to stop. A downed tree can pin a paddler underwater. You can be in a potentially life-threatening situation.”

Tombras describes the sensation of running waterfalls: “Time seems to stand still for a moment while you are in the air. It can be an awesome feeling. It can also be really scary if you realize you don’t have the correct boat angle and you have to brace yourself to take a big hit.” He looks for tall drops with highly aerated landings, such as Stateline Falls on the Watuaga River. “It felt like I was landing on cotton balls (because) the water was so aerated.”

His passion for whitewater canoeing has taken him to Class V creeks that may have been kayaked, but not paddled in an open boat. “My real interest in the sport is running large waterfalls in an open canoe and making first descents throughout North America on Class V rivers and creeks.”