Page 56 - Flathead Beacon // 5.20.2015

56 | MAY 20, 2015
OUTDOORS
A kayaker at last year’s Bigfork Whitewater Festival.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
A Wild
TMILESTONE
BIGFORK WHITEWATER FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF ROILING GOOD TIMES BY TRISTAN SCOTT
he roiling river that runs a milestone and kicks off a full slate of
through the heart of Bigfork activities, events and stacked competi-
tracks time in a slippery dimen- tions May 23-24.
sion, its genesis – a tiny rivulet The aptly named “Wild Mile” of increments. By summer, they were run- of glacial melt water – flowing the Swan River promises big water and ning the river from below “The Big Rock”
and started working their way up river in in cyclic harmony with its terminus, all vaunted Class IV rapids as kayakers and – a popular feature for spectators – but
the while mounting a frothy front in be- tween to create the centerpiece of the town’s signature annual event, the Big- fork Whitewater Festival.
And just as the Swan River rises from trickle to torrent, so too has the Bigfork Whitewater Festival evolved from hum- ble beginnings, carving out a niche in the valley that this year runs 40 years deep. Although its flows will run at be- low-average levels this Memorial Day weekend – typically the height of run- off – the richness of its history will surge off the charts as the event celebrates
rafters compete for a $5,000 cash purse, and the crowds turn out in droves.
But the festival began as a low-key affair, organized by a few local white- water pioneers looking for new sections of river to run.
Some of the first area kayakers, no- tably Cliff Persons, Tom Moe, Bob Hil- bun, and Jimmy and John Anderson of Whitefish, and Onno Wieringa of Con- rad, began traveling to Bigfork to run what is now known as the Wild Mile after conquering the Middle and North Forks of the Flathead River, and Buffalo
were aiming for a run all the way from the dam, where the race now begins.
By the end of the summer, they had run the full stretch of rapids, shatter- ing plenty of gear and more than a few nerves along the way.
“The exploration process was very dangerous. Even though we had a deep respect for the power of the river, there was lots of broken gear, and many times we wound up swimming,” Persons said.
A post-river tradition sprung forth from those early outings, and the kay- akers frequently ended their days at
Rapids south of Polson.
They began by the dam powerhouse
the Mountain Lake Tavern in Bigfork, where the bar’s intrigued owner, Fritz Groenke, would ply the whitewater en- thusiasts with beer and questions.
One day, he offered $100 in prize money if they would come back the fol- lowing spring and host a race. They or- ganized and sent out flyers, and a hand- ful of racers turned out, paid a $10 entry fee and ran what is now the Wild Mile (at the time they had dubbed the stretch of swollen water the “Mad Mile.”
A tradition was born, and the race has since grown from a nascent trickle to a destination event for competitive paddlers and spectators.
“We have a lot of paddlers return- ing from last year, so it’s exciting to get that caliber of athlete,” said organizer Britt McGillivray.