Black Canyon of The Bear Whitewater Festival

09/09/2021

The Bear is back! Join us this weekend for a unique fall release on the Bear River. Plan to race against your amigos on Sunday afternoon. Register at the put-in dam and float down to the start. Hope to see lots of y'all there!

29/04/2019

Thanks to everyone who raced, volunteered, and sponsored the 2019 Bear River Race. Stoked to have this event back, we will make it bigger and better for next year! Congrats to Russell Davies on another Bear River win, and old man Aaron Pruzan from Rendezvous River Sports/ Jackson Hole Kayak School bringing home second. Porter Bankhead rounded out the podium. Head over to our website for full results: http://www.jhkayakclub.org/bear

29/04/2019

The 2019 Bear Race Champion, Davies, running the meat of Booboo.

29/04/2019

Porter Bankhead in Booboo on his way to a 3rd place finish.

25/04/2019

We’ve got sick event shirts, paddles from Werner Paddles and Adventure Technology, swag and a membership to American Whitewater, tons of rad glasses from Smith, helmet from Sweet Protection, hoodies from NRS, tons of prizes from Rendezvous River Sports/ Jackson Hole Kayak Schooland more from Kokatat. Plus check out the tomahawks from Mountain Man Toy Shop, which will be awarded to the overall Wydaho Series Champions on June 1. Don’t miss this weekend at the Black Canyon of the Bear, high water, fast racing, and dope prizes. Be there.

22/04/2019

04/04/2019

13/04/2018

Greetings Bear River Racers. Unfortunately there were issues with the event permit for this year, so an official Bear River Race will not be happening. However, Saturday, April 21st we will be unofficially 'Getting Together and Paddling Fast'. 10 AM at the Put In for details. Let's get the community together for an awesome weekend of paddling, partying, and kicking off the whitewater season together.
Cheers,
Rainer
PS- The river will be releasing Friday-Sunday that weekend!

01/04/2018

It's officially on! The Jackson Hole Kayak Club will be taking over! April 21st, 2018. Put it on your calendar, it's going to be sick!

01/04/2017

Update: This weekend is not an official Black Canyon of the Bear release weekend, but we got a message from PacifiCorp and they are currently forecasting 950 cfs with the potential for as much as 1200 in the canyon this weekend. Stay safe. This thing is gonna get rowdy!

30/03/2017

Hey all! Due to some scheduling issues amongst the organizers, and with all the Western the rivers all so high so early we have chosen to take advantage of this blessing and paddle where we may not get the chance to for another long while. We will postpone the race for when we hope to get a better attendance, and we'll be better able to focus on organizing the event. Please feel free to message us with questions or concerns. Thanks for all your continued support! Cheers!

Tyler and Bryson

12/10/2016

How to share a dammed river. http://www.hcn.org/articles/how-to-share-a-dammed-river

Boaters are joining wildlife advocates, farmers and power companies to parcel out each cubic foot of Western rivers.

06/05/2016

Black Canyon release this weekend! Saturday and Sunday. LAST RELEASE OF THE SEASON. Get it while the gettin is good.

02/05/2016

Hey all! Official race times from this year are below. Congrats Russell Davies and everyone else who braved the cold to make it happen!

1. Russell Davies 11:40:05
2. Ethan Passant 11:49.17
3. Tristan Oluper 11:49.50
4. Carson King 12:11
5. Porter Park 12:33
6. Jared Jimmerson 13:16
7. Thomas Sutton 13:27
8. Dallin Casperson 13:40
9. Madison Niermeyer 14:37 (First Place Womens!)
10. Charles Minnaugh 14:48

22/04/2016

Hey Gang! We're going to be a little late tomorrow! Registration will be at 10:30 at the put in. Racer meeting at 11, race starts at 12:30. Sorry for any inconvenience!

26/03/2016

Taco truck is back in Grace ya'll. Solid first release of the season today. Get some tomorrow for day number two!

22/03/2016

First release of the season is this Saturday and Sunday!!!

15/02/2016

Ladies and Gentlemen! It seems that our lives have grown so large that neither Bryson or I will be able to be at the event this year. Therefore our options are to select a few fine, dedicated volunteers to take the helm, or cancel the event this year... We will be around to help get things in order prior to, but will not be there at the event which is where a bulk of the effort is required. If you think you have what it takes, and are willing, please email, message, or call one of us ASAP. If we don't have volunteers by mid-March, we'll be forced to cancel. Much Love, T-Bone

10/02/2016

Those of you who know Forrest Maclean know how big his heart is. He's a staple of our little whitewater community in the Intermountain West. He's also a ROWDY paddler. Please support his recovery in whatever way you can so this kid can heal up and get back out there and shred.

https://www.gofundme.com/uym64qdw?rcid=2cd6fb8be791476380b2edc836c7b1c3

19/10/2015

American Whitewater's Charlie Vincent gives us some great insight into how the bear releases came to be, what the current discussion looks like, and the possibility of fall releases. Check it: http://www.blackcanyonwhitewaterfest.org/2015/10/how-black-canyon-releases-work.html

01/06/2015

CONFIRMED: there will be a release in Black Canyon of The Bear this Saturday. This will be the final release and is meant to replace the release we lost before the festival. Please spread the word. Get some!

11/05/2015

Rad video from the first ever BCOB Festival. Andy Thunnel throwing down at the Grace Falls huck off. Skip forward to :45.

Don't forget: Next release is this weekend. May 16 & 17

https://www.facebook.com/andy.thunell/videos/10152726595210047/

05/05/2015

Don't forget, next release is May 16 and 17. Get some!

http://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pacificorp/doc/Energy_Sources/Hydro/Hydro_Licensing/Bear_River/BR_2015_Boater_Flow_Schedule.pdf

05/05/2015

Check it out! We are on Kayak Session Magazine! Thanks Riley for the sick edit!

The Black Canyon of the Bear River is an awesome dam release section, thanks to American Whitewater! It brings boaters together from Idaho, Wyoming, Utah...

01/05/2015

Huge ups to Riley Gardner for this killer recap video of the festival! Some good beatdowns as well as some stellar racing: https://vimeo.com/126634026

The Black Canyon of the Bear River is an awesome dam release section, thanks to American Whitewater! It brings boaters together from Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and the…

28/04/2015

Final shout out goes to Daphnee Tuzlak! Only female racer this year and she styled it.

27/04/2015

If you've paddled the canyon at all this year, please report your days to AWA and Pacificorp through our website. This will help us secure future releases and even possible fall releases. Thanks!

http://www.blackcanyonwhitewaterfest.org/p/river-usage-survey.html

27/04/2015

Making local Idaho news! Thanks everyone for making this event so successful! https://www.facebook.com/Mateo.7/posts/10206226390796487

This weekend kayakers hit the rapids in Grace after PacifiCorp opened the Grace Dam for white-water recreation. An annual festival is held during the three-day water release.

27/04/2015

Huge props to everyone who raced this year and congrats to Nick Troutman for winning with a time of 11:18. All race times are available on our website: http://www.blackcanyonwhitewaterfest.org/2015/04/2015-official-race-times.html

Together we raised over $2,000 for First Descents!

27/04/2015

Race times are up on the website! Congrats to Nick Troutman for taking the win. SOLID turn out yesterday and today. We raised over $2,000 for our friends at First Descents and had one heck of a party in the sage brush. Huge props to American Whitewater, Pacificorp Power, and Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust for making it happen.

And MASSIVE shout out to our sponsors: Rendezvous River Sports/ Jackson Hole Kayak School, Dagger Kayaks, Yakima Racks, Goal Zero, Discrete Clothing, Astral, Stohlquist WaterWare, Sweet Protection, Bomber Gear, Swiftwater Safety Institute, Jack's Plastic Welding. Could not have done it with out ya!

http://www.blackcanyonwhitewaterfest.org/2015/04/2015-official-race-times.html