The Big Timber Race: A New Approach to Paddling

By David Nolt, 6-13-07

	Caption: A kayaker takes the full plunge in the "Gambler" at the 2007 Big Timber Race on Big Timber Creek, Crazy Mountains, Montana. To see a slideshow of images from the race, click here. photo by David Nolt

As Big Timber Creek crashes down the eastern flank of the Crazy Mountains, water spurts through narrow slots and sprays across shallow, steep rock chutes before gushing over lofty waterfalls into roiling, foamy pools.

The quintessential mountain creek provides challenging and unique kayaking, and a recent race there drew in 40 boaters from locales as far away as Colorado and Canada. With an average elevation drop of 720 feet per mile, the Big Timber Race — according to organizers — is the steepest kayaking race in the world.

The Headwaters Paddling Association (HPA) organized the inaugural race and took a new grassroots approach to the event. Much of the perimeter of the Crazy Mountains is characterized by a checkerboard ownership of private and National Forest land.

Concerned about kayakers’ reputations and access to the creek, the HPA opened a dialogue with the landowners and modeled the Big Timber Race as both a celebration of the creek and an awareness raiser to build a respectful relationship between the landowners and the kayaking community.

The road into Big Timber Canyon and much of the trail to the creek is on property belonging to the Lazy K Bar Ranch. The landowners have expressed frustration with some kayakers driving too fast on the road, harassing cattle, littering and leaving gates open.

The event turned out to be a success and proof two seemingly disparate groups—kayakers and ranchers—can coexist in one of Montana’s most spectacular mountain ranges.

The HPA is four-members strong: Jonas Grenz, Jason Matthews, Dave Schroeder and Chad Wibe. At the check-in for the race the organizers passed out literature summarizing the landowner’s concerns and ways to better respect the private property. Jason Matthews believes the campaign found open ears.

“It went so smooth and was just a blast,” Matthews says of the 2007 Big Timber Race. “The Lazy K Bar Ranch was nice enough to allow us access, but they really wanted us to drive slow and respect their property. I really think it will be good for getting the word out. A lot of people didn’t know it was private property.”

The only advertising the HPA did for the race consisted of posting an announcement three times on www.boatertalk.com. Local sponsors Steep River Construction, Dutch Clean, River Source, Yellowstone Pizza Company and Timmer Roofing provided cash and other prizes for the event.

The race itself included two classes, one of which ran from the top of the “Pinch”—a 70-yard long, steep slide—to the first bridge across the creek. The second class ran from the bottom of the pinch down. Racers paddled twice and the best of combined times decided the victors.

After the race boaters enjoyed a barbecue with beer provided by Big Sky Brewing, and after dinner Grenz, Matthews, Schroeder and Wibe announced the winners. To the chagrin of the Americans, several members of a crew from Canmore, British Columbia received most of the top places. Most surprisingly, 16-year old Canmore resident Bryce Shaw won the overall race and took home a brand new paddle and 250 “American dollars.”

The overall atmosphere at the Half Moon Campground was highly positive, and as the sun sunk down below the Crazies, kayakers sat around fires and shared stories of the day and other days spent paddling.

“It’s a core event,” Jason Matthews explains. “No big-time sponsored dudes were here. It was real low-key. It’s just about paddling and camping.”