Sabrina Barm | Sportscene - Waking up....a quick glance out of the window....no....hold on....that was indeed snow! 4 inches of snow! If there's anything I don't like it's being cold, apart from the obnoxious feeling in my stomach, caused by the thought of facing the Notch and Gorilla today, the class V key rapid of the course.

The Green River Narrows Race is a whitewater extreme race in Saluda, NC, USA, close to Asheville. Being held for the 19th time in 2014, always on November 1st, it attracts a growing number of racers every year and is considered one of the hardest races. The Green Narrows are a technical steep class V run. Despite the river not being very pushy, it is very demanding and the margin of error is not too big.

Usually, I do downriver racing and creekboat only recreationally. This would be my first extreme race, after 3 months of specific creek boat training.

Despite the cold weather, a merry, excited crowd of racers was gathering at the put-in. There is something very special about the extreme whitewater community. Everyone was excited, but everyone had some good words for me. And yes, if even top contenders take their time to talk and admit they still get excited and still have a lot of respect before a rapid like Gorilla, that makes you feel better.

The whole course demands a  high level of concentration. Thank god there was no snow in the gorge. I had not planned to go fast, but to keep it safe and take my time. It takes a top level paddler to go not only down, but also go fast and smooth on a river like that. I completed the first half of the course without any problems, getting to the first real hard rapid named Zwick's. It consists of a top hole (that had flipped me a hundred times in training) and then you either paddle over a shelf on the right or boof past a horseshoe hole on the left. I flipped in the top hole, rolled back up but was off line already. I went directly to the middle of the horseshoe, preparing myself for disaster. I went under. But instead of flipping, the bow of my boat skyrocketed out of the hole, keeping me right side up. I think my guardian angel did one or two paddle strokes there for me. Past the next dangerous rapid Chiefs, I felt good about the major rapid. The crux of this rapid is to pass the entry, the "Notch". If you flip there and go over the main drop Gorilla upside down, you can hurt yourself pretty badly. There is also competitors who walk this in the race. You definitely should not run it if you don't feel fired up for it. I took a slow but safe line into the last eddy before to calm down, the crowd started going wild. In my head, everything fell silent. I set up my line and accelerated my boat as hard as I could. I passed the notch and was past the main drop before I even noticed. I flipped at the bottom and nearly lost my paddle, but the safety crew had me out immediately, so I could get back in the boat and finish the course. The slides after Gorilla are challenging but manageable. Passing those slides, I courd hear the spectators scream , cheer and go crazy. It was magic. The last slide kicked me into the air and made me land upside down, but a quick roll and a few paddle strokes later, I was there. The finish line!

165 racers in total, of which 7 open canoes and 7 women were in the race. I finished the race in 16 min, 35 seconds. While being far away  from a winning time (7 min, 32 seconds in the open canoe class) I am really happy with that result, especially for the first time racing. The Green race is extremely challenging and I had come a long way working myself up to a level where I could race. Now working on getting smoother on difficult whitewater and also training myself to stay calm even in the meat of a rapid, I am very positive about getting a much faster time next year. The stoke is high


Check out pictures and videos on the Green Race Facebook page www.facebook.com/thegreenrivernarrowsrace and stay tuned on my adventures around the world on www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Barm-Whitewater-Athlete/376907182378550

Photographers: Peter Holcombe, Regina Nicolardi, Scott Martin

Results

Men’s Long K-1

1. Isaac Levinson

2. Dane Jackson

3. Pat Keller

Men’s Short K-1

1. Nick Troutman

2. Dave Fusilli
3. 
Scott Harcke

Women’s K-1

1. Adriene Levknecht
2. 
Katie Dean
3. 
Mary Katherine Fields

C-1

1. Benn Fraker

2. Tad Dennis
3. 
Jordan Poffenberger

Hand-paddlers

1. Bill Clipper

2. Jake Trotter

3. Keith Sprinkle

Men’s Open C-1

1. Nathan Zumwalt

2. Robert Wiggins
3. 
Chris Loomis

  7. Sabrina Barm

Check out more infos and complete  race results on www.canoekayak.com/photos/2014-green-race/#dd47fbc5bc and http://greenrace.amongstit.com/2014/11/02/2014-green-race-results