The new Callaghan Creek Festival and Extreme Race celebrates BC's world-class whitewater and raises awareness of threats from run-of-the-river hydro development. Help save BC's creeks and enjoy a wicked party July 24th in Whistler.

Festival organizer Leland Davis is asking for help from sponsors, vendors and top paddlers to make this a kick-ass event.

"Our hope is that by starting a premier event on Callaghan we can save that creek, and also raise a lot of awareness within the local communities (including Whistler) of the value of other streams for tourism and recreation," says Davis. "The rapid rate of ongoing destruction of BC's rivers means this emergency can't wait another year."

Davis has a wealth of knowledge organizing first class whitewater races and other unweildy projects. He founded North Carolina's Green Race and organized that event for seven years, and is the co-author (with partner Andria Davis) of The River Gypsies' Guide to North America, a 400-page tome of whitewater rivers across the continent (look for a full book review in Rapid's summer/fall issue in August)

Proceeds from the festival will go to American Whitewater and the BC Creek Protection Society. Davis says he chose Callaghan Creek as the focus for this event due to its accessibility, high quality, proximity to Whistler, and the fact that it is approachable to a fairly large number of whitewater paddlers.

Visit www.CallaghanFest.org to learn more.


Images courtesy: Leland & Andria Davis