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December, 2006
Anson & Madison
On The Verge of Greatness
By Larry Seidl
T he phone rings. It’s about three hours before I usually wake up. I grab my flashing, buzzing and obnoxiously ringing outdated flip phone.
"Dude it’s in!" it’s Geib. I haven’t talked to him since 1 a.m. when he called with the last USGS river level update.
"I’m up, what’s it at?" I answer.
"It’s Money! The Kennebec at Bingham is at 14,000 and the Carrabassett’s at three and a half."
Geib tells me the river name and flow measured in cubic feet per second sounding like some kind of foreign language. We add the combined flows of the rivers in North Anson to calculate the flow downstream in Madison.
"I’m on my way" Geib says.
"Call me when you get closer," I tell him as I roll over to catch a few more zzz’s and wait for the sun to show.
I head over to Mountainside Grocers for the day’s supplies, a Carrabassett Coffee, Red Bull, Gatorade and a few snacks. As I roll by CVA, the boys are strapping boats to their roof. The word is out, faster than a snow cancellation at school.
Far away from the hustle of city life, nestled in the Maine foothills alongside the Kennebec River are the towns of Anson and Madison, Maine. Passing through the towns you may not notice anything too distinctive or out of the ordinary. Old brick buildings line the streets containing shops and stores. However typical this setting seems there is something special here, something you can’t get anywhere else: the Madison wave.
Out of site, a little ways downstream below the mill is one of Maine’s thriving stretches of whitewater. At the bottom of this half mile stretch of rapids when the water level is right is a huge standing wave. The wave is formed when the rushing water flows over a wide piece of ledge on the river bottom. When the water drops over the ledge it accelerates and rushes back up into the air as it collides with the large pool of calmer water below. This sort of function is commonplace anywhere you have flowing water, from big rivers to little streams, it just rarely happens under the perfect circumstances found at this particular spot. What makes this wave so good? A number of things: size, shape, water speed and accessibility are all major components that can make or break the quality of a feature. How good is it? Ask any one of the professional kayakers that train there and they’ll compare it to the likes of other world class features such as the Lachine Rapids in Montreal and the New River Dries wave in West Virginia, both of which are internationally recognized. How does a surf wave get this elite status, that’s simple, by the magnitude a freestyle moves that can be performed on it.
Not long ago kayaks were long and shaped kind of like a log but pointed on the ends and made of fiberglass. Now these boats were all fine and dandy but as human nature dictates improvements had to be made. In the early 70’s plastic kayaks arrived and remained pretty much the same size and shape until the mid 90’s, when all hell broke loose. New companies and new models were being introduced left and right, each one drastically improved upon the last, mostly due to chopping a few inches off the ends. As things progressed the hydrodynamics were studied from all angles from speedboats to surfboards. In the last few years things have slowed down a bit and there is a general knowledge of how things work and boats generally are the same difference based upon model. The thing that hasn’t slowed down is the ability of the average newcomer. While it used to take years to master the most basic moves, today a paddler in their second season are performing tricks not possible a few years back. Today moves like aerial front and back flips are the norm.
If you’ve ever driven around the United States you’ve probably realized some states have whitewater and some don’t. Speaking from experience I can tell you Maine has a lot of it. In fact Maine has already produced several U.S. freestyle team members and National Champions! Due to our rainy spring and fall seasons, along with winter snow pack and mountainous terrain we have a variety of paddling opportunities, from playboating runs to steep, technical, waterfall laden creeks, there’s something for everyone.
One thing we don’t have a lot of yet is whitewater river parks! While the sport has grown, so has the demand for surfable features. Whitewater parks are the buzz and are popping up in towns across America and around the world. Towns and cities are realizing the positive impacts these parks are having in the community, from economic impact to industrialized river restorations. With some cities reaping the benefits of annual revenues in the millions of dollars this is no laughing matter. In fact, Maine is no stranger to the battle of whitewater supremacy, our very own town of Skowhegan is in the planning phase of constructing Maine’s first whitewater park.
For a good whitewater park you need a few key ingredients, gradient, flow, features and access. Gradient is how much the river drops in elevation, this is measured in feet per mile. Flow is the amount of water passing a given point measured in cubic feet per second. Features exist in many different forms, surf waves, hydraulics, and eddylines are a basic few. Access, how easy is it to get to the stretch of river and to the individual feature. With the addition of public boat launches recently installed, getting to the Madison Wave has never been easier, however the wave only forms when the flow level is between 15,000 to 20,000 cfs. Time is of the essence when it comes to catching this level: it’s a real "drop everything and go" situation. When a rain storm hits, if we’re lucky we can have a window of two or three days where the water level is right, but more often than not the reservoirs start to fill up and they’ll blast twenty-five or thirty thousand through all day long until the impoundment level returns to a given height, then with the hit of a button nature is turned off and flow returns to an unnatural systematic up and down level controlled by the man behind a curtain. For the time being there are about forty regulars who can make it to the wave coming from as far away as Bangor and Manchester New Hampshire. This of course takes some support from locals with an eye on the tributaries to estimate the probability of success.
The next time the river rises keep an eye out for the paddlers with bright colored kayaks strapped to their roofs invading the local gas-mart and pizza place or come on down to the wave and have a first person point of view on this amazing new sport.
For more info log onto www.runofriver.com or http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/current/?type=flow
Larry Seidl is a 30 year old East Baldwin native now living in the Sugarloaf area. He has mono-ski and whitewater skills and can build a 4-wheel drive truck using only the junk in your basement. Email him at larryseidl@adelphia.net.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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