So the word on the street is that the third annual Ledyard River Festival this coming April 15-17 will be dropping the rodeo component of the weekend. The likely competitions will include a triathalon (with a paddling component, probably flatwater), the mascoma slalom, and the wells river rumble downriver creek race. I hope they'll change their minds, but it seems that water levels have disappointed the ledyard organizers both two years ago at the Sharon Dam Wave on the White R and last year at the Sign Wave at Hartlands on the Connecticut R. There was some talk of trying to get a guaranteed release at Quechee Gorge for the Well-Enough Wave, but apparently the dam operators haven't been willing to open the gates.
As we here at Upper Valley Surf, not to be outdone by nature, ABSOLUTELY abhor a vacuum, we are contemplating putting together a laid back rodeo anyway. No desire to compete with the festival, just to complement it with a chill comp during some unscheduled time. We are confident that good water will show.
What say you? Let us know if you're in!
I'm helping plan River Fest and I think this is a great idea! We didn't want to promise a rodeo as a scheduled event and then have problems with flows again this year, but I'm sure a ton of boaters from Ledyard and elsewhere would be excited about a laid back rodeo sometime during the weekend. You can check out http://www.dartmouth.edu/~lcc/riverfest/schedule.php for the schedule of events, and we can all pray together for some great water that weekend.
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