Get ready for the biggest day on the Gallatin River all year with the Gallatin Whitewater Festival on June 27.

The festival has long been a part of the whitewater community in Bozeman with a variety of organizers taking on the challenge of hosting the event since the original Gallatin Get-together in June 1978.

After several years with no local whitewater festival, Wave Train Kayak Team in partnership with the Gallatin National Forest brought the festival back in 2013. Enthusiasm for the event is growing quickly. We saw competitor attendance nearly double from 2013 to 2014. In last year’s event we had 103 competitors.

 

Event schedule for 2015:

 

  1. 9-10 a.m. - Registration
  2. 10 a.m. - Mandatory competitor meeting for all events except Community Raft Slalom
  3. 10:30 a.m. - Gallatin River Downriver Race: a timed two-mile down river race that takes competitors through the Mad Mile.
  4. 12:30 p.m. - House Rock Boatercross: a mass start sprint race from the Gallatin River Trailhead through House Rock Rapids.
  5. 1 p.m. - Community Raft Slalom check-in. Pre-registration required
  6. 2 p.m. Community Raft Slalom, an event in which local river guides will lend a hand and a raft to pre-registered teams of five to six put together by local businesses and groups of friends. The teams and their guides will power their race boat through a series of gates on their way down river competing for glory, trophies and prizes donated by local and national vendors. We are really excited about this event because it provides an avenue for river enthusiasts with little to no whitewater paddling experience to join the festival in more than a spectator capacity.
  7. 3:30 p.m. 35 MPH Slalom: a race that requires competitors to navigate gates on their way downstream from the Gallatin River Trailhead access above the 35 MPH Bridge.
    1. 5:30 p.m. Awards at the Gallatin River Trailhead

     The events for this year’s festival will provide some great whitewater action with some of the area’s top whitewater boaters vying for bragging rights and a boat load of great prizes!

    Registration and events will be based at the Gallatin River Trailhead (large pullout across the river from the Lava Lake Trail, just upstream of the 35 MPH Bridge).

    Please contact Dave with Wave Train Kayak Team or check out the website gallatinwhitewaterfestival.com for more information about the events.

(photo courtesy Wave Train Kayak Team)
(photo courtesy Wave Train Kayak Team)
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