National Canoe Championships on the Blackfoot

During the summer any excuse to get out on the river is a good one whether it is for fishing or perhaps a national competition.  Some 25 miles past Bonner on the Blackfoot River was the site for the Open Canoe Slalom National Championship.

The sport of canoeing is alive and well as the event got underway Friday and will run through Sunday.Over 70 competitors from all over the globe were riding the rapids along with a "citizen's class" that got to experience the river Saturday.  Some go in tandems, others will ride solo; either way you're guaranteed to get wet as the high water level along with the difficulty of the course is presenting quite the challenge this weekend.

"The general consensus with most people is this is pretty big for them," said race coordinator Brandon Salayi.

"It's definitely challenging the competitors and pushing them to different levels and getting them to try things. Its been really fun, there's been a lot of action there's been a lot of really good paddling, a little bit of chaos here and there, but its really fun to watch," Salayi concluded.

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