By BRYAN "CHIEF" ERGLE
September 13, 2006

There’s a new thing in town for Abbey students to do in their free time -- go whitewater rafting. With the opening of the U.S. National Whitewater Center just across the Catawba, students from the Abbey have a convenient place to go to have some fun on the water.

The USNWC offers whitewater rafting and kayaking, as well as flatwater rowing. For those more inclined to land adventures, they have mountain biking and running courses, not to mention the largest outdoor climbing facilities in the U.S.

As far as whitewater rafting and kayaking goes, the Center runs the only man-made multi-course whitewater recirculating river. The river recycles its own water at a rate of about 80,000 gallons per minute, has four whitewater courses each covering approximately five miles, and contains a total of a little over 12 million gallons of Charlotte water in a contained system. A single course run will take about two hours, and for those more familiar with whitewater rafting, the runs are class III and IV.

Rafters and kayakers may opt to run a course with or without a guide; at the end, all you have to do is paddle on to the conveyor which will return you to the top of the river runs, so that you can try another course. All equipment is provided by the park and included the price of running the course.

For those adventurous students, this provides and opportunity to step into the world of more extreme activities. Prices are reasonable, and what better place to go rafting than a facility where the river island is, aptly enough, named “Abbey Island,” apropos of our own institution.

To get to the USNWC, Abbey students should take I-85 north to the Sam Wilson Road exit, and turn left onto Sam Wilson Road. Follow Sam Wilson to the T junction at Moore’s Chapel Road, and take a left. Shortly there is a newly paved residential road on the right named Hawfield; turn onto that and it will lead you directly to the park.