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WHITEWATER Rafters, kayakers and paddleboarders compete on the Rogue Comment By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 11, 2015 at 4:46 PM Updated Jul 11, 2015 at 11:38 PM By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 11, 2015 at 4:46 PM Updated Jul 11, 2015 at 11:38 PM » Social News The middle section of the Rogue River was more crowded than usual Saturday afternoon as hundreds of Southern Oregon residents, many of them with paddles in hand, flocked to Ti'lomihk Falls for the third annual King of the Rogue whitewater races. Steve Kiesling, a Gold Hill resident and former Olympic rower who organized the event, said interest in whitewater sports in the region has grown steadily in recent years. "We have people (here) from Washington, Oregon, California," he said. As with previous years' races, the 2015 event was primarily intended to raise money for the Gold Hill Whitewater Park, a proposed natural whitewater park at Ti'lomihk Falls (also known as Powerhouse Rapids). "We've been building momentum, we've been building awareness," said Pete Newport, president of Sawyer Paddles, who served as the announcer for the race. This week, organizers got good news when they learned the Oregon Legislature had agreed to provide $90,000 toward an engineering study of the project. Newport said competitors ranged from the highly competitive Oregon Rafting Team to firefighters from Jackson County Fire District No. 3. "It looks like we have about 80 competitors this year," Newport told the crowd. Kiesling, who is heading the whitewater park plans, said that like previous years' events, the 2015 King of the Rogue had courses for rafters, kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders. "The only thing that's changed this year is the SUP course," Kiesling said. "We're not sending people over the falls — part of it is safety." While rafters and kayakers navigated a three-lap course that took them over Class III and Class IV rapids, paddleboarders worked their way upstream around a series of obstacles. "Last year we had several rafts flip (and) kayakers swim," Newport said. "It's a powerful rapid." Near the finish line, a timekeeper noted that one competitor had knocked out some teeth in an earlier spill. Kiesling said that while whitewater sports in general have grown in popularity, paddleboarding has taken off to a surprising degree. "SUP is really exploding," he said. "Last year, when we had (paddleboarders) going over the falls, it was as extreme as anybody was doing anywhere." Competitor Alexis Mahoney, a Rogue River resident, was one of a number of adventurous paddleboarders who were still up for the challenge of the falls, sanctioned event or not. "Can we go over the falls after 3 p.m. (when the race ends)?" she asked Kiesling. "There's a bunch of us who want to go over because we've done it before." Newport said he hoped that events like King of the Rogue would draw area residents' attention to the whitewater resources right at their back door. "It's already a really nice area," he said. "So many people drive by on Interstate 5 without knowing this is here." Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 11, 2015 at 4:46 PM Updated Jul 11, 2015 at 11:38 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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