On Monday I returned home from Greenland Week in Washington. It was a week long event hosted by the Kayak Academy and consisted of classes followed by a three day competition, loosely based on the Greenland National Kayaking Championship, an event held in Greenland yearly. Classes were taught by George Gronseth, Maligiaq Padilla, Dubside and myself. Dubside, Maligiaq and I judged the competition on a very cool real-time scoring program that Dubside put together.

The days leading up to the competition consisted of lessons in rolling, harpoons, rope gymnastics and strokes, and day trips to the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Deception Pass. Evenings were spent hanging out with old friends and making new ones. The competition included rope gymnastics, a 6.2 mile race, harpoon throwing for distance and a rolling competition. Prizes were awarded (by some very generous sponsors) for the top three competitors in each discipline. Recognition awards were given to everyone that participated. Results can be found at www.kayakacademy.com. Congratulations to the first place combined winner, Duane Strosaker, a kayaker from California.

Next year’s Greenland Week Symposium and Competition will be held from October 28 to 30.

For more pictures (most of which event volunteers took), please visit the Gallery.