Adventure Sports Center

After 4 years of dreaming, planning, designing, and constructing,The Adventure Sports Center will open May 25th to welcome boaters to western Maryland , just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.

Feature A will be good for freestyle: it can go fast, steep and the eddies just beside it are calm for waiting to get into the hole.

The project has raised the bar for whitewater course design worldwide. The designers (McLaughlin Whitewater Design Team) were optimistic about the design since the drawings were released well over a year ago. The course performs as expected and whitewater experts are already recognizing its uniqueness for looking great and performing at new heights.

When you travel the ASCI course you will note the variety of hydraulic features and the feeling of being in a natural river. The course flows as deep as 10 feet in some areas, mimicking deep holes created by years of flow in natural rivers. Eddies below major features are large and relatively calm, inviting you to stop and watch the surfers or queue up to play yourself. With "turn of the knob" adjustment, the Wave Shapers create swirly and complex stretches that replicate a large river experience.

Importantly, swimmers can quickly self-rescue throughout the course by finding nearby eddies, and gradual banks, for stepping to the channel’s edge.

The Wave Shaper (patent pending) creates waves unlike any others in self-contained courses. These "first of a kind" dynamic structures provide for adjustment of the flow in real time - allowing the hydraulics to be changed from smooth waves for beginners, to big steep waves for roller coaster rides, to retentive surfs that are easy to enter, surf and exit. Because adjustments are made with water flowing, paddlers can experience immediate feedback as features are adjusted. The course may be changed several times during a day, providing a unique experience on an hour-to-hour basis. The asymmetric profiles of the approaches and recovery pools makes each unique in character, empowering one whitewater channel to do the work of many.

Feature B is super deep for tryng loops and in the channel there are play features that perform double duty as flow dampeners.

Recirculating whitewater courses throughout the world typically waste energy and thousands of dollars in utility expenses as water discharges into the start pools. The ASCI entrance features, by comparison, capitalize on this pump energy. Here, this "potentially wasted" energy is harnessed when two streams of water flow (250+ cubic feet per second) over the Wave Shapers. This combination creates waves that can be adjusted to three feet in height (trough to crest). This level of performance from such a modest volume of water is a first in the specialty of whitewater hydraulic design. If a novice kayak surfer flips or must exit the boat, they’re still floating in the large pool with access to the edge of the launch area.

Tanya Shuman, a member of the McaLaughlin Whitewater Design Team shared her thoughts on the course on her River Angels website:

www.riverangels.com