News

Extreme kayakers will return to reshaped river for renowned Green Race

Spectators gather at the Green River Narrows for the Green Race in 2023. [PHOTO BY LUKE WOMBLE]

By Tori Newby, UNC Media Hub, Published: October 25, 2025

Paddlers will soon return to the whitewater river in Henderson County for one of the world’s largest extreme kayaking events.

After the destruction of Hurricane Helene sent the renowned Green Race on a yearlong hiatus, the paddling community is gearing up for the race’s 30th year on Nov. 1, which will look much different with the Green River’s course reshaped by the storm.

When Helene hit in September 2024, it brought historic rainfall, winds and tornadoes to Western North Carolina, damaging thousands of homes and killing more than 100 people in the state. With the destruction, North Carolinians saw drastic changes to their landscape and the region’s rich network of whitewater rivers.

The storm broke the hydroelectric station on Lake Summit in Henderson County, and the dam — which controls the flow of water into the Green River — is still inoperable.

Before Helene, the Green River saw 300 dam releases each year, which kept the flow of the river consistent and reliable for kayakers attempting to master the Class V rapids — the most challenging type of whitewater.

Not only did the dam break during the storm, but Kevin Colburn, the national stewardship director at river conservation nonprofit American Whitewater, said the rapids of the Green River Narrows were “smashed to bits” as massive boulders rolled down the river and piled up in new configurations, changing the flow of the river.

This year, the Green Race will be held on a free-flowing river, and enough water must flow from Lake Summit into the Green River for the race to be held. If the water levels are not right for Nov. 1, the race will be postponed to each following Saturday until the water flows between 100.3 and 100.8 feet.

John Grace, the executive producer of the Green Race, said the ultimate decision to cancel last year’s race came down to safety. While the water levels were high enough, Helene had washed away the access points and roads that would be used to evacuate a kayaker if needed.

“You were in a situation where an already-remote place became extremely remote,” Grace said.

In the past year, the Green River Conservation Project has worked to clean up the rivers and surrounding area damaged by Helene. The group bought materials for temporary power poles and rented equipment to clear land and help people access their homes again.

Grace estimated the conservation team sponsored 400 hours of time on the trails to help regain access, and the group is now working on mitigating invasive species as plant life returns.

“The Green River is actually, in my opinion, looking a lot better than a lot of the rivers around this area,” Grace said. “That’s a total testament to all of the paddling community that has such a connection with it.”

The race usually draws 2,000 spectators and 180 racers, who hike three miles on steep, slick trails to reach the narrows. The kayakers navigate rapids that drop 200 feet over the course of the 0.6-mile route, with the fastest racers finishing in about four minutes.

A study published in early 2024 showed that kayaking and other river activities made up nearly 15 percent of all outdoor recreation in the region. Western North Carolina brings in a higher volume of outdoor tourism than other areas in the state, according to a damage and needs assessment released last December.

Kayak instructor Townsend Dierauf spent the summer of 2024 leading tours with Green River Adventures in Saluda, guiding kayakers down advanced rapids. Helene caused so much damage to the Green River that the company paused its guided tours, and Dierauf said he had to “scramble” to find a new river guide job for the following summer.

After growing comfortable with the rapids on the Green River, Dierauf had planned to kayak in the Green Race for the first time last year, until the event was canceled. While he is unsure if he will be able to race this year due to personal scheduling concerns, he is excited that the race is back on.

“That’s a big step forward that I think a lot of people in the industry are very happy about,” Dierauf said.

Even for spectators, the return of the Green Race this year is exciting. Luke Womble, a whitewater enthusiast and former president of Appalachian State Whitewater Club, has attended each race since 2021. He watched friends compete, saw kayaker Dane Jackson break the 4-minute race record and looked forward to returning each year.

But last year, the paddling community instead gathered for a river clean-up and fundraiser. Womble attended the clean-up and watched video edits of past races with his friends.

“It was much more of almost a memorial feeling, we would go out and we all watch the edits of the area, and just were all there for each other — there for the people that were influenced the most in that region by Helene,” Womble said.

Hopefully, the competitors can get a few practice laps in before race day, as the Green River’s rapids and many others in the path of Helene now look much different.

Dierauf once regularly led tours on the Lower Green — a calmer section of the Green River — but after Helene, it was several months before the river levels were high enough for paddling. When he finally went back at the end of the summer, it was all different.

“The rapids were completely changed,” Dierauf said. “There were no trees along the bank at all. It was just a desert for maybe a quarter mile from each bank for most of the river. I didn’t recognize a single rapid on the run, and I had paddled it every single day, a couple times even, the summer before.”

Kayakers who once knew every turn are learning to maneuver new routes with new risks involved. Sieves, which occur when a rock formation allows water to pass through but not a boat or a human, are crevices that can trap a kayaker.

Dierauf said running the same rapids gets a paddler familiar with the dangerous parts of the river. He said he was much more cautious leading tours this past summer, hesitant to take kayakers down new rapids he was not yet comfortable with.

But, a new course can be exciting, too. Colburn said it has been fun to paddle unfamiliar rapids in familiar rivers.

“If you look down, it’s all different,” Colburn said. “When you look up, you’re in the same place.”

As recreational and competitive paddlers alike learn to navigate a changed landscape, the return of the Green Race is proof that Western North Carolina’s paddling community isn’t going anywhere.

“I don’t know if it’ll be what it used to be, but it’ll be something new,” Colburn said.

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Tory Newby, a journalism student at UNC, wrote this story for the UNC Media Hub.