newsminer.com

DENALI NATIONAL PARK—The Schauer dynasty remains intact.

But it almost didn’t happen.

Twenty-four boaters exploded from the starting line of the annual downriver race at the 33rd annual Denali Wildwater Festival on Saturday. The race on the Nenana River starts at Jonesville Bridge and goes through four miles of churning river rapids to the finish line at Twin Rock rapid.

Two kayakers ran neck-in-neck in the lead the entire way: Karl Schauer, a Fairbanks native now living in Anchorage; and Jeff Shelton of Denali. It wasn’t until just before the finish line that Shelton moved a little too far to the right, hit slower current, and Schauer burst into the lead and held it to claim the victory.

Schauer’s older brother Paul has won this race the past three years. This year, Paul Schauer came in fourth.

It soon became apparent that there had been some brotherly strategy involved.

Karl Schauer paddled the Easy Rider whitewater kayak his brother used in the previous three races.

The boat actually belongs to their mother, from the early days of kayaking when boats were much longer, which means faster in wildwater racing.

“From now on, it’s gonna be rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to use it,’ said Karl Schauer, after recovering from the four-mile sprint.

Their father, John Schauer, came in sixth place at 21:57.

The winning time was 20:30. Shelton slid in just two seconds later. Tim Johnson of Anchorage came in third at 21:07, with Paul Schauer at 21:12 and, in a surprising finish, Jesse Arbuckle, of Healy, came in fifth at 21:51.

Arbuckle, a Healy high schooler and a member of the Denali Water Safety Team, just returned from a week of kayak coaching from former Olympic paddlers.

That newfound skill paid off at the wildwater rodeo as well when Arbuckle tied for sixth place out of a very capable field of experienced kayakers.

There was stiff competition in the rodeo, which Jared Leon of Anchorage won handily.

Wildwater rodeo involves kayakers performing complicated maneuvers on waves — including cartwheels and surfing, full leaps into the air, and rolling back up when they tip over.

The competition started at the Jonesville Bridge, but the final round took place at a powerful hydraulic called Rockslide Wave in Rooster Tail rapid.

The rodeo ended in a three-way tie for second place between Shelton, Brandon Gonski of Anchorage and Dan McKay of Anchorage. Karl Schauer came in third, Nathan Bataille, of Anchorage, fourth; and Paul Schauer, fifth.