Is this rapid illegal to run?

[RollRight]

I was reading through some of the comments to videos of this rapid online and a few indicated that this rapid could possibly be illegal to run or that the NOC would have you arrested for putting in from their property to run it. Does anyone know if this is true? http://youtu.be/x85fd5JRphc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RollRight]

Also this run was done by our very own Eric Brown!

[okieboater]

I don't remember NOC ever posting anything about Greater Wesser being illegal and I have been there every year since it opened for business. It is run a bunch every year and not much is said about it. Not taking away at all from the guy in the video's skill here, I don't think it is rated by most kayakers as class 5 more like class 4. If a person swam the sharp rocks from the top my bet it would be a class 5 beat down tho.

[Eric Esche]

I first ran Worser Wesser around 1972 when Payson Kennedy told me to go after a tuber that drifted past the restaurant. I did not work for Payson then, but if Payson asked you to do something, you did it if you could. I broadsided the tuber out of the hole in the bottom with my Lettman MK IV and then took his place for a short surf until back endering out. After seeing the rebar stobs and twisted tangles and jagged concrete in it later when it was dry and the lake below was down and then crawling around down there in the summer a few times, I did not make a habit of running it on a regular basis, although we did run it when the water was up on occasion. We were all younger and dumber back then. Payson later apologised for asking me to do it. It was one of those snap decisions and I think he may have thought I was one of his new guides when he yelled.

I've know that some work has been done cutting out rebar over the years by guides of different companies. I donated and helped go through a couple of dozen carbide hack saw blades over 2 years with little effect -we only got 4 or 5 of the ones we could get to and there were over 20 stobs that could hurt someone. I did get two of the long twisted rebar on the lower middle right that were scary and it was not a one person job - it took 4 people on ropes to hold me in place safely. We only did it in the winter when it was not as snakey and there was less water. We also Z-dragged and come-a-longed a few rocks and chunks of concrete and the NC HW department has rearranged some rocks with their bigger equipment a few times, so it is not exactly like it used to be, but it is still not recommended to run far as I have heard. I'd ask at NOC for the latest info and go by what they say. IF you want thrills, catch the upper Nanny when it is running or Overflow creek.

Eric Esche

[kayakmamma]

I took an NOC clinic in August, and our instructor was kayaking pioneer Jimmy Holcombe. Our class went and scouted Big Wesser, and Jimmy told us that he would take us down it as a class, if the rain brought it up a little more. It had been raining a bit, and did rain a little more-but (disappointingly) not enough to bring it up sufficiently. At least that is what he TOLD us. He seemed sincere! As common sense would indicate, Jimmy did caution that a swim or upside down run at the regular release water level could be quite unpleasant-and that when more water was present was when the locals ran it.