Registration and Waivers

• Registration fees must be paid and waivers must be signed before you can complete, you will be unable to Enter Laps. 
• Registration - Log-in with your team username and check the "Registration Fee" box. 
• Waiver - fill out online waiver.

Donating online in the name of a paddler for First Descents

• Tax deductible donations in the name of a paddler happens in 4 steps
• STEP 1, select the paddlers name from the drop down menu here
• STEP 2, enter your complete mailing address and email address (this is used to send you a tax deductible letter from First Descents)
• STEP 3, select the amount you want to donate, click Submit Donation
• STEP 4, enter your credit/debit card information, verify the amount and submit
• All donaters will receive a tax deductible letter within 30-45 days of submitting the donation on line

Send ALL checks to First Descents

• Make check out to 'First Descents' including the paddlers name and email address in the memo field 
• Please make all donation checks payable to "First Descents" and mail to First Descents 100 Arapahoe Ave., Suite 8, Boulder, CO  80302. 

When will the winners for the donations prizes be determined?

• Checks need to be received no later than Friday June 19th.
• People can continue to donate online til Friday June 19th, here http://www.eddyflower.com/MakeDonation.aspx.
• Winners will be determined over the weekend of June 20th-21st and announced early the following week

How many divisions are there for the competition? What are they?

• Open - eligible to paddle class I-V runs
• Class V - eligible to paddle class V-, V, V+ runs
• Class IV - eligible to paddle class I-IV runs
• Class III - eligible to paddle class I-III runs
• Womens - eligle to paddle class I-V runs
• Weekend Warriors - eligible to paddle class I-V runs. The ten best days as a team will be totaled to determine which Weekend Warrior team has the most vertical feet.

What is the difference between the Open Division and the Class V Division?

• All runs are eligible in the Open Division (for example all Class I-V runs). The Class V Only Division only includes V-, V, V+ runs. The Class V Only division caters to teams that are into multi-day expedition style paddling. If you're not sure then you probably want the Open Division.

How many days can each division paddle?

• Womens, Open, Class V Only, Class IV, and Class III compete for 32 days.
• Weekend Warrior compete for the 10 best days as a team, so they should coordinate days to maximize their team score.

When are the event dates?

• Sunrise of May 15th to Sunset June 15th.

I am in the Weekend Warrior division, why are some days colored red and others are colored black?

• In this division, the team total is calculated based on the top 10 best days as a team. These are the ones colored in black.  The days colored red do not count toward your team total, but will still display in the individual totals.

Can I enter runs in EddyFlower during the competition?

• Definitely. Use the following link: http://www.eddyflower.com/Protected/EditRun.aspx

Does my team have to be in the same state?

• No. Team members can register from any state and paddle any river that is listed on EddyFlower.

How soon after I run a section of river do I need to enter my runs?

• As soon as possible. Teams are pumped to check the standings and rally based on standings so please try to enter laps as real-time as possible. Must enter runs within 48 hours.

• Yes, however all run descriptions must be on Eddyflower. Each run must have a put-in elevation and take-out elevation to be eligible.

Are two team members required to earn vertical feet on a run?

• No

How many times can a team run one run?

• The cap on a run is 5 runs per team member. So each member of the team can run one run a max of 5 times. Ex. 5 team members can run Gore Canyon 5 times each for a total 25 total runs per team.

Okay, so what about class? Everyone describes Gore as being class IV with just Gore and Tunnel being the V's. So can Gore count for a run in the II-IV category? There are a lot of borderline runs like this that are hard to classify.

• Great question! Eddyflower only lists the overall difficulty for each run so that makes it easy for the Vertical Challenge ie it is what it is. So in answer to you question, if your registered in the Class IV Division Gore would not be eligible given its difficulty is currently listed at V-. However, that difficulty is questionable and I think we should come up with a list of questionable runs and get consensus on whether the difficulties are accurate or should be changed.

Can teams do simultaneous runs on different rivers? For example, in the same day, can 2 people run Left Hand Creek while the other 3 are running the Animas?

• Yes

Do you have to always paddle with a member of your team and is the option available to split up and paddle with other friends?

• You do not have to paddle with a member of your team.

Do we earn the vertical feet per person? So if everyone on the team runs Gore 5 times then they earn 358 vertical feet/run or 1790/person (5) and 8950/team (25)?

• Yes, you earn vertical feet per person which is rolled up into a team total. The Vertical Challenge is a team event. The team with most vertical feet wins. However, the individual who raises the most donations will win a Dagger boat.

Can anyone attend the awards party or do you have to be registered in the event?

• The awards party is open to all.  Awards party is TBD.

How can I get help finding some team-mates?

• Create a new post on the EddyFlower General Forum saying you are looking for team mates in a specific division (Open, Class V, Class IV, Class III, Weekend Warrior) and we can help you out.

Are donations to First Descents tax deductible?

• Absolutely. 100% deductible.

How do I raise funds for First Descents?

• You can ask friends, family, co-workers and business to sponsor you per foot, per foot capped at a maximum, or a flat amount.

What is the most successful way to raise donations?

• Through a personal letter. See example at the following link: Ambassador Fundraising Package.doc

Who should the donation checks be made out to?

• First Descents

What if I don't see my question in here?

• Easy enough. E-mail Lisa at: lisa@firstdescents.org or Nick at islandertek@gmail.com

How do we enter runs if we our team is out on a trip with no internet access and we are outside the 48 hour guideline?

• The best way would be to give a call to someone back at home (friend, wife, husband, girlfriend, etc) who has access to your team log-in information. Quickly show someone before you go on a trip how easy it is to enter runs. Call them to request inputting the run data.