Whitewater rafters will return to Smalls Falls in Township E on Saturday, April 18, for the annual Smalls to the Wall race, hosted by Maine Whitewater Championship. The site is south of Rangeley in Franklin County.

The event is the first of a three-race series which brings skilled paddlers across Maine to tackle a 1/10 mile set of five falls, one after the other ranging from 5 to 20 feet. The run is ranked as a class 5, the most difficult kind in the sport.

In past years, the race brought up to 100 people to the Smalls Falls rest area off Route 4 to cheer on the paddlers. New attendees might be surprised by the speed of the race, as kayakers often complete their run in less than 30 seconds.

“Some of the men are going sub 20 seconds,” said Alexandra Horne, co-organizer of Maine Whitewater Champsionship. “We’re talking, like, you blink and it’s over. It’s tight and it’s fast, and we time down to milliseconds.”

Horne explained that this is not a race meant for beginners. Rafters hoping to enter typically have to prove their skills before joining the contest.

“Usually we kind of vet people before we say that they’re allowed to run the falls,” Horne said. The one thing about whitewater kayaking is that it’s such a niche sport that we all kind of have an idea of who has the skills for the competition and who really shouldn’t be out there.”

The race is dependent on rain and snowmelt to produce the fast-flowing falls that allow for racing conditions.

Previously, there have been between 15 and 20 racers on the main run, while 10 to 15 more will race on the nearby Chandler Mill Falls which is a class 4 route.

“There’s a lot of good energy between competitors,” Horne said. “We’re all stoked on each other. If we get good runs or fast times, we’re all yelling for each other. And then, like, the folks that are watching are always just mouth open, totally awestruck at what we’re doing.”

The race at Smalls Falls is the first of three whitewater rafting challenges bringing rafters from across the state together. The next two are held on the Penobscot River in June in Millinocket, and an August run of the Kennebec River in West Forks.

For more information on the race, visit smallstothewall.org or visit their facebook page.

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