(2015 ☆ ARCHIVED) Madawaska Kanu Centre - Canada

canoe kayak rafting van wijk family owl madawaska centre canada sportscene nelo nominee industry professional golden 2015

MADAWASKA KANU CENTRE (Canada) - Nominee for the 2015 Industry Professional of the Year award.

Website: http://owl-mkc.ca/mkc, Facebook: www.facebook.com/madawaskakanucentre

Madawaska Kanu Centre (MKC) and OWL rafting are two of the oldest commercial outfitters in the world having set up their kayak school in 1972 with their first rafting trips back in 1981.   The organisation was fundamental in the development of commercial paddlesports and many of the early centres were modelled on MKC and OWL.

MKC is based on the banks of the Madawska river and was started off the back of the dream which Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff, both top level slalom paddlers, had to get more people in to the sport of white water kayaking through the first white water kayak school in the world.

The rafting side of the business based on the banks of the Otawa River has one of the most challenging stretches of whitewater on the planet at their disposal. This combined with immense passion for whitewater makes the company highly-respected.

This emphasis of growth of paddle sports and inspiration given to people to start kayaking is one of the key reasons that MKC/OWL is so worthy of their nomation.

Dirk and Claudia Van Wijk (pictured above with their daughters), also top slalom athletes, took over running the business in 1988 and continue to install passion and love in to the company keeping its prestige as one of the top instructional centres in the world promoting paddlesports to the next generation.

On the rafting side they promote themselves as 'family-friendly' providing experiences for all ages and types of group and age with varied experience depending on the level and ability of the paddlers. Their rafting trips all conclude with a BBQ grill and a presentation of the video from the trip.

Overall MKC and OWL have contributed a considerable amount of time and dedication to the paddlesports industry as a whole and fully deserve the being nominated for the Industry Professional Award.

This is a 2015 archived nominee. Voting has closed.

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