Rishikesh is famous for its adventure and water sports in the country. Kayaking is one of the famous adventure sports in Rishikesh. Kayaking has gained much popularity among tourists from all corners of the world. Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayak is different from rafting.
One has to sit and sets his legs in front, using a paddle front to back and back to front. The Ganga River provides a perfect platform to learn Kayaking safely. The Ganga River is one of the largest, adventurous and most powerful rivers in the world.
Rishikesh has a team of leading international kayak competitors as well as professional international kayak guides and instructors. Rishikesh holds some exciting rapids. The first Ganga kayak competition was held in India in 2013. The motto of the competition is to encourage and introduce more Indian paddlers. This competition is also open to international competitors and is quickly becoming a truly international festival.
GKF is Managed & Organized by a group of dedicated professional volunteers who make up THE ADVENTURE SPORTS SOCIETY (TASS) - An NGO Dedicated to promoting Adventure Sports in Uttarakhand
The GKF 2021 will start from 17 Feb 2021 till 19 Feb 2021.
International Kayak Competition in Rishikesh with following category
In 2020, the 8th edition of Ganga Kayaking Festival was successfully organised in Devprayag from 17th to 19th Feb 2020. GKF 2020 was presented by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and organized by The Adventure Sports Society.
More than 60 kayakers from India and other parts of the world like Australia, Russia, and Nepal.
List of Winners in 2020
Bhupendra Singh Rana is the founder of the Ganga Kayak Festival. In 2013 he organized the first "Ganga Kayak Festival". Professional international Kayak guides and instructors in Rishikesh formed their own organization called TASS - The Adventure Sports Society. The purpose of this organization is to create a truly professional level competition.
Rafting Championship - Entry fees: Rs 3000/Team
Category - Open
Down River Marathon - There will be a mass start from Shivpuri to Ramjhula (Kharasoot) and the top 15 teams will qualify for the super finals on the 19th. The super finals will be another mass start from Shivpuri to below Golf Course rapid.
Team - Team should be of 6 people/raft
Want to more about rafting in Rishikesh, click here
1) Pro Category - Men and women (need a minimum of 5 women in order to run this category).
Entry Fees - Rs 2000/- (all 4 events)
2) Intermediate, Juniors and Women category
Entry Fees - Rs 500/-
Note: Mass boater cross is open to all
Sprint: Starts from above the golf course rapid on the river left with a seal launch off the 6-meter high ramp. There will be a compulsory boof on the top center and touch me a banner with hand on the river right. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner with their hand on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. Each athlete completes 2 laps with the fastest lap time counting.
Giant Slalom: Starts from above the golf course rapid on the river left with a seal launch off the 6mtr high ramp. There will be several downstream & upstream gates on both sides of the river. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. Each athlete gets only 1 lap each.
Boater cross: The top 32 athletes from the Sprint and Giant slalom events (combined time) will qualify for the Boater Cross. There will be heats of 4 kayakers. It starts from the seal launch off the 6mtr high ramp. There will be a compulsory boof on the top center and touch me banner on the river right. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. The top 2 from each heat will move onto the next round and so on. The top 4 athletes will qualify for the Super Final round and the battle for the Boater Cross title.
Best Indian paddler of the year award: Top 4 overall Indian athletes will qualify for this category based on a combined ranking from the Sprint, Giant slalom and Boater cross and will battle for the honor. When the start signal fires the athletes will swim from river right above golf course to river left and get in their kayak on the ramp and sprint down to the finish line (same racecourse as a sprint).
Intermediate/Beginners (Open Category): Starts from above the golf course rapid on the river left with a seal launch off the 6mtr high ramp. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. Each athlete completes 2 laps with the fastest lap time counting. The fastest 8 athletes will qualify for the boater cross super final. Boater cross super final will start with the seal launch from the 6mtr high ramp all the way to the finish line below Golf Course rapid. There will be no gates for this category.
Junior (Open category): Starts from above the golf course rapid on the river left with a seal launch off the 6mtr high ramp. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. Each athlete completes 2 laps with the fastest lap time counting. The fastest 4 athletes will qualify for the boater cross super final. Boater cross super final will start with the seal launch from the 6mtr high ramp all the way to the finish line below Golf Course rapid. There will be no gates for this category.
Women (Open category): Starts from above the golf course rapid on the river left with a seal launch off the 6mtr high ramp. Sprint down to "touch me" banner on the river right. To finish the race, the athlete must touch the banner on the rock in the left eddy below golf course. Each athlete completes 2 laps with the fastest lap time counting. The fastest 8 athletes will qualify for the boater cross and top 4 for the super final. Boater cross super final will start with the seal launch from the 6mtr high ramp all the way to the finish line below Golf Course rapid. There will be no gates for this category.
Mass boater cross (for all): Athletes will start together from river right above golf course rapid. It will be a Le-mans style start. Once the start signal fires the athlete will need to run over, enter their kayak, put their spray deck on, and sprint down to the finish point below golf course on the left. There will be some surprises obstacles which will be disclosed on the day of the event.
For more details please contact:
Bheem Singh Chauhan (President) – +919411527295
Vishal Bhandari - +919410553548
Sandeep Rana - + 916398891215
Official website: www.gangakayakfestival.org.in
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