Alabama Mountain Games

The Alabama Mountain Games (formerly the North Alabama Whitewater Festival or NAWFest) is a multi-sport competition including kayaking, canoeing, wakeboarding, mountain biking, and rock climbing held at Boogie Bottoms on the banks of the Locust Fork in Blount County.

The festival was founded in 2005 by Gavin Rains, David Livingston, Mark Travis, Keith Yell and Jeremy Adkins and initially centered on kayaking competition at King's Bend. What originated as an informal gathering of 300 friends and enthusiasts was quickly embraced by nationally-recognized competitors and grew rapidly in size and esteem, drawing more than 2,000 attendees in 2009.

The event moved from its original site to Boogie Bottoms in 2010, taking advantage of the 275-acre site with infrastructure for larger gatherings. With the expanded venue came new events. The Alabama Cup canoe and kayak racing series brought their season-ending Locust Fork Whitewater Classic into the festival. The organizers of Bouldergrass, a rock climbing and music festival held at Horse Pens 40 agreed to stage a climbing event during the games, and a 7-mile mountain biking course was developed to round out the March 18-21 four-day weekend.

References

• "Bring on the Games" (March 4, 2010) Black & White

External link

• Alabama Mountain Games website