Kayaking gets adventurous and possibly dangerous with this weekend’s 23rd annual Millrace Massacre and Iceman Championships at the Saluda Riverwalk. There are three different races taking place, with the Iceman Championships being the toughest. 

Andy Grizzell helped create the festivities 23 years ago out of love for the river and a passion for kayaking, he said, noting that he has a lot of help in pulling the event together.

“[We] do this out of the kindness of our hearts,” Grizzell said.

While there is a fee for the races he said doesn’t collect any of the money. 

“Every dime we profit off goes to the nonprofit [American Whitewater],” he told the Chronicle. 

American Whitewater is a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring America’s whitewater rivers. 

Grizzell pointed out that this race is not suitable for beginners or people who haven’t kayaked much. 

“It takes place in whitewater with potential for serious injury for those not trained,” he said

There is a liability form to fill out, and people are required to have the appropriate wear to keep themselves safe. In fact, the colder the weather or more severe the weather the more people like to come out and challenge themselves, Grizzell said.

As for the three different races, he said the first one is the straight shooter geared towards intermediate kayakers. These are the people who have been kayaking for a little while but lack any advanced skills for the advanced races. The creators didn’t want people to sit out just because they weren’t ready for the Millrace or the Iceman races. 

The straight shooter will take about a minute from top to bottom, Grizzell said.

The Millrace Massacre is more traditional, Grizzell comparing it to the Olympics. There are different points to get to on the set course. A winning time is around two minutes, while for others it can take up to five minutes.

The final race,  the Iceman Championships, is the most difficult and is long-distance.

“We start above the Millrace [starting point] and go through the rapids down around the bridge by the Zoo’s Botanical Gardens,” Grizzell said. “Then people go to the beach and run through the woods and at the bottom of the Millrace they hop out and swim with their boat gear to shore. It’s a sought-after title, and a lot of people like to compete for the challenge.”

People can register the day off at the event but must have their own equipment and safety gear. The final race will end about 4 or 5 p.m. depending on if they start at noon or 12:30 p.m. 

There will also be an awards ceremony with an assortment of prizes including a trophy from a local company who burns the image of the logo into a pine. Grizzell said it can be burned for fire or kept as a memento. 

“We have a strong following and a good crew in Columbia but also have folks come from out of state [including] North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee,” he said. “It’s a staple event every year with around 60 or 75 competitors. The worse the weather, the more people come out.”