Adventure Sports Center International

I've been snowboarding for many years. One of the best mountains in the area is Wisp Resort in McHnery, MD. Having frequented Wisp in the winter I began to wonder what goes on there when the snow is all gone. I knew they had a golf course and a couple eateries but surely the mountain had to be used as well. During the summer of 2008 my father and I took a trip up to Wisp to check it out during the warm weather. We found a back road which took us up to the mountain top houses. As we continued we reached the top of the mountain where the lifts would normally drop skiers off. There was a gravel parking lot filled with cars which intrigued us, so we parked to see why. As we got out of the car we heard an commentator announcing someone's name to be "up next." So, we walked toward the voice. When we found the source we couldn't believe what we saw. There was a man made whitewater river where they were holding an international kayaking competition. Excited to learn more, we walked around and asked people what was going on. We learned that there were competitors from around the nation and Europe competing. Singles and teams of two. We asked a lady who was watching what this facility was. That's when we learned about the Adventure Sports Center International (ASCI). She told us it was a man made course for whitewater sports. We walked around watched whole competition until sun down. When the event ended a live band played kegs of beer were rolled out and food was grilled form everyone. I spotted a man wearing a number who had clearly participated in the competition and asked him about the river. I'll never forget, he looked at me, laughed and said, "Dude it's hilarious, it's a river on top of a mountain that goes in a circle, never seen nothing like it before in my life." He went on to explain operators control the flow of the water and can retract rocks electronically to control the conditions. There was a pool for the kayakers to paddle in as they waited their turn and when they were up a conveyor belt pulled their boat to the starting gate. ASCI is located on top of Wisp Mountain resort and is open to the public when competitions are not going on. Open May to October they offer whitewater rafting and kayaking trips. Prices vary but a rafting trip lasts 2 hours which usually guarantees 4-7 trips through the course for 6 people per boat.

Adventure Sports Center International 250 Adventure Sports Way
McHenry, Maryland 21541