Participants of Saturday's Great Big Paddle 2025 begin their journey to Strathcona Island at Echo Dale Park launch. More than 100 paddlers and floaters shook off the cooler weather to make the annual trip down the South Saskatchewan River.--NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Overcast skies made for a welcome reprieve for Medicine Hat and region paddlers, as many took to the South Saskatchewan River for the Great Big Paddle on Saturday.
The event has been going on for several years, said Medicine Hat Puddling Club president Robert Benn, and was originally started by Medicine Hat Tourism.
“It’s been increasing in participation as more people start using kayaks and paddle boards,” said Benn, noting that last year, they had more than 300 people out on the river for the event.
This year there were 105 participants, which still marks a large number of people joining the pack for the float from the Echo Dale Park boat launch all the way to Strathcona Park.
After a week of high temperatures, many participants said after the event that they were relieved for the cooler weather and light rain, which in some places along the route meant the water was warmer than the air.
“They were on the water anyway, they were going to get wet,” said Benn. “Just wear the proper equipment and keep on paddling.”
Benn expressed gratitude for the Southeast Alberta Search and Rescue Association, as well as Medicine Hat Fire, which were present to watch participants for any signs of distress during the float. The float itself was thankfully uneventful in that regard, save a few people on an inflatable craft who were ultimately unable to proceed down the river due to wind.
After leaving the water, many participants proceeded to the Silver Buckle to celebrate successfully making the trip this year.
“We’re definitely happy. People we talked to afterwards said the community aspect was one of the things that motivated them; the fact that they’ve been down the river before, but they’ve never done it with a bunch of people,” said Benn.
The Medicine Hat Paddling Club works hard to promote paddling throughout the area, through a series of events as well as hosting paddling stories and resources such as trip maps on their website, paddlemedhat.ca.
“We wanted to be able to give pointers to people, such as where to put in and where to get out in certain areas, that kind of thing,” said Benn. “We’re currently looking into getting some certified instructors, so we can teach people how to paddle safely.”
