Windy Gordon

Paddling Instructor

Age: 52
Height/Weight: 6'0 / 220lbs
First Year Paddling: 1974
First Year at NOC: 1984
Favorite Boats: Dagger GT 8.1, Pyranha Burn (L)
Favorite Rivers: Nolichucky

Fun Facts: Windy is a teacher to the core and was drawn to NOC's Paddling School in his first season to teach both canoeing and kayaking. He is a rafting trip leader on most of NOC's rivers, he has been a head guide and an outpost manager. When he isn't teaching for NOC, he is teaching in his other life as a psychology professor at Western Carolina University and we are happy that he has maintained his connection with our Paddling School.

Windy led the 1997 Voice of the Rivers expedition. This 1,882-mile environmental outreach expedition traveled from Brevard, NC to the ocean at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Above all other trips and all other activities, this experience remains his favorite paddling accomplishment, as he spent three-and-a-half months learning, paddling and living day-to-day life, all at once.

While NOC has been the center of Windy's paddling life, he was also a racer. He raced for the US in Wildwater C2 and competed in two Olympic Festivals in Slalom C2. He ended his racing career competing in the 1996 Olympic trials in Slalom C2. Windy also coached and led the Warren Wilson College paddlers to several first and second place finishes in intercollegiate whitewater competition. He was an athlete-coach for two Warren Wilson teams that competed in the Project RAFT World Championships.