Digital BW, The Print

Hi all, hope everyone had a great & photogenic Thankgiving!

On my Epson 2200, I'm having a problem printing a 12x18 
image on 13x19 Hahn. Photo Rag 308, which has a slight 
"ski-tip" curl along the edges of the long axis.

The first 17 inches of the print come out perfectly, but
as the printer reaches the last inch, the print head begins 
to catch on the far edge of the paper as it returns to the 
start position for the next pass. Of course, this ruins 
the print, and it can't be good for the print head.

I'm sure the cause is that edge curl, springing up
as the paper nears the end of the feed path--this doesn't
happen on EEM proofs, because the EEM is (a) thin and (b) flat. 
(I'm printing with the paper thickness lever set at the 
"envelope" setting, by the way, to accomodate the thick paper.)

Has anyone else faced a similar problem? Would it help if I
lifted the ejected end of paper for those last couple of 
inches? I could try decurling the paper somehow, I suppose,
though I worry about damaging the coating.

Thanks,
David