Always at the leading edge of new trends in paddling, this year’s 62nd Annual New Belgium Brewing FIBArk Whitewater Festival shined the spotlight on the fast-growing emerging sport of whitewater stand up paddling.
A small, but talented cadre of stand up paddlers came to FIBArk this year to introduce the sport to newbies during a clinic on Friday. Sponsored by Boardworks and C4 Waterman, the clinic attracted the mildly curious to the wildly enthusiastic to a calm stretch of the Arkansas River in downtown Salida.
More proficient stand up paddlers took part in an “Expression Session” Saturday on a new wave feature in Salida’s whitewater park designed expressly with stand up paddlers in mind. Among those wow-ing crowds along the river bank were some of the C4 Waterman sales force including sales rep Ryan Guay, retailer Earl Richmond, co-owner of Colorado Kayak Supply, Seth Hollar, a proficient enthusiast from Carbondale, CO and Boulder, CO athlete Nicole Duke. Though fresh from her second place win in the three-mile downriver SUP sprint held on Gore Creek earlier this month during the prestigious Teva Mountain Games, Duke struggled to surf the wave in Salida, earning resounding applause from the riverside crowd whenever she succeeded in surfing.
Also showing some inland surf style were Salida residents Mike Harvey, who built the whitewater park in Salida and his good friend Zack Hughes, founder/owner/designer of Badfish Riverboards. Designed specifically for river surfing, Badfish Riverboards are all less than 7-feet long but have a girth of about 30 inches and a thick rail shape that offers ample volume to float surfers over 200 pounds.
On Sunday, daring stand up paddlers, Hollar, Duke and Vail SUP enthusiast Matt Paula competed in FIBArk’s Class 26-mile Downriver Race, passing through Class III rapids on the course that travels from Salida to Cotapaxi.
A quartet of stand up paddlers strutted their stuff during the SUP Expression Session during FIBArk. Seen above from the far shore toward the camera are Earl Richmond, Ryan Guay, Seth Hollar and Zack Hughes.
Thank you Lee for all the great coverage on the emerging and exciting new sport of River SUPing.
The finish times for the three stand up paddlers in the 26-mile downriver race were as follows: Matt Paula, 3:07:45, 27th overall; Seth Hollar, DNF; Nicole Duke, 3:30:40, last among all who finished the course.