As a way to help pay for the music lineup at New Belgium FIBArk 2012 volunteer organizers host the annual FIBArk Cruiser Crit. This year it starts with registration at 3 p.m. May 19th at Riverside Park in Salida, Colorado. The event is essentially a rolling-costume contest on classic cruiser bikes. It features parade laps, kid races and a criterium-style race on a course established in downtown Salida and Riverside Park. The Fritz will host an after party featuring live music by At the Water Tower and a silent auction.

Registration and more information is available at www.fibark.net.

Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Entry fee includes eligibility for contests, door prizes and entry into after party.

Thursday, June 14th
5:30pm – 7:30pm – Smooth Money Gesture
8pm – 10pm Everyone Orchestra Conducted by Matt Butler
Featuring Steve Kimock, Al Schnier of moe., Marco Benevento and more!

Friday, June 15th
5:30pm – 7:30pm – Dubskin
8pm – 10pm – The Motet performs the music of The Talking Heads

Saturday, June 16th
4:45pm – 5:45pm (set 1) and 6:15 – 7:30pm (set 2) – Kinetix
8pm to 10pm – Fishbone

Sunday, June 17th
11:30am – 12:30pm – Red Bandana
1pm – 2pm – The Pete Kartsounes String Band
2:30pm – 5:00pm – Vince Herman and Great American Taxi (2 sets!)

Thanks
FIBArk Board

Parking will be at a premium as Salida Fracking Research Project will be under way at this time. Additional security will be contracted and offset by merchandise sales. “The Peas” will be the focus of all collateral material at the 2012 FIBArk.

Some bearded long time locals expressed surprise and frustration that there would not be more blue grass and “baby boomer blues” represented. A local petition is circulating to bring in a 70′s era sounding blues band on a second stage to provide an outlet for those wanting to whistle, sway drunkedly and clap out of time at the side of the stage.

See FIBArk web site for details.

When asked for comment Mayor Don Stevens said “I got a feelin it’s gonna be a good good night.”

FIBArk has some upcoming pool sessions and ongoing river sessions for you and your kids! We’re hoping to get a calendar up on the website soon to make it easier for you to find updates on activities. Check out the happenings below and remember to spread the word. See you out there!

POOL SESSIONS
These are fun sessions for kids ages 8 to high school seniors, all held at the Salida Hot Springs. Instructors go over basic paddle technique, wet exits, t-rescues and intro to rolling. Suggested donation per child is $5. Let us know if your child needs equipment, and we’ll bring some for you. We have enough equipment for 6 kids, so be sure to call ahead and reserve some if you need it.

Sunday, Feb. 12th 9:45 to 11:45 am
Tuesday, Feb 21, 4:45 to 6:45 pm
Sunday, Mar. 11th, 9:45 to 11:45 pm
Tuesday, Mar. 20th, 4:45 to 6:45 pm isn’t available anymore :(

RIVER SESSIONS
These are on the water coached sessions happening for river-ready kids and adults every Saturday, 1 – 3 pm. The intent of these sessions is to improve your or your child’s skills by using slalom gates, video and coaching to refine your technique. All sessions are held on the slalom gates above the boat ramp in Salida. Slalom boats aren’t needed; plastic boats are welcome. However, if your child wants to try out a slalom boat, FIBArk has a fleet of kid’s slalom boats waiting for them. We usually can also find adult slalom boats for use as well. A roll isn’t necessary, but a solid T-rescue is. No donation is requested for these sessions.

Saturdays ongoing through spring, 1 – 3 pm
With paddler interest we’ll add Tuesdays after school, 4:30 to 5:30 pm

**The Lyons Kids Kayaking club will be heading down here for a weekend training session, Saturday, Feb 17th and Sunday, Feb. 18th. We welcome your river-ready kids to join in the fun! Also be sure to check out their very cool online calendar, which lists all of the upcoming Colorado and national kayaking events for youth.**

COMPETITIVE EVENTS
The Colorado High School Cup series starts in early April! Now’s the time to come out and start getting ready for the competitions. Events include freestyle, slalom and wildwater (downriver). Check out the calender link above for specific dates and locations.

If you’d like more information about any of these upcoming events or if you’d like to RSVP for a session or to reserve equipment, call Alli at 719-221-3937 or Kevin at 406-207-6692. See you on the river!

We’ve also got coached river sessions for advanced paddlers, twice a week down at Salida’s whitewater park.  These coached sessions take place in the slalom gates, where paddlers will learn various techniques to improve their skills.  Wintertime’s the time to advance your abilities on easy water, so when summer rolls around you’ll be ready for the next step in your whitewater adventures!  Feel free to bring your plastic boat down; slalom boats aren’t necessary.  A solid combat roll isn’t necessary either, but the ability to T-rescue is.

If you don’t own a slalom boat or wildwater boat, but would like to try one out, please let us know as we have boats available for use. FIBArk just received a generous donation of 9 slalom boats from the Alexander Dawson School in Boulder!  This is a HUGE donation, and we’re incredibly grateful.  Most of these boats are in excellent condition and available to be used immediately.

FIBArk is initiating a competitive paddling team this year, with coaching provided in freestyle, slalom and wildwater events throughout the year.  The competitive season starts in the spring, and continues through the summer!   The first series of competitive events will be the Colorado High School Cup Series, with national events occurring as well during the same time period.  The schedule is as follows:

CO HS Cup Series #1, Durango, CO
March 30 – April 1, 2012

Slalom Olympic Team Trials, Charlotte, NC
April 13 – 15, 2012

Wildwater Western Jr. Team Trials & CO HS Cup #2, Glenwood Springs, CO
April 20 – 22, 2012

CO HS Cup #3, Salida, CO
May 4 – 6, 2012

CO HS Cup #4, Golden, CO
May 11 – 13, 2012

Slalom Jr. Team Trials, Wausau, WI
May 18 – 20, 2012
Slalom Jr. World Championships, Wausau, WI

Each of the three disciplines (slalom, freestyle and wildwater) will be available for competitors at each of the Colorado events.  For advanced paddlers who are interested in competing at these spring events, FIBArk will provide coaching throughout the winter.  Currently, slalom sessions are taking place twice a week, with freestyle and wildwater sessions to be added as winter progresses. Call or email Alli if you or your child is interested in joining these sessions, 719-221-3937.

November’s beginner/advanced beginner pool session was a big hit, with 14 paddlers in the pool!  December’s session will take place Sunday, December 18th, from 9:45 to 11:45 am.  We ask for a minimum $5 donation; feel free to give more to support the FIBArk paddling team.  Your money will go to renting the pool, upgrading the boat storage area at the boathouse, event entry fees for paddlers, and the purchase of equipment (boats, paddles, helmets and sprayskirts) for the paddling program.

Speaking of equipment, FIBArk currently has the capacity to provide equipment for up to 8 paddlers in pool sessions.  Please call Alli or Kevin to reserve your equipment for the next pool session.

See you on the river,

Alli Gober, 719-221-3937
Kevin Hoffman, 406-207-6692

These will be held under the usual format. We’ll be over there at about 9:45 a.m. to unload boats and get set up. Pool time (with some instruction) starts at 10 a.m. We encourage first timers and any younger kids looking to try the sport to come to any or all dates. A recommended donation of $5 is requested.

FIBArk recently purchased some new equipment including paddles and an additional kids boat. We can provide gear as needed. Please RSVP and let us know what gear you will need in advance. A preference in boat size helps greatly.

FIBArk is proud to announce that Alli Gober joined this season as a FIBArk Board Member. She brings competitive whitewater slalom racing experience with her after having raced as a junior herself.

With her help FIBArk hopes to add additional pool dates, river club days and competitions in the future.
Slalom boaters are currently maintaining gates in the Salida Whitewater park. More advanced boaters seeking experience in slalom boating are encouraged to stop by Slalom -Saturdays as long as the weather holds. Boaters are meeting at 1 p.m. Saturday, (Nov. 12). Matt and Jennifer Fritz recently moved to the area and are heading this effort.

We are trying to work with Salida Recreation to schedule some Friday pool sessions in 2012. Dates will be made available as they are established.

For moe information contact:
Alli Gober 719-221-3937
Kevin Hoffman 406-207-6692 (out of town from Nov. 11-19)

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.

Unlike the the real BP tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, this Hooligan interpretation of a flaming BP oil rig, shown above, extinguished itself in mere minutes. Thrilling spectators at the beginning of the course, the float pretty much disintigrated before it reached the main spectator zone where crowds lined both banks of the Arkansas River in downtown Salida for the perennially popular event. Nearly each heat of this year’s Hooligan race featured a BP disaster-themed float.The 62nd Annual New Belgium FIBArk Whitewater Festival, held June 17 – 20, is this small Colorado mountain town’s biggest annual event and one of the state’s oldest continuously held annual festivals. FIBArk, which stands for First in Boating the Arkansas, is the country’s oldest whitewater festival. It has expanded beyond downriver kayak races to include freestyle kayaks, rafts, stand up paddle boards and land-based events such as running and bike races plus free music in the bandshell in the town’s Riverside Park.

Darren Droge of Lakewood, CO is seen here before he got fully dressed up and launched his craft for FIBArk's perennially popular Hooligan race. A first-timer at to the event, Droge won the crowd's Best in Show award.

In the women’s division, recent arrivals Haley Mills and Amy Jimmerson both made the final cut. Meanwhile, in the men’s division, former National Team member and World Squirt Champ Dustin Urban of Buena Vista and Greg Parker, who is a popular seasonal kayak instructor in Salida, made the men’s final. All four were heavy crowd favorites, earning raucous support during tonight’s final in downtown Salida.

Of the four, veteran competitor and recent Teva Mountain Games champ Dustin Urban fared the best in the best-of-three-ride format for the finals. Though he entered in fifth position, meaning he went first in the final round, Dustin’s first ride was smoking hot, throwing down the gauntlet to the other four finalists. It was a lead only he himself topped, finishing with a top score of 1305. Urban was followed in second place by Jackson Kayak teammate Stephen Wright, the World’s third-ranked freestyle kayaker, who, despite suffering from a severe upper respiratory ailment, scored 1210. Rounding out the podium was Wave Sport’s Bryan Kirk with 1150  points who, earlier in FIBArk action, took one of the worst beat-downs of his career in the Pine Creek Boater Cross Race and is proud to note he didn’t swim. Though he finished both preliminary and semifinal rounds as the top seed, 16-year-old Jason Craig, the reigning Junior Men’s World Champion finished in fourth, followed by Parker in fifth.

Points-wise, the women’s division really amounted to a showdown between reigning Women’s World Champion Emily Jackson and her immediate predecessor, Canadian Ruth Gordon. By a squeeky-slim 10-point margin, Gordon bested her Jackson Kayak teammate to take home top honors, 500 to 490. Meanwhile hometown fav and rising star, at least on the Colorado leg of this season’s Western Tour, Haley Mills of Buena Vista took third with 230 points. Earlier in the season, Mills, a relative unknown on the pro tour, placed third at the prestigious Teva Mountain Games in Vail, behind Jackson and Australian veteran paddler Tanya Faux. At last weekend’s Lyons Outdoor Games, Mills was second only to Jackson.

In earlier FIBArk action, the names were the same but the order was different in the single-bladed paddle divisions. In OC1, it was  Jordan Poffenberger, gold; Brad McMillan, silver; Dan Jackson, bronze. In C1 the order of finish was Dane Jackson gold; Poffenberger, silver and McMillan bronze.

Highlights of the Sunday schedule at FIBArk are as follows: Junior Men’s freestyle kayak semifinal and final rounds begin at 8 a.m; the first division of the Classic 26-mile downriver race begin at 9:45 a..m.; mountain bike races on the Arkansas Hills Trails that start in downtown Salida, begin at 10 a.m.; the Crazy River Dog competition is at high noon; closing ceremonies and awards are slated to begin at 3:30.

Sweeping the top three spots in men’s prelims were Jackson Kayak teammates 16-year-old reigning junior men’s world champ Jason Craig from Reno, NV had the top score of 1840. He was followed by reigning senior men’s world champ, 21-year-old Nick Troutman of Ottawa, Canada who racked up 1665 points, followed closely by Stephen Wright, the men’s bronze world medalist, also from Reno with 1620. In fourth place was Wave Sport’s Bryan Kirk with 1460, followed by local favorite Dustin Urban, 1440. The next five finishers, in order, were tour veteran Clay Wright, 1240; another local favorite Greg Parker, 1010; Craig Kiechner, 985; Judd Kaiser, 890 and four-time world champ Eric “EJ” Jackson. Men’s freestyle action continues tomorrow with a seminfinal showdown at high noon. Finals are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

The top five women advancing to finals tomorrow at 7 p.m. include Canadian national champ and former world champ Ruth Gordon, 965; reigning women’s world champ Emily Jackson, 950; local favorite Haley Mills, 345; Kat Levitt, 240 and Amy Jimmerson, 215.

The junior men’s and women’s field was also whittled down today. Junior women advancing to finals tomorrow are Lauren Burress, 270; Tracy D’Arbeloff, 180; Hannah Kertesz, 95; Taylor Cote, 70 and Alexis Jennings, 25. In the junior men’s division, the ten top scorers advancing to semifinals tomorrow include newly crowned junior men’s World Cup champ Dane Jackson, 690; Quinten Burnett, 485; Jordan Poffenberger, 430; Cullen Brown, 410; Rogan Brown, 320; Luke Fanny 270, JP Griffith, 220; Evan Moore, 170; Eric Bartl, 145 and Matti Hill 105.

Topping the youngest competitors in the cadet class was 9-year-old Sage Donnelly of Reno, NV with 110 points, the best score of all the cadets, and the only one to throw a loop to decisively win the cadet women’s class followed by Chelsea Bonneman in second with 23 points and local Anna Schehrer with 10. In cadet men, Max Carlson finished on top with 71 points, followed by Henry Hyde with 53 and Kai Franken with 27 points.

Other highlights of tomorrow’s FIBArk action include the parade at 10 a.m., wildwater sprint at Noon, and the perennially crowd-pleasing Hooligan Race at 5:30 p.m. For the uninitiated, the Hooligan Race is comprised of home-brewed water craft – anything duct tape, baling wire and ingenuity can concoct. Featured free bands in Riverside Park include Lukas Nelson (Willie’s son) starting at 4:30 p.m.; Bay Area acoustic rockers Hot Buttered Rum take the stage at 7 p.m. General admission to FIBArk is free for spectators. The event also features a kids oasis, carnival rides and games and a middway of food and beer from long-time FIBArk sponsor, Fort Collins, CO-based New Belgium Brewing. FIBArk is the country’s oldest whitewater festival and Salida’s biggest annual party.

Head-to-head Boater X action in the Class-V Pine Creek Rapid section of the Arkansas near Granite was the first river event and resulted in a win by Ben Kvanli of Texas.

Approximately 140 contestants race to the top of Tenderfoot before plummeting back down to the finish line on F Street during Thursday's Tenderfoot Hill CLimb.

The festival grounds came alive in the afternoon as the boat ramp and F Street bridge provided great views for several exciting finishes of the raft sprints, the hill climb as well as the hilarious antics of the raft rodeo.  The new vendor layout in Riverside Park pleased many as they searched for their favorite festival food and enjoyed the evening music lineup.

Today there is even more to do and see. On the river, freestyle junior and cadet preliminaries start at 10:00, pro preliminaries at 4:00 followed by the pro semifinals at 7:00.  Perhaps the biggest waterborne sensation of the year is featured during a stand up paddle boarding clinic which is begins at 4:00 just upstream of the whitewater park.

The stage activity begins at noon with the Boys & Girls Club Recycled Costume Show, followed by karaoke from 1:00 until 3:00. At 5:30 bluegrass music fills the park as Head for the Hills takes the stage. At 8:00 the music takes a big swing to unique dance inducing sounds of Boombox.