The event features three competitions: Simple Slalom, Freestyle and King and Queen of the Wave. All three contests will be held at the Buena Vista Whitewater Park boat ramp where ample spectator seating will invite cheers and jeers.

The day’s festivities begin at 10 a.m. with a simple slalom course; best time wins.

The freestyle competition begins at Noon with a Preliminary Round that will be judged in the standard fashion with points awarded for displays of skills from low-scoring front surfing and side surfing, to higher scoring spins, on up to loops. In the lighthearted spirit of the competition, points can also be accrued for “face surfing” more than five seconds and rolling up; swimmers of legal drinking age won’t score anything but will be required to drink a booty beer. The top six qualifiers from prelims will move on to the finals where the winner will be decided by a game of boater-style HORSE. This game will be called BOOF. Basically if you get all four letters you are boof’ed out of the competition.

The day’s final event begins at 2 p.m. with a King and Queen of the Wave, a test of skill, cunning and determination. The format calls for heats of three competitors to charge the feature at once. The individual who stays on the feature the longest will advance to the next round. The last male and last female competitor left surfing upright will be coronated the victors.

Registration will begin at 9 a.m. the day of the event. Each event will have a $10 fee or register for all three for just $20. The day will be on a rolling schedule, so come early to be sure to catch all the action.

For further information, call CKS at 719.395.8653.

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.

Junior men. In first, second and third respectively, the entire contingent of  US National Freestyle Kayak Team members Dane Jackson, Jason Craig and Michael Palmer.

Apologies to the really fine competitors in junior women for missing results.

Senior women. Reigning Women’s World Freestyle Champ and Canadian National Champ Ruth Gordon, US National Freestyle Kayak Team member and reigning US National Champ, Emily Jackson, rising star, Kat Levitt.

Senior men (all in the Jackson Kayak All-Star 2010). Reigning US National Champ and national team member Stephen Wright, reigning Canadian National Champion and bronze finalist World Champion Nick Troutman and Arkansas Valley homey and World Cup bronze finalist Dustin Urban of Buena Vista.

This year’s FIBArk also saw a record cadet class of 15 boys and girls under 14 competing, a few of whom were cub cadets, under 10.

In late August, the national teams from countries around the world will travel to Thun, Switzerland to compete in World Championships where some of the same boaters who participated in FIBArk will be vying for world titles. Other US team members who competed at FIBArk included Eric Jackson, Bryan Kirk, Jonny Meyers, Eileen Campbell, Adriene Levknecht, C1 Jordon Poffenberger, OC1 Jake Ament, and Jeremy Laucks representing the US in both C1 and OC1. US National team members who did not make it to FIBArk included Rush Sturges and Chris Stafford, senior men; Jessie Stone, senior women, and  junior women, Tracy D’Arbeloff and Emery Tillman.