Dane Jackson's Blog

Lost Green Race Article

Dane — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:37:25 +0000

I found this article on my computer about the Green Race in November. I never sent it in. The photos aren’t of the actual race but in practice. Check it out::

Last weekend was the 13^th annual Green Narrows race. This was my first time racing the green. I went with Clay and Nick. I had run it many times before and always wanted to race it. But I never had, this year I finally had the oppurtinity to race it. When we were at home packing for the trip, I couldn’t decide what boat to bring. At first I was going to bring a little hero, because that was the creekboat I was using at the time and I just wanted to race. I wasn’t worried about being fast or anything like that. Then I was bringing a little hero and a punk rocker, because I wasn’t sure which one was faster. Then Nick told me that there were a couple classic heros at the factory, so I was going to bring the punk rocker and the classic hero. We were loading up the car and we were going to run to the factory to outfit our boats and I was going to pick up a hero. Then Clay suggested that if I was going to bring a classic hero I should go ahead and bring the classic superhero instead. He said it would be faster and more stable for me. I really didn’t think I would want to race it but we picked up my dad’s super hero which was a warrenty boat that picked up on tour from somebody. It had a crack in the hull, but my dad patched it so it was fine. So we went and outfitted our boats, I got the superhero, and we were off on the road. I had watched some videos on youtube of the green and I had run it like a week before so I was trying to memorize the lines and stuff. We Stayed at Shane Benedicts house which was awesome because we had internet and a comfortable place to stay. I paddled the superhero on the first day and decided that was what I was going to paddle in the race. We had 4 days to train for the race and it was going great. We all were having great lines, and the superhero was going great for all of us. Then it was race day and I was fired up. I watched go left for a little while and watched some lines. The race started at 12:00 and I was at 1:37, so I had some time. Then I went back to the top and waited till it was my turn to go. Then it was me and I started my race, Frankenstein went great, fairly fast, then it was some boogie water all the way to Boof or Consequence. The left line at Boof or Consequence wasn’t runnable because there was a tree in it, so everyone had to do the right line. That went great for me, then right after that was Go left or Die. It went great for me, I didn’t flip and I was right on line after heading towards Swicks Backender. Swicks went fine for me, I petoned I little on the 2^nd drop but still made the slide on the right. It was Chiefs right after this so I took it easy through it and relaxed my self coming in to Gorrila. When I was ready I boofed off of Pencil Sharpener great with some left momentum so I would be able to drive right on the knotch. The knotch went great, I subbed out a little bit but still kept my speed going and went Straight off Gorrilla. Gorrila wasn’t my best line but still not bad, I flipped right at the bottom and got pushed a little bit left into the eddy a little bit. But I paddled really hard to get out of it and I went down the next slides. Stream Machine went great, I went flying into Neices Pieces, that went bettter than most pratice runs I think. Powerslide went great, I mystery moved a little bit but I stayed in the main flow. I paddled hard down to Rapid Transit, I stayed on line on this and soared out the bottom and paddled as hard as I could to the finish. I was super fired up that I finished the race with no major mess ups. I wound up getting a 5:10, which is not super fast, but it got me in 8^th place in mens short boat so I was really fired up about this. I most definetely will come back next year and probably will try to find a long boat to race. Well, that wraps up the green race for me and I had a great time, and I already miss Gorrilla. Thanks for reading,

Dane Jackson

New Villain Review

Dane — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:04:04 +0000

I have been using the new villain for like a month now and i really got to test it on some good stuff. I am pretty small for the smaller size Villian, i am using the same size as my dad and everyone else. So in some ways it really helps and also in some ways it is a little harder. The main things i have been noticing is that it is super stable for me, i can lean so far on edge before having to brace. It is also really easy to roll, even though it is so big for me, i can even hand roll it. It boofs like a dream, it still has that amazingly easy boofing feature, but it doesn’t kick your bow up when you don’t want it too, like big drops. I also find that it plugs really nicely, the new sleeker design really helps with that. It also lands boofs really soft, as well as it really keeps its speed away from the drop or big hole when you need it too. It doesn’t just stop when you land your boof. I also know that even though it is big for me i can still control it really well, it is harder for me then my dad or clay or someone but i still can stay on line. It is very user friendly. It is a fairly fast boat, and it is one of those boats that is just really fun to paddle on easy creeks when you are just messing around, or you can take it on creeking expeditions. I love this boat and right now i would take it anywhere. I look forward to getting the production boats with all the awesome logos. And look for the all new Villian in march, coming to stores near you. Thanks for reading and check out the photos of my times in the Villain so far.

Dane

High Tension

Dane — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:49:16 +0000

I got to go to high tension for a couple days and it was really awesome. The wave was prime. It is one of my favorite waves now. I had never surfed it before. The first day was with keeners, we got to the wave and it was great, the only thing was that there was a lot of keeners, and we did the buddy system. Because we only had like 45 minutes to an hr to surf i only got 6 rides in. But it was still really fun. My mom offered to drive me back the next day, i met up with jason and we paddled but then we went to see if we could go. It was a little late and my mom was busy, so we didn’t go. But later in the day Justin Fraser came and said he was trying to go the next day. He picked me and jason up in the morning, and we went to the wave. We got to the wave around 2 o’clock, and we surfed till 6 o’clock, it was just the three of us till around 4. Then the swiss people showed, and gerd from spain. It was cool to paddle with them. Me and jason were working on some combos and just going big. We were working on flashback clean blunt combos, fast forwards, bread and butters, flasback airscrews, and some other good stuff. The wave was super green and big so it was great for trying new stuff. Then we headed home super fired up on how the day was. On the way back we debated whether or not to come back the next day. Justin wasn’t going to go back if he couldn’t find a 2010 star to use. He was our driver so it was whether or not we were going to go back at all if he couldn’t find a star to use. We stopped by the A-Frame and talked to LP palmer and he said he wanted to come. Justin used LP’s little brother paul’s boat that day, and he decided to take it again the next day. We picked up jason and LP the next morning. We went to the wave, we arrived at the wave around the same time, 2 o’clock. This time the swiss people and a bunch of other people were there when we arrived. The wave was right about the same. We paddle from 2 to 7:30 this time. Another long awesome day, me and jason were working on the same stuff again, we were getting some too. Justin was working on some airblunts and stuff. When we were taking out my parents and nick and emily arrived. They came for some high tension time as well. It was another great level the next day. We paddled for a while and made a fire, emily was hitting big moves, so was nick and my dad, we had some rodeo rides as well, and just some fun surfing. I lost my paddle once witch wasn’t fun but it was fine. We also got some great photos, it was raining a lot that day but when it wasn’t raining we too photos. We paddled from 10 to 2:30 and it was awesome. It was a great 3 long days of High Tension wave. I got 15 hrs of High Tension in 3 days, i am sore. But it was worth it. I love the new boat. The 2010 star is just so awesome, i love it so much. It was really sweet to get it on a bigger wave, and i wasn’t dissapointed. Well, now we are in Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailer Show, and we hope to do well here. We have a good team here to help. Thanks for reading,

Dane

2009 Competing Season Over

Dane — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:25:23 +0000

This seasons tour is over, and what a great tour it was for me. It was probably the best season i have had yet, i think i paddled better than i ever have. Starting in NAWF, in Alabama, i won the freestyle off the waterfall competition, and i won juniors freestyle, i forgot to see whether or not i would have done well in mens, i won C-1 as well. And then it was Reno, i won Juniors and i would have placed in pro mens. Then it was Buena Vista CO, i did pretty well, i forget what place i got. Then it was team trials in Glenwood, i got second in Junior mens, and i got first in C-1. So i will be competing at worlds in C-1 and K-1. It is really cool that i would have made the senior team. Then it was Teva Mountain Games, i got sixth there, just missing finals, Dustin Urban knocked me out on his final ride. I was still happy. Then It was Durango, i got first in my class and i did pretty well in slalom. I was happy with that. Then it was FIBARK, Salida CO. I had an awesome time there. I won OC-1, C-1, K-1, i got second with Jason Craig in the Raft Rodeo, and me and some friends won the Hooligan race. I was super psyched with this years FIBARK. Then it was home for a few days, and we leave for Canada on Monday. I am really happy with how i paddled this year! Thanks for reading,

Dane

What a great FIBARK for me!

Dane — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:10:00 +0000

I am in the RV after the last day of FIBARK 2009, and how awesome it was! It was a pretty low flow on Tuesday, and everyday just like every year the water rose super fast. It got to nearly 3 grand on the weekend this weekend, just a bit lower than last year i was told. Every day it got harder for hole moves and more of a wave every day. My routine was: Re-entry, loop, both airwheels, back loop, both mcnastys, both tricky woos, both phonics monkeys, and lunar orbit. Than on friday i changed my routine to: Re-entry, loop, both airwheels, both mcnastys, back loop, back pan am, and then felix. I did that friday and saturday, but then on sunday it was the highest it was yet. And it was super difficult, i had to change my routine one more time: Re-entry, loop, both airwheels, both blunts, back pan am, felix, and then both mcnastys. That went well for me, i won C-1, OC-1, Junior mens, the Hooligan race with some friends, and i place second in the raft rodeo with jason craig. I won juniors mens with 630 points, C-1 with 765 points, and OC-1 with 140 points. We won the hooligan race with and inflatable raft. It worked really well for us. There was eight of us. The foamboat world championships was on saturday, my creekboat didn’t do too well on the creek race unfortunately, a kid i am not sure what his name was won that. but my playboat got third in the freestyle. JP griffith won that one. I think that wraps up my FIBARK week. Time to go home and get the new 2010 Star!!!!!! Thanks for reading,

Dane

Vallecito Run

Dane — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:17:43 +0000

This weekend was the Animus river days and today on monday we went and did the Vallecito run. It is about a 45 minute drive from Durango. We went with 4 Corners (4 corners is the river store in Durango) guys Tony and Drew, and another guy Erin. It is a fun drive, i got to drive there and back so of course it was fun. We drive up to an RV park where we start hiking. We have to hike up the creek, it is about 1.1 miles of uphill, near the top the view is beautiful. The water is cold and super clear, it was really pretty. It was pretty tight in the gorge, the run was manky and pretty steep. One of the first rapids was like a 12 foot drop, it was cool. There is a cave on the left that a few people have drowned in at high water. If you do go in there and you get out of the water in the cave, you have to take off all your gear and climb out of a hole in the cave. It looks like it would be pretty bad to go in at higher water for sure. There was a bunch more smaller manky rapids after that. Than we came to Fuzzy Bunny, it was like a 9 foot drop that lands in a slot like 6 foot wide. That was a really cool rapid, i liked it. Than from there out it was some more manky rapids that were really fun. That is basically what today was like, it was a fun day. Now we are headed to Salida for Fibark. Thanks for reading,

Dane

Animus River Days Over

Dane — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:13:42 +0000

The animus river days are over and it was awesome. Yesterday was awesome with the slalom race and the boat parade. You can read about yesterday in my last update. Today was the down river race and the freestyle. My dad did the down river race witch was first. He wound up placing third. I did not race, but i did a practice session in the hole in the morning. The freestyle was good, i got 1st in the juniors, and my dad got 1st in the mens. Nicole Mansfield was first in the womens. It was a blast. I haven’t been here in a long time, around 3 years, and i am glad we did. That wraps up my updates for this weekend, thanks for reading,

Dane

First Day Of Animus River Days Over

Dane — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:27:42 +0000

We are done with Saturday of the Animus River Days. Today we had a slalom race and the boat parade. The slalom race went good. I had an ok first run and better second run. I never got my times or what place i got, but i still had fun. I also made an 2010 All Star foamboat and a Dynamic Duo foamboat today (If you don’t know what a foamboat is: It is a mini version of a kayak made of wood or foam, i make them in wood). The boat parade was a bunch of people on rafts, duckies, canoes, kayaks, etc., and most of them were dressed in costumes. We do a class 2 stretch down to the park where the events are held. It is about 5 or 6 miles. And we just paddle down having fun. There were hundreds of people watching from shore all the way down. It was cool. My dad and i were in the duo, and we were just doing boofs and a bunch of rock spins. We got probably the biggest rock spin in the history of the duo. We did a 1260 (that is 3 1/2 rotations) i think. We had another one that was probably a 900. It was a blast trying to rock spin the duo. That is how today went, it was awesome. Tune in tomorrow afternoon on how the Freestyle events goes. Thanks for reading,

Dane

The last few events

Dane — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:48:24 +0000

I just got my password back for my Blog so now i can write some updates. This one is basically my update for the last few events. The Reno River fest was good, i won the Juniors Mens with Jason Craig in 2nd and Seth Stoener in 3rd. After that was team trials in Glenwood Springs CO. I made the team in both K1 Juniors and C1. I got Second in juniors with Michael “LP” Palmer in 3rd and Jason Craig in 1st. And in C1 i got 1st with Jordan Poffenberger in 2nd, and Jeremy Laucks in 3rd. After that was Teva Mountain Games in Vail CO. There is no Juniors there so i competed in Pro Mens. I got 6th, just missing the cut, Dustin Urban knocked me out on his last ride. I was still happy. And now we are in Salida and we go to Durango this weekend for the Animus River Days. It should be good. Thanks for reading and look for some more updates from me in the future now that i can. Thanks,

Dane