2009 Yearly Update

nicktroutman wrote 78 days ago:

Well 2009 will be a tough one to top. I guess I will just start from the beginning. Make sure to watch the video re-cap of 2009, I will try to post a video for each point.

JANUARY

• Shared the New Year with my friends and family up in Canada
• Got the New Dynamic Duo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMeF8v9OTXk

• First ever run down Gorilla of the Green Narrows

FEBRUARY

• Bought a house with Emily
• Trained at RI: Ran the Spout, Sieve City, Surfed the New Put in Wave, the top hole, the top third wave, the main Rock Island Hole, and Brave Wave. High Water RULES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVUeLQ9GUw

MARCH

• NAWFest in Alabama: 1^st Overall, 2^nd Freestyle Rodeo, 2^nd Freestyle off the lip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x07JejGFgbU

• JK Team Week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vke7pdgNQoo

• First ever run down the Bear Creek. We were late putting on and had to hike out in the dark around half way.

APRIL

• Went to Mexico for a week of creek boating with Clay, EJ, Dane and Trevor Clark: Nick’s Bachelor Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSzObET2kc

• Got married to my beautiful bride Emily in Riviera Maya, Mexico

MAY

• Reno River Fest in Nevada: 3^rd Freestyle Rodeo, 1^st Boater-cross
• Went Creeking in California: Got on Big Kim Shew, South Branch twice, and Middle Cosumnes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP8QPrzI5z0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tHJN6VsJRo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFIN-9FYiy8

• CKS Paddle Fest

• BV Pro Rodeo in Colorado: 1^st place in rodeo
• Paddling Life Pro Invitational in Colorado: 1^st Overall, 1^st Freestyle Rodeo, 5^th Creek Race
• My first ever run down Barrel Springs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFPeSUuBxxw

JUNE

• Got my First NEW ALL-STAR!!! Boo Ya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVdHbb2Z5zY

• Teva Mountain Games in Colorado: 2^nd Pro Freestyle Rodeo, 3^rd 8-Ball Race, 30^th Steep Creek Race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iqqKD5xwWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzmCWfbwmKk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTRc62KSOtY

• Lyons Outdoor Games in Colorado: 2^nd Pro Rodeo, 8^th Steep Creek Race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqOApWd5swk

• FIBArk in Colorado: 2^nd Freestyle Rodeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1ELSGBONc

• Rallied back up to Canada for the Ottawa River and to see family and friends

JULY

• Coached with the Keener Program
• Surfed up High Tension wave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x03V70EApY4

• Surfed Buseater for the only 4 hours it was in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR_j0bdEoyQ

• Went to the Summer Outdoor Retailer show

AUGUST

• Continued surfing High Tension

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7HfqsEKSnE

• Completed the Back Airscrew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6IFfJlmD48

• Trained for the World Championships

SEPTEMBER

• Won my first ever World Championship Title in Thun Switzerland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6t25Txb-gQ

• Went Canyoning with EJ and Dane is Switzerland
• Went Mountain climbing in Switzerland
• Competed at the Charney Beach Comp in France: 3^rd place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKKTKPsz_I

• Went to Germany’s Kanu-Messe
• Surfed Hawaii Sur Rhone in France: Sweet Wave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6ceBkpXC8

• Week of free Clinics in France

OCTOBER

• Got a Run down Raven Fork

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlmcKWBzvz4

• My 21^st Birthday
• My First ever Russel Fork run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ftxH2q0rqw

• My First ever Russel Fork Race: 15^th place

NOVEMBER

• My first EVER Green Race: 40^th place

http://vimeo.com/7538965

• My Best Friend Joel’s 21^st Birthday, also on Green Race Day

DECEMBER

• Another couple runs down the South East Classic: Bear Creek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3lzj4D48uU

• Took out the New Villain for a spin: Going to be SWEET
• First Christmas with Emily in our new house
• My Family came down for the holidays
• New Years Eve was shared with close Friends and Family, playing lots of games, Champagne and wine, and shooting off fireworks

It was an amazing year, one that will be remembered for the great times with friends and family. Stay tuned for what is in store for 2010’s adventures!

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Tagged with:All-star  •  BV Pro Rodeo  •  Barrel Springs  •  Bear Creek  •  Big Kim Shew  •  Brave Wave  •  Buseater  •  CKS Paddles Fest  •  Charney  •  Clay Wright  •  EJ  •  FIBArk  •  Hawaii sur Rhone  •  Lyons Outdoor Games  •  Mexico  •  Middle Cosumnes  •  Paddling Life Pro Invitational  •  Raven Fork  •  Reno River Festival  •  Russle Fork  •  Teva Mountain Games  •  Trevor Clark  •  Villain  •  World Championships  •  dane jackson  •  dynamic Duo  •  emily jackson  •  green narrows  •  green-race  •  high-tension  •  keener-program  •  nawfest  •  ottawa-river  •  rock island  •  sieve city  •  south-branch

Green Race Carnage Video

nicktroutman wrote 122 days ago:

Here is a quick little clip on my beautiful run down Gorilla during the Green Race. Thanks to Shred Ready for saving my head, and thanks to LVM for catching this memorable moment on video.

Check it out.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7538965[/vimeo]

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Tagged with:carnage  •  green-race  •  green-river  •  lvm  •  shred ready helmets

Green Race Weekend

nicktroutman wrote 124 days ago:

Well this year I finally took the plunge and raced in my first even Green River Race. It was a ton of fun, after I wore all the safety equipment I could think of to make it less scary. No for real it was a lot of fun, I got to have out and paddle with a whole bunch of good friends, and a couple new friends too.

Clay, Dane and I went up a week early to paddle the river and get a custom to the lines before the race. We were able to stay at Shane Benedict’s house and paddle with him and Adriene. Though out the week we were getting more and more comfortable. We were running Go Left and the Notch direct every time. As the weekend came closer more and more people started to show up, and Shane’s house get even more cozzy.

On Thursday night I had my first real encounter with Jason Hale. I had heard a lot about him, and he was pretty much exactly what I was expecting. I guess the simple way to describe him is as an Alfa Male. He and I got into an hour long discussion about who much of a girl I was because I wasn’t racing a long boat. For those who don’t understand what I mean by a ‘long boat,’ for the Green Race there is no length limit on your kayak, so the people who win are usually in a 13 foot long kayak, many of which we designed and built over a decade ago. So being that I am not big into peer pressure I took the insults and nagging, but when there was a challenge attached than it changed the whole ball game. Jason and I kind of made a bet, not for money or anything, more less for our words sake or man sake, that I would paddle a Long Boat down the Green and then Race it, and he would catch the Birthday eddy Backwards in his long boat. As for what the birthday eddy is, I will get to his part of the bet later. So I went home that night wondering if I would regret what I had done. I had only ever paddled a long boat for 1 day before, and I had never paddled it on the Green.

Now I am waking up on Friday morning by my phone ringing. It is my best friend Joel who is on his way down from Canada for the race. He has just finished driving 18 hours straight, and has one day to paddle, and figure out the race lines for a class 5 river. So it is the last day of practice before the race, I am going to take Joel down nice a slow, make sure he knows all the lines, I am going to try paddling this crazy Long boat.

Joel, Dane and I made our first run down, in around 3-4 hours or so. Joel was remembering that the river is steeper than he thought, I was thinking, well this whole long boat thing just might be doable, and Dane was thinking ‘Come on lets Go.’ Clay drove us back up to the top and we did it again, but this time in 45 minutes. Joel was obviously remembering the lines, which was a good thing because it was his last practice run before the race.

Saturday arrives and it is Race Day. To my surprise Emily had driven four hours by her self (which is pretty much impossible) to come hang out for the race. I asked to race in both classes Long and Sort boat, though I would race my Super Hero (Short Boat 8′6) first. I figured that I had been training to go fast in my short boat so I should do that first, and then if I needed to I could drift in my long boat run.

I paddled both of the boats down to the start, well I really paddled one and pulled the other one. I hung out and watched some people start. Then I was called up. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! I started with a couple sprint stokes, then easing off coming in to the first rapid Frankenstein. It went better then any of my practice runs, I continued at a medium pace knowing that the race was at least 5 minutes long. I went though Pin Cushion, Whale Tale, Boof or Consequence all going great. I came into Go Left or Die, and I went Left. The rapid doesn’t look pretty but it is way faster, and that is pretty much how i did it, not really pretty but fast. I then came into Zwicks, not my fastest but still pretty good, and coming into the Notch above Gorilla I started to ease off a bit and take a couple deep breaths. This was a tip Clay talk me about. I then new what I had to do, and I charged the Notch, pretty much greased the line. I was know coming over the Launch Pad off Gorilla, which is the biggest vertical drop of the River. Everything was kind of moving in slow motion as I was deciding which boof stroke to take, a right stroke, no a left stroke, no just keep it straight so i will just keep cruising though the speed trap (there is a hole which can stop you 50% of the time, which then you have to either swim or surf your way out of). I don’t know if it was the fact that I just didn’t take a boof stroke, or if I leaned back or what, but I saw the landing coming and BAM!!!!! I pitoned my brains out, went end over end onto my head. Now I was thinking, Wow i didn’t really think that was possible, then I was thinking sweet I didn’t get stuck in the speed trap, and finally I thought to myself, I just crashed in front of 1000 people, just roll up and paddle hard to finish the race. Fortunately for me, somehow I stayed in the fast water the whole time, and I rolled up and paddled away as fast as I could. There are only a couple slides now before the race is finished. I went through each slide pretty quickly without spinning out at all. I got to the finshed as had a quick little laugh about what just happened. I was really in awe that I had crashed that hard and didn’t get hurt at all, I was so glad I had a Uni-Shock bulk head system.

After laughing a little I slowly walked back to the top to race my long boat. Not really sure I wanted to do another race run at all, I had Jason Hale stuck in my head egging me on. I met Pat Keller on the trail and he gave me a couple words of advice. I then continued up the path and found myself back at the star. Though I was still on the wring side of the river. I then accidentally swam throw the mankiest part of the first rapid, got out and on the second try made it across to my stashed boat. Clay asked how my run went as he had 30 seconds to go, without wanted to make him nervous I told him it went great.

I got into my Long Boat and decided I would do it, and if anything went wrong I would just eddy out and call it quits. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO. This time I took it a bit easier. Though all the lines were going great. Knowing that a lot of time can be made up in the flats, but also being tired I decided to coast, still keep my speed but not paddling hard. I got through every thing pretty well, came to the Notch and didn’t think twice, as I can to the Launch Pad I was a bit too far right and fought to get back left all the way off the lip, and………….. splash, I was at the bottom as smooth as silk. From here I knew that I could start paddling a little harder, and when I came into the finish I was thinking that both runs felt pretty much the same length.

From here I went back up watched the rest of the race, hung out and talked with friends, and saw Emily, who hiked in for 2 hours with our dogs. Back to the Bet with Jason Hale, I actually forgot to put this in, but someone just reminded me. Well, Jason went through with his end of the deal as well. He had to catch the birthday eddy in his long boat, scary at best. The birthday eddy is an eddy that is pretty much parallel with the Notch, and is only possibly 4 feet long. Not Jason’s boat is along 12 feet long, so you could see how this could be a bit of an issue. He actually had to paddle into it backwards which was a feat on its own. Long story short, everyone who know about the bet came to watch it, and everyone could see the fear in Jason’s eyes. To be honest I was really afraid for him, I didn’t want to be the blame for him getting hurt, but in true fashion he pulled it off just about a best as anyone ever could, and like Jason then starting calling everyone on. Though he did tell me that he was really scared.

Dane, Joel and I paddled out together after the race, loosing Clay in the crowd, though me met up with Marty who wanted to paddle out with us.

After Making it to the Take Out parking lot, we all headed across the road to Woddy’s place for the awards and after party. This was Joel’s 21 birthday and it was all pretty special. At the awards there were plenty of new record times, though the main ones were the Faster Man and Fastest Women. Andrew Holcomb won his second ever Green Race, and beat his record by a whopping 9 seconds with a 4:18, and Adriene Levknecht  who beat the previous record by 24 seconds, with a 4:49, HUGE!

The Party then went on all night with the DJ busting out all sorts of tunes, keeping the dance floor moving.

Happy 21 to Joel. Congrats to Andrew and Adriene. Thanks to Woody for letting us all hang out at his place and eat his food. Thanks to Shane for letting us crash at his house for the week prior to the race, and for cooking us all sorts of meals. Finally Thanks to all the volunteers who made the whole race happen.

If you have never been to the Green race it is a pretty amazing thing, come and race it or just come to watch, though you should come and check it out!

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Tagged with:Andrew Holcomb  •  Clay Wright  •  adriene levknecht  •  dane jackson  •  emily jackson  •  green-race  •  green-river  •  jason hale  •  joel kowalski  •  shane benedict

Charney Night Comp: Video

nicktroutman wrote 157 days ago:

Here is the video from Charney, while Em and I were is France.

The competition started at mid-night. There were some sweet lights, music, party, and an awesome hole.

Check out the video

http://www.youtube.com/v/PVKKTKPsz_I

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Tagged with:All-star  •  Charney  •  France  •  emily jackson  •  jackson-kayak

Last Competition of the year: Charnay, France

nicktroutman wrote 188 days ago:

[singlepic=273,320,240,,] The Charnay competition was a blast. First it started with Yoyo picking Emily and I up at the train station in Lyon. We then went to his work, (french kayak shop: KWA) loaded up a trailer full of kayaks, drove 2 hours to Charnay to find out the water was too low. This was not the first competition that I have been to without water, and I am sure it wont be the last. [singlepic=277,320,240,,]

Though the beauty is that the water showed up, just happened to be at mid-night. So, Yoyo woke us up to let us know the show must go on. This was not the first time I competed at night under the lights, but it was the first time I competed at 2AM.

After Prelims I was in first which was cool, being that I dont know the french scoring system and it is different. For the next day we hung out ate some croissants and played a french game called Pétanque which is like lawn bowling. Then there was a concert with two different live bands. I always knew that the French were wild and crazy while cheering at the World Cup and World Championships, but that is just how they are all the time.

I then went to bed, only to be woken up again at mid-night for the semi finals. There was a cut from 10 to 5 and then we went straight into finals. What I had forgotten to explain was the really sweet ramp. This was not your normal ramp with a kicker for moves, this ramp shot you straight down into the wave for an eccelerated entry move. This was also manditory for every heat. In finals I was able to pull off whipping around a quick airscrew off the ramp as I landed in the oncoming water, I then continued to go through with my ride: phonics monkey and mcnasty both ways and finish with big air loops and space godzillas. [singlepic=275,320,240,,] [singlepic=276,320,240,,]

I was really happy with my rides even though I ended in Third place behind Mathieu Dumoulin in Second, and Sebastien Devred in First, both who had very impressive rides with mcnastys and big loops space godzillas and some more cartwheels and splitwheels.

The women went next, with a battle between Emily and Marlène Devillez. It was close, though Emily had some great mcnastys and phonics beating Marlénes huge airloops and space godzillas.

Emily and I ended up going to sleep around 3:30AM and the competition was not over yet with C1, Jr Men and Cadets to go. After it was all said and done, I think the competition was over between 4 and 5 in the morning. [singlepic=278,320,240,,] [singlepic=279,320,240,,]

It was a really fun event and the french have been extremely hospitable, generous, and nice to us during our stay here. [singlepic=274,320,240,,]

Oh, and when people start to talk about how freestyle is dead, there were around 80 competitiors and even more spectators for a little freestyle event that took place in the middle of no where between 1-4 AM, I have never seen anyting like it.

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Tagged with:Marlène Devillez  •  Mathieu Dumoulin  •  Sebastien Devred  •  Yoan  •  charnay france  •  emily jackson

World Championships: Prelims (c1, oc1, jr women, jr men) results

nicktroutman wrote 200 days ago:

Yesterday was the Prelims for the C1, OC1, Jr. Women and Jr. Men. It was a full day of World Championship competition.

First off was the C1 class, which our Canadian boy, Guillaume, (quebexican) took home top honors.

1  1.013,333 CAN LaRue Guillaume
2  930,000 GBR Bainbridge David
3  813,333 FRA BESSEAU Alexandre
4  760,000 FRA CORROTTE Valentin
5  661,667 USA Jackson Dane
6  561,667 ESP Areta Odei
7  555,000 GER Hummel Markus
8  430,000 ESP Juanikorena Igor
9  406,667 CAN Dupont Vincent
10  335,000 CZE Liska Jan
Next was OC1 with possibly the most watched paddler yet, Vincent, who took out a 14ft open canoe and pulled out some good surfing and a bit of an ender.

1  116,667  GER Krumreich Fabian
2  111,667  USA Laucks Jeremy
3  98,333  USA Ament Jake
4  76,667  GER Pätsch Stephan
5  36,667  GER Hüther Toby
6  28,333  ESP Juanikorena Igor
7  25,000  SUI Weir James
8  23,333  ESP Areta Odei
9  0,000  GBR Bradley James
10  0,000 GBR Chris Noble
11 20 0,000 Prelim CANDupont Vincent
Then came our Jr. Women, of which both Katie Kowalski and Alex Shallhorn (Canadian Jr. Women) made it on to the next cut. Though the Frenchie Noria Newmam killed the Jr. Women’s class.

1  418,333  FRA Newmam Novizia
2  130,000  GER Hornhardt Sandrina
3  115,000  SUI Häberling Leoni
4  85,000  LAT Sokolova Anastasija
5  75,000  GBR Crosbie Islay
6  75,000  CAN Kowalski Katie
7  55,000  ESP Sole Carla
8  55,000  CAN Shallhorn Alexandra
9  51,667  GBR Layton Poppy
10  48,333 Prelim NOR ØLNES KARI
The final class of the day was the Jr. Men. The stands were crowded and people were going crazy. Canada was represented well with Josh placing 16th, Keegan getting 5th, and Devyn Scoot ending the day with 2nd place. Though the real crowd shocker was Jason Craig placing 1st with a 1700, which would have put him in 2nd place for the Pro Men’s Class.

1  1.708,333  USA Craig Jason
2  1.213,333  CAN Scott Devyn
3  946,667  FRA DEVRED Sebastien
4  920,000  USA Jackson Dane
5  863,333  CAN Grady Keegan
6  788,333  SUI Schwarz Samuel
7  783,333  ESP Fontane Joaquim
8  700,000  FRA MAZIMANN Thomas
9  610,000  AUS Rowlinson James
10  568,333  USA Palmer Michael
Just an amazing day.

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Tagged with:2009 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships  •  Devyn Scott  •  Jason Craig  •  alex shallhorn  •  guillaume larue  •  josh mills  •  katie-kowalski  •  keegan grady  •  noria newmam  •  vincent dupont

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Pre-Comp Video

nicktroutman wrote 204 days ago:

Here is a quick little video from the pre-comp training, and life here in Thun Switzerland.

Tomorrow is our last training day before the Competition starts. The world has come, only one day left!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/TNn9nQO96s4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Categorized as:Cool Videos  •   Destinations  •   Feature Articles  •   Pro Tour  •   Uncategorized  •   World Cup  •   competitionCool Videos  •   Destinations  •   Feature Articles  •   Pro Tour  •   Uncategorized  •   World Cup  •   competitionCool Videos  •   Destinations  •   Feature Articles  •   Pro Tour  •   Uncategorized  •   World Cup  •   competitionCool Videos  •   Destinations  •   Feature Articles  •   Pro Tour  •   Uncategorized  •   World Cup  •   competition

Tagged with:2009 Freestyle Kayak World Championships  •  Thun Switzerland

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Training in Thun

nicktroutman wrote 205 days ago:

[singlepic=228,320,240,,] We have been in Thun Switzerland for almost a week so far. Though today is my fouth day kayaking, the feature is very similar to last year, and small steep wave, which with practice gives off some big air.

I have been paddling only a couple hours a day max, being that each country gets thir own time slot, and then through the night there is open training. I have gone out at 6am the first day, 5am the second day, 4:30am the third day, and this morning I slept until 7:30, this was my first night sleeping through the night since I have arrived. [singlepic=229,320,240,,] [singlepic=230,320,240,,]

There are a lot of countries here, I think the count is between 30-40 counties, maybe closer to 40. With that many countries come a lot of good paddlers. Emily and I are very fortunate to have our hotel room with a belcony that over looks the wave. It helps to see how many people are in the eddy at night time, which is usually between 8-20 people.

[singlepic=227,320,240,,]

My rides have been feeling pretty good so far. I feel comfortable on the wave with the routine I have set, though for the last two days the wave has been changing which makes it hard a times. [singlepic=231,320,240,,]

I am very excited for the competition to begin, it will be amazing. That and my Mom gets here on Monday, SWEET!

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Tagged with:2009 World Championships  •  Thun Switzerland

Leaving for Worlds

nicktroutman wrote 213 days ago:

[singlepic=123,320,240,,]

I am now leaving for Worlds, actually right now, everyone is busy around me like worker bees as I type this down. The great Thun Switzerland, I am super excited to go, the World Championships is probably the most fun competition ever, making it even more special is that it is only once every two year.

I have been training a lot for this, as well as everyone else. I have paddled a lot over the winter in Rock Island on a small wave called third wave, then up in Canada on the Ottawa and a whole bunch of different features, mainly Upper No-Name wave, then over on Route 3 On the Black river in NY, and everywhere else I forgot to mention.

I feel super fortunate that I am able to go represent Canada at the World championships along side my fellow Canadians such as Joel Kowalski, Billy Harris, and Ruth Gordon to name a few.

I’m lucky to be able to have my Mom come and cheer me on, as well as the rest of my family Grandparents, my friends and everyone else how have been supportive of me.

I have to go right now everyone else is in the Car waiting.

See you in Thun,

[singlepic=43,320,240,,]

Nick

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Tagged with:Billy Harris  •  Joel Kowalksi  •  Ruth Gordon  •  Thun Switzerland  •  World Championships

FIBArk 2009

nicktroutman wrote 262 days ago:

[singlepic=221,320,240,,] FIBArk is one of my favorite stops of the whole Colorado tour, it reminds me of my hometown fair in Beachburg, though it is based around a kayak festival. To me this sounds like a great idea, and obviously it sounds good to the people of Salida CO too because FIBArk has been going on for 61 years. It is the oldest river festival that I know of.

There are rides, games, a beer gardens, and everything else you could think of at a country fair, as well as a Creek Race, Slalom Race, and Freestyle Rodeo, and the crowd favorite Hooligan Race.

The creek race was a Pine Creek, a fun section that is considered pretty big water, with a big hole smack dab in the middle of the river. You do one timed run first to set the heat for a four-person boater-cross. This is a really fun race with a ton of possibility for carnage, workings, and swims, and the crowds are rarely disappointed.

As for the Slalom races, it is the usual. One person timed races through gates with 2 seconds added on for each gate they hit, and 50 seconds added one if a gate is missed.

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The Freestyle Rodeo is a minute ride where the paddler has to throw as many different tricks as they can, each with different point values depending on the difficulty of the moves. In the final 5 it was Dustin Urban, Jed Selby, Eric Jackson, Stephen Wright and myself. The water level was continually rising for the whole week we were there, and for finals the hole turned into more of a wave. We were doing all sorts of wave moves such as panams, airscrews, blunts, mcnastys, and still a couple loops. After the three rides with only your best ride counting, Stephen took home another first with some enormous loop and stylish blunt mcnasty’s, I placed a very close 2^nd with some back panams and airscrews both ways, and Dustin Urban beat out EJ for 3^rd place. The points were really close Stephen Wright: 1250 points, Nick Troutman: 1225 points, and Dustin 1090 points.

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Though the biggest event of all of FIBArk would have to be the Hooligan Race. The riverbanks are packed with people for as far as the eye can see to come watch the hooligan’s and their concoctions that they use for the race. The only rules to this race are 1. You can’t use any type of boat, and 2. For the actual race 2^nd place wins. There are all sorts of floating rubbish that people with take down the river. Some have been put together in 5 minutes, others have taken months to build, some are pieces from the dump, and some are floating materials bought at Wal-Mart put together with Duck Tape.

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Dane Jackson and a couple of his friends actually won the race, by coming in second. The trophy is as seriously ridiculous as their boat was, it is a golden blended screwed onto a 3 foot trophy.

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It was an amazing event, and I’m sure it will continue to go on for another 60 years.

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Tagged with:Dustin Urban  •  Eric Jackson  •  FIBArk  •  Jed Selby  •  Pine Creek  •  dane jackson  •  jackson-kayak  •  stephen-wright