Surf Boise

Bladder Wave and 36th Street Wave

linkj — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:47:04 +0000

Spring run off and big water brings big surfing. Lots of it this spring around Boise. The famous Bladder Wave came in and the big surf nuts came out of the wood work. The fear of huge runoff caused dam release on the Boise River and a couple of weeks of big surf on the 36th street wave at the site of the upcoming Boise River Recreation Park, an awesome new kayak play and slalom park being designed now with construction planned (hopefully!) for October this year. Check it out and view the video made by Conner Jackson and Skip Armstrong to support the park at http://boiseriverpark.com/

There were lots of kids out on these huge features. Idaho River Kids have been all over it like flys on a rotten carcass. They picked up some great rides, some great tips from the big wave riders, some savage beatings from the big waves and they generally had the time of their lives. It was like a Jackson Star Kayak convention. One local non-kayaking spectator asked “is Jackson the only company that makes kayaks?”. It has been just awesome to watch. Here are some shots of the action on the big waves.

Ethan McLeod on the Bladder Mark Cucchini puts on a great show for us

Dan Givens came away with a big smile Connor McLeod

Mark….more of a great show Connor

Mark……spectators please put your helmets on now………..and the show goes on….

…..and on…………….. and on………

And then my favorite shot of them all, from a purely artistic viewpoint….oh how nice to be a Werner Paddle in the middle of this fine scene of Connor McLeod sliding into the trough…

Ethan McLeod on the 36th St. Wave Conner Jackson on 36th St. Wave

Idaho River Kids Spring Training

linkj — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:58:39 +0000

It was a fun spring for the Idaho River Kids. Scott Wootten headed up a spring training program for freestyle that included 12 hours of training each week, 4 on Friday afternoons and 8 on Saturdays. The boys went from cautious about surfing in the little hole at the gutter to full on wave surfing on the big wave at Climax in short order. They all grew in ability and bravery. The final chapter in the spring training book is a trip to the Reno River Fest and competing with some of the best in the sport. It will be a good learning experience and a great launch into a full summer of great boating. Here are a few shots from the program.

Scouting the lower North Fork Hole - “Anticipation”

Coach Scott shows the boys how it is done in battle!

CJ Crashing through AMF

Conner McLeod on Trimax

CJ on Climax

Ethan McLeod carves up TriMax

Troy on Gutter 3

Seth on TriMax

Big Guy Gary and Little Guy Troy in Jackson Kayaks

CJ Carves TriMax

Thomas surfs AMF

Jackson Stars at Climax ready for battle

Tanner on gutter 3

Michael “In” TriMax

Gutter Kids - Photos of the action

linkj — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:39:30 +0000

Now it is November and the water is cold. The Gutter kids of the Payette seem to have temporarily lost their passion for the paddle. Now they are looking to the hills for the first snows and dreaming of floating through the powder on skis. We booked a ski vacation and the biggest question of the day was, ” dad can we bring the Star so we can practice our rolls in the pool after skiing?”. So it shall be. Water dominates the fun….Ski on it in the winter (then roll in the pool) only to see snow melt in the spring and float with it once again in the river. I have reviewed a few of the photos I took of the kids from the fall and here is a little sample. It is so fun to see kids out there working on their skills, working on their courage, pushing the limits, learning to trust and test their personal resolve and dreaming of being like EJ one day. Well thanks for the inspiration EJ. To these kids you are a real hero and a fantastic role model as an athlete, as an entrepreneur and because you and those in your world reach out to them and make them feel they are part of something important. I can’t wait to see them paddle the Side Kick next year! And I can’t wait to see where this sport takes them all. Wherever that is, they can count on dear old dad to provide boats, transportation, gear, shuttles and raft support. It is so nice to be needed! And I hope for better and better subjects for the camera as events unfold.

A Fall day on the Payette

linkj — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:28:58 +0000

It was a beautiful fall day on the Payette. Kids club was out in force at the Gutter. The Wilsons were there, the McLoeds, the Vorhees and the Jacksons. Lots of surfing, hole riding, running the drops and just plain enjoying the beautiful day. Lots of Jackson Kayaks. And they gave me good material for the camera. We all agreed we must do it again next week. Until then….some photos of the day.

CJ heading up to the top CJ in the bottom hole

Ethan McLeod Big Hole Ride Ethan & Troy Wilson

Tyler Wilson going for it Hayden Voorhees

Mom, Jody Voorhees Mike & Connor Voorhees

Kayaking-Great sport for Kids

linkj — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:03:17 +0000

My kids have both discovered kayaking. Re-discovered may be a better description. They have done trips with me in IK’s down the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the Grand Ronde, the Owyhee and others beginning at age 9. But this year, mid summer after a trip down the Middle Fork, the bug hit them for the hard boat experience. Now it is all my son Conner Jackson (CJ - age 14) can talk about….think about….dream about. He writes about it. His English Teacher is a Kayak instructor with Cascade Kayak and a class V boater. And now he is devoting himself to furthering the cause of the Boise Whitewater Park. He wrote the mayor. He is pushing buttons to get answers. He tells me he will retro-fit a bike trailer to carry his kayak down to the white water park in the summer mornings to paddle all day. He wants it done before he goes to college. I love the passion. He went from a kid that was scared to be in a hard kayak early this summer to being a full on surfing machine with a bullet proof roll now. I thank the Cascade Kayak operation for providing the instruction and the venue for his advancement. Soon he will have his own published piece on the Jackson Kayak web site as he was invited to write a piece by Devon Barker. Here he and his friends are…..Surfing Boise

CJ’s Fist big hole ride Now he has the hang of it….

The Master…65lbs. of Kayaking fury…Troy Wilson Conner McLoed….Mr. Happy on the surf

CJ in big water, Staircase on the S. Fk. Payette CJ Surfing the Hero

The Daredevil…..Ethan McLeod Lauren McLeod and Brindi Jackson-IK Surf

Hello world!

linkj — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:24:39 +0000

The World Kayak initiative would like to announce the recent creation of a new blog Worldkayakblogs.com. This is a first post on this blog’s behalf.