The 61st Annual FIBArK (First In Boating the Arkansas) Festival has already kicked off here in Salida, CO with live musics, movie premiers and feverish practicing from kayakers of all disciplines. Salida plays host this year to the USA Wildwater National Championships as well as a dozen other kayaking events.
Tomorrow starts the competition with Wildwater [...]
Event Coverage on WKTV will continue during the weekend of June 18-21 during the 61st Annual FIBArk River Festival. Until then…
Men’s Freestyle Results
1. Stephen Wright
2. Nick Troutman
3. Dustin Urban
4. Casper VonKolmf
5. Andrew Holcombe
Women’s Freestyle Results
1. Emily Jackson
2. Tanya Faux
3. Ruth Gordon
4. Nicole Mansfield
5. Devon Barker
The preliminaries for the Pro Freestyle kicked off today around 1:00 PM with 44 competitors in the men class and 16 women. As with most preliminary competitions the majority of the rides were conservative where competitors were given 2 rides with their points from both combine to determine who moved on. The top 15 of [...]
Unlike the last couple of weeks, the skies were blue and cloudless… that was until predictably the rain clouds organized around 2:30. Fortunately the race was over at that point, so competitors were treated to 70 deg temperatures and sunny skies whereas last year it was raining and sleeting.
Last year was one of the most [...]
A few surprises occurred in the US Team Trials Semi and Finals today. Competition kicked off once again at 9:00 AM promptly, highly unlike kayakers. The top 5 men, top 3 women, top 3 jr men, top 2 jr women, top 2 OC-1 were decided through an amazingly close competition and included some major upsets [...]
I just checked Boatertalk and I believe the lack of comments deems it a success, The one comment of the nice video was very nice as well. We kicked of the official launch of World Kayak TV today during the preliminary round of the US Team Trials.
World Kayak brought in a total of 8300 viewers [...]
The Reno River Festival Invitational was not nearly as long winded as the Open event yesterday. However, a few of the competitors from yesterday faired very well among the dominant freestylers in the sport. Erin Clancy, came out and placed in the top five after working her way through the Open event yesterday and then [...]
The format for the men’s and women’s competition on Friday was a combined two heats to move on to the next round where the finals would be a knockout series. The Reno River Festival saw recors numbers not only in attendance but in number of boaters entering the competition. The competition was stiff throughout the [...]
Cameras are rolling and we are tabulating the scores at the Reno River Festival… more video and updates are on the way. Coverage starts Saturday!
I just returned to Charlotte from rainy Western NC from this weekends NOC/Dagger Shootout. It was a great display of what this area can offer as an event venue and the overall response from both competitors and spectators was positive with some constructive feedback. Let’s just say that rodeo is back in Western North Carolina! [...]
Yesterday morning started with a bit of apprehension, apprehension that any organizer would have with their first major event. Daniel Dutton informed me that around 8:00 AM that there were only 16 competitors registered for the event, but that he was anticipating at least ten more. Not so surprising to me, the event [...]
I was out at NOC last week meeting with the event organizers and recruiting photographers for the event as well as catching up with old friends. I had the chance to sit own with Daniel Dutton the event organizer and ask him a few questions. For full event details click here. I [...]
The strengths of the Potomac Festival are its overall inclusion of paddlers of all abilities as opposed to showcasing only the elite such as other big sponsor events. I am not saying those events do not have their place, I am only saying that events like the Potomac have theirs as well.
Yesterday’s freestyle event [...]
Temperatures hovered in the mid 90’s with high humidity in classic D.C. fashion. However, the mid-atlantic region wasn’t the only thing bringing the heat as Jason Beakes, Jeff Calhoun and Danny Stock, local residents, scorched the course during the 2008 Potomac Festival and Great Falls Race.
Water levels sprung up from rains earlier this week bringing [...]
I will have the full write up and summary of my two weeks in Colorado in the next day. I would like to say to the individual(s) who stole the cameras from the BLM campground that we WILL FIND YOU! And of course if we don’t, you have some bad juju on you [...]
Nick Troutman wants to be the U.S. National Champion. There is only one problem with that; he’s not from the United States. However he is currently holding the second position in the Blue Paddle FIBArk Freestyle that is doubling as the U.S. National Championships.
After Day 1 of freestyle action we narrowed the Men’s [...]
There must be something about extreme racing and inclement weather, because today during the Pine Creek Boater X it was no different. The temperature dipped down into the lower 40’s with wind gusts of 50-60 mph and snowflakes were seen briefly at times. At one point during the race a deer was spotted [...]
Colorado has the unique ability to astonish you around every bend, unless of course you don’t like nature, the outdoors or people who are legitimately happy with their dispositions. So if any of that does not apply to you, then I am really confused as to why you are even reading this write up or [...]
inal Results for the Downriver Sprint were as follows:
1.Tao Berman
2. Jeff Calhoun
3. Jason Beakes
The 8-Ball Race takes place today which should prove to be absolutely entertaining as a normal boater-x will be taken to the next level. Imagine American Gladiators on the water. Hobie promised that this year will live up to its reputation from [...]
Not much more to say other than Dustin Urban is bomber under pressure. Facing a score of 158 that EJ put up in his second ride, Dustin had one more ride to go. After splashing a bit of water in his face and looking over to his wife Katie he road into the [...]
I sat next to Andrew Holcombe this morning after the conclusion of the Downriver Sprint on Gore Creek not realizing he had just finished. He looked surprisingly fresh and dry considering he just sprinted 3 miles downstream through class II-III. “It’s 20 minutes of absolute pain,” Holcombe said. “I will be just [...]
That’s right, I said it! I believe freestyle, especially the kind where you are taking timed runs in frigid water at elevation causing mild hypoxia is nothing more than a demonstration in controlled drowning! And I am convinced that many of todays competitors would quickly agree.
After a brutal day of weather yesterday during the Homestake [...]
The Homestake Creek Race takes place on the class V Homestake Creek in Red Cliff Colorado. This race had its humble beginnings when Ken “Hobie” Hoeve, Dagger Product Manager, decided to have a race on one of his back yard creeks. The incentive to bring boaters out and participate, a keg of beer. This race [...]
I arrived in Vail yesterday, June 2, in the later afternoon after making the drive west for two days. The little 88′ Toyota truck has served me well once again forever proving that they are the greatest vehicles ever made! Being road weary and ready to stretch out a bit and get some much needed [...]
We all woke up Saturday morning to a dusting of snow and temperatures near 20 degrees which if your from the Midwest or Canada you shrug off as a warm early spring day. However, we are in North Alabama and most down here have only seen snow five or six times in their lives. So [...]
In classic NAWF fashion these are the “semi” complete results scribbled in crayola on the back of a score sheet:
Huckfest
Men’s Pro:
1.Andrew Holcombe
2.Nick Troutman
3.Tyler Phillips
4.Charlie Mix
5.Dane Jackson
6.Corey Volt
7.Keith Yell
8.Clay Wright
9.Jonathan Shales
10.Boyd Ruppelt
Men’s Expert:
1.Chris Wing
2.Ryan Snodgrass
3.Isaac Ludwig
(incomplete)
Women’s:
1.Samantha Brunner
2.Lauren Burgess
3.Emily Jackson
Boater X
Men’s Pro
1.Eric Jackson
2.Nock Troutman
3.Dane Jackson
4.Clay Wright
5.Jonathan Shales
6.Andrew Holcombe
7.Keith Yell
8.Boyd Ruppelt (DNF)
Men’s Expert:
1.Tommy Hennan
2.Ryan Snodgrass
3.Chris Wing
4.Kevin Shafew
5.Isaac Ludwig
(2 [...]
Greetings from chilly Alabama. The first day of competition went off without a hitch and provided some entertainment as well. With the recent rain that the Southeast has been receiving, Short Creek was stomping today and provided us with some big tricks as well as quality beatings. Andrew Holcombe and Nick Troutman [...]
We are just two days away from the start of the 2008 Pro Circuit where Guntersville, Alabama plays host to the North Alabama Whitewater Festival on Short Creek and the Locust Fork rivers. Day one’s festivities include a waterfall freestyle and boatercross on Short Creek Falls. On day two, the Locust Fork will [...]
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