MtnFlatRace

River Surfer magazine : First off big respects for your event helping the Four Mile Canyon fire victims with your benefit festival and race “First Bragging Rights.” From what I recall that day, it seemed that the whole town of Boulder looked like it was on fire from the amount of the smoke produced. Can you look back and give us your account of the details and how you saw it all go down? Thanks, I was glad to be able to give back with this event.

:I was out on the Boulder Reservoir the morning of the fire paddling, and was about to pack it in since the wind was howling. While paddling around I noticed the smoke starting to show behind the eastern peaks of the front-range directly west of myself. I stayed out on the reservoir

a little longer and watched the smoke plumes build, almost exponentially. I decided to call it a day when the amount smoke started to irritate my lungs. By the time I had the boards loaded up on the trailer and back to unload- the sky over north Boulder was completely covered with smoke and ash was falling in town. It was a surreal moment seeing all of those ashes fall gently from the sky like snowflakes.RSM: How did Mountain Paddle Surf’s “First Bragging Rights” SUP festival and race event come about? I had just finished the summer with a great job at Colorado Kayak Supply in Buena Vista, where the had given me the opportunity to organize and throw a couple of white water events. Once I moved to Boulder, Ryan and Kat Guay offered me a position in the small homegrown company Mountain Paddle Surf. The first thing on their agenda was to organize a late season festival & race event on the Boulder Reservoir. Ryan, Kat, and I all knew the potential the local community had to pull off su ch a fun event, so we went for it. We set up a date, and I had 5 weeks to pull it off. Needless to say, I hit the ground running. I also want to thank each and every sponsor that helped us pull of the race in such short notice. We were excited to be able to give back to the people in the community that were going through the hardships produced by the fires.

RSM: How many SUP’ers showed for event? From the photo’s I saw, the event looked incredible. What where some of the events that took place?

There was a great turn out for First Brag

ging Rights. Overall, we had sixty-seven SUP competitors, and many more spectators that came out to take part

  in the free demos, instructional clinics, and gear swap. We opened the day with a very relaxed demo and instructional session. Hawaiian born SUP’er Christian Bradley and CKS owner Earl Richmond were awesome at taking first-timers to intermediate paddlers through correct SUP techniques for recreational and race situations. Once the instructional portion was over we started off with our Long Distance Race that ran the course of 3 miles. All the competitors started on the beach and ran down to their board once the whistle blew. They all navigated through the course of buoys and had to come back to shore every lap to run around a marker on the beach and back to their board for the next lap. People were seriously amped for this race. We had a great set of volunteers that helped turn boards around on the water so the competitors could run back into the water to jump (bodies fully in the air) on to their boards and take off again.

We also had a relay race, the World Championship high jump of SUP, and the freestyle high jump.

RSM: Do you have a favorite moment from the day? I would have to say my favorite part of the day was the Relay Race we held. Ryan and I called all the competitors in and asked who wanted to take part in a mixed relay; it was a surprise race to every competitor so the stronger paddlers couldn’t create an unbeatable team. Once everyone was in, we had him or her count off 1-4. All the 1’s were a team, 2’s were a team, etc… It was very cool to see complete strangers joining in the spirit of competitive play and developing their relay strategies. The start of this race was such a crazy scene as well. We randomly placed a board for every team about 10 feet out from the beach in the water. The racers sprinted down the beach towards the board they were attempting to grab, creating one huge splash as everyone dove out into the water on the boar ds. By the end of the relay, the strangers were all laughing and hugging. This was the environment we were looking to create. 6. The SUP Freestyle High Jump and High Jump looked so fun; also very creative-much respect to all involved. What would you change next year besides no fires, obviously! Thanks, we are definitely looking to push the envelop with the sport and try to expand i t into as many fun was as possible. I do have to take the time to claim that this was the World Championships of SUP High Jumping. Our friend Phil Rainey from Boardworks came up with the idea to build the jump and gave us the know-how to put it together. People were jumping so high that we maxed the thing out, it was seriously at chest level for me- and I’m 6 feet tall. It’s a cool event we are going to continue to work with. The general consensus from the Mountain Paddle Surf crew is we don’t want to change the event template very much, but instead we would like to expand on our current event set up. I felt everyone thoroughly enjoyed the easy nature of the event and we want to keep it that way. 8. From what I understand, you offer lessons and rentals, and work late into the season on Boulder Res. What is the best way for a customer to get in touch if they want to learn more about SUP and how would you accommodate them? That’s correct, our business thrives on lessons, rentals, group parties, and similar opportunities. We have SUP boards and classes that can accommodate any reasonable need or request, and we’re expanding this even further for next spring and summer. From a friendly phone conversation to demanding race-training circuit, we’ve got you covered. The best way for someone to get in touch with us is through email at info@mountainpaddlesurf.com. The team here at Mountain Paddle Surf can supply beta on the upcoming events, locations to paddle according to ability level, and general SUP knowledge. We are apart of a small group of pioneering individuals that have been introducing this sport in the Rocky Mountains and we love to share our extensive knowledge with everyone. 9. What type of SUP boards’ are in your quiver? Do you sell SUP boards as well as renting and providing instruction on them? We are lucky enough to carry a very high quality lineup of C4 Waterman, Boardw orks, Paddle Surf Hawaii, and Rusty SUP boards. These boards are top notch and offer a model for every level of paddler. They are great companies to work with, and they really put in the time and money to support the growing SUP scene here in the Rockies. Our plan is to keep working with these companies and expand our race and recreational board line up, instructional classes, clinics, and offer Yoga SUP classes- how’s your core balance??? Mountain Paddle Surf does sell boards from the companies listed above, but we don’t spend much time in the retail operations. We like to send people to Colorado Kayak Supply in Buena Vista, Alpine Quest Sports in Edwards, Confluence Kayaks or Get Tommy’s (who are both in Denver) for board and gear purchases. These stores have boards in stock and have great customer service. We focus our business on introducing customers to the sport with instruction, rentals, creating events for the Colorado SUP scene, and overall spreading the SUP love across the Rockies. 10. Word has it that the Mountain Paddle Surf crew made it out to Battle of the Paddle 2010 at Dana Point in California. Is it true you mad e it out and that there were over 800 competitors out there? Give us some beta on this adventure; what was the SUP Scene like out there? Right on for representing Colorado wave lovers! It was an incredible trip that came together at the last second. Ryan, Earl from CKS, and myself flew into San Diego a couple days before the race so we could catch as many waves as possible before the race. We stopped at the Boardworks warehouse in Encinitas and they stocked us with whatever board we wanted and a handful of swag, I sorta felt like a kid in a candy store. They loaded us up and took us out to Cardiff Reef to surf the glassy waves until it was too dark to see. We spent the next couple of days out surfing before the event kicked off. Battle of the Paddle 2010 was amazing. I have never seen so many people crowded on a sandy beach. The even t did have over 800 competitors, who were from all over the world. The vendors of the SUP industry lined the beach and provided SUP product and knowledge for anyone who stopped by. It was an incredible scene. I com

peted in the Open Class on a 12’6” C4 Waterman Switchblade race board. It was the first time I had ever raced in the ocean and had been on the board. Needless to say, the first lap I looked like a complete rookie. Once I got dialed in to the swell and the board, everything clicked. I’ve gotta give credit to the C4 team for making that b oard, it’s my race board of choice now. One really cool aspect of the race for myself is I was paddling right next to Mickey Munoz for a long period of time and getting to talk with him on the beach afterwards. It was really cool to hang out with a surf legend like him. 10.What can we expect from Mountain Paddle Surf in the Future? Are there any new events or plans for the SUP scene? We are ever-evolving our business plan to better suit the community and state to expand the sport of SUP. This fall we have been talking with businesses and organizations like the Boy Scouts, YMCA, Boulder Recreation Centers, and the Boulder Reservoir about creating programs with the community. We also are in the middle of planning a SUP festival and race series to cover the Front Range and a couple venues in the mountains. Don’t want to give too many details away right now, but we are thinking of creating a SUP CUP allowing competitors to gain p oints from every race with big prizes at the end… Keep an eye on www.mountainpaddlesurf.com and our Facebook page as the details become public. 11. We are stoked you are supporting kids, dogs, families, and basically everyone on boards in Colorado. Where do you see the inland CO SUP scene going? The cool thing about this sport/activity is the broad spectrum of people it can benefit. There are so many ways that I see that SUP scene exploding- people in the metro areas taking boards out on nearby reservoirs for casual paddles, hard core hikers bringing inflatable’s to high alpine lakes, the huge presence of top notch athletes exploiting the training benefits (the Colorado Avalanche have even trained on our boards!), and the people enjoying the river scene with SUP. One cool aspect is catching river waves on the boards and surfing. One cool niche we’ve seen come forth is the “pocket wave” riders and the boards produced to fulfill their need to park and play. Check out Badfish Riverboards (http://www.badfis hriversurfboards.com) for a cool new SUP product. What has been your favorite moment or travel destination so far SUP’ing in Colorado or the world? This is a tough one. From taking lunch br eaks while employed with CKS and hitting the whitewater play parks in Buena Vista with my boss Earl to surf, seeing a great white shark right next to me while surfing at San Onofre by San Diego, to exploring the Upper and Lower Canyon on the Snake River and seeing a bear cub and bald eagles with Aaron i

n Jackson, WY…. I hold all of these memories closely and feel blessed to have experienced them. 12.You competed in the White Water SUP May this year, can you give us a favorite moment from that event and any advice those wanting to get out of the flat water and into the river? This last summer I wasn’t able to ma ke it out to the competition in Glenwood Springs. I was over in Buena Vista for Colorado Kayak Supply’s “PaddleFest 2010”. We are working this year to have the events on different dates so all the paddlers can go to both events. 13.Would you like to say anything to the world- “Where’s Aloha for you? With Love.” Absolutely, I’d like to thank the folks at Colorado Kayak Supply for the guidance to excel competitively as a river athlete and in a business mindset, Ryan and Kat for the opportunity to help them build Mountain Paddle Surf in Boulder, the Boardworks crew in San Diego for the amazing hospitality, Charlie and Jenny MacArthur for being great people in the SUP scene and not hesitating to help in anyway, Aaron at Rendezvous River Sports in Jackson Hole for taking us out on the Snake River (you gotta go check this river stretch out), and of course I have to thank my folks that are back in Wakefield, KS on the farm. They raised me to have a love and appreciation for the outdoors, and that is why I am here today.