Forward motion, headfirst & horizontal to gravity!

Interest in riverboarding competition?

I think the Riverboarding symposium get-together being planned is a really great idea, I hope that you guys make it happen! I had previously scheduled a trip for that time in a land far, far away, but I will be there in spirit if nothing else. It's an awesome idea and a great way to do it.

That's the way the French do it - all get together in a central place, and everybody runs what level / river / section they're comfortable with, and then they get together at the end of the day and swap stories.

I wanted to test the waters though and see if there's any legit interest in riverboarding competition this year.

If there were a Face Level Riverboarding competition in 2012 - and that's totally up to the group here - I have a few questions.

1. Would you come if you could?

2. Would you compete? Why or why not?

3. Where would you ideally like to see it / them held, and why?

We'll start there. If I hear crickets I'll know the answer. So if you are interested, repost the question, talk to your river buddies and chicas, and if there's a solid enough 'yes' base, then we'll make something cool happen.

I will have more questions and comments in the Tuesday edition of FLI Life: Horizons.

Really, though, this is something that I don't have the answer to. If our sport is more just chill and events like the symposium work better than competition, cool. If competitions do have some merit, that's cool too. FLI will support whatever works and the market calls for.

So you tell me! :)

Tags: FLRC, competition, riverboarding

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rochelle Parry on January 8, 2012 at 2:42am

Wow cool, this messaged was published from the future! :)

I'd get back into competitions if I am able. Having a bit of an issue with some physical pain... I'll know more about it once I consult with a neurosurgeon... but I do miss the comps and gatherings.

Where? Well WA and Idaho, of course! :)

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Permalink Reply by Barry Welling on January 10, 2012 at 10:54am

1. I would try to make it.. though location and schedule are the two biggest hurdles if it's not east coast / SE then my attendance would be unlikely due to travels times and costs.

2. I doubt I'd compete. I Do riverboarding because I enjoy it.. but I'm nowhere near kevin's level of fitness, nor Boarding skill, so short of beating him @ the bar, or behind the bar.. I don't see myself with much of a shot on most competetitions. My skills in RB are more inline with rescues, and in research (more on that later)

3. I had told Kevin a while back, that what I'd prefer to see in RB competeitions would be lots of smaller events, with no cash prizes, so it tended to draw only locals, and regional / national events with larger awards to foster the publicity end of it. So the Where is literally Anywhere

On a related note... what we ( the sport) really need are more bodies in the water. More folks trying it out. so one of my goals this year, is to get a spare board.. so I can introduce others.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Yount on January 10, 2012 at 8:14pm

Maybe there is some merit in Barry's idea and having an novice division if we ever get the numbers for a competiton anyway. Say you have to have been boarding for 2 years or less.

I'd like to see more local stuff before considering anything national. I feel like the west coast has the best attendance going with Kern fest starting their season and American fest capping off their summer. Now if we can get some good local races and hanging out in the Rockies, Southeast. and Northeast, we may have some awesome community.

There is one kayak race that I enjoyed in the past because it had some skill involved in the race ( touching certain rocks with cones on them, then havign to make a ferry or side surf across a hole in order to make the next cone or buoy.).

Maybe we also need to find those sleepers who are competitive in other sports and haven't tried riverboarding yet: the sprint triathloners, mountain bikers, 5k runners, and obstacle course racers; and they'll be some new faces to compete with.