The new Liquidlogic Freeride 57 and 67 is finally out and in stock at your local retailer. John O’Neill from Alpine Quest Sports went down to Glenwood with me to test it out and see how it performed on a big flushing wave. At the higher flows of around 25,000 the river left side was definitely getting flushy and you had to really pay attention to not get washed off. Especially for those in smaller more park specific boats it was difficult to get long rides. John and I had planned on trading off and each taking some rides in the new boat but he ended up not wanting to trade me back, he stated the boat was perfect for catching waves on the fly and really easy to make it back to the eddy for more action. I had to wait to try it another day with Shane Benedict when he came to town at a slightly lower flow around 22,000. Click on the video below for some of that slippery wave riding action.

Homestake Creek race attracts people from all over the world. It’s the opportunity to gauge yourself with the best paddlers in the sport. Olympians, future Olympians, World Champs, world cup slalom kayakers, and even the locals all show up to put down their best two runs. Racers come for the $2,000 cash prize, the fame, the american women, or just for the love of competition. This year was some of the tightest competition I’ve ever seen in kayak racing. No one person stood out as the obvious choice for the leader. The flow was around 100 cfs making it just pushy enough to bounce off some rocks and not enough to make it any cleaner. Keeping your kayak up to speed was key with so many direction changes and places to accelerate all over the course.

Teva and the Vail Valley Foundation really know what’s going on when it comes to timing as well. They had on location the exact same timing system used for the Birds of Prey World Cup Ski races in November. So, when Honza Lasko and Mike Dawson tied for first place down to the hundredth of a second there was no questioning it and they fairly split the winnings between themselves, each taking home $1,500. Local transplant Jakub Nemec also crushed his way down finishing 3rd place for the men. On the ladies side it was Adrienne Levknecht holding the top spot for Team Liquidlogic. She killed it on both her runs with her first run good enough to put her in the top 10 of the men!

Brianne Horton was on the camera again capturing some awesome moments from the event. Check them out below.

Mike Dawson, tied for 1st.

Honza Lasko, tied for 1st.

Jakub Nemec, 3rd.

Adrienne, stomping her way to 1st.

Isaac Levinson, with a strong 6th.

Me, Liquidlogic Black Ops style, 12th place.

Nicole Mansfield, representing for Demshitz women.

Till next year, start training hard ‘cus you know the competition is.

SYOTR

After the PaddleFest weekend we grabbed Ted Keyes, the Liquidlogic rep for the western U.S. and routed a lap down Pine Creek to cool down from our first weekend of Colorado sun. I grabbed a Remix 79 from his truck and we all followed down in close Team LL style. Such a beautiful river and great way to end the weekend of fun.

Another beautiful pic from Brianne:

The crew in close comfort:

Of course, enjoying the sun in Colorado is never too good to be true. Monday morning we woke to 40 degree temperatures that quickly dropped as we climbed up the pass for some training runs on Homestake creek. I was pumped to put some scratches on my brand-new Black Ops Jefe Grande and get a feel for my local run again. Here are some scenes from the high water training laps on Monday morning.

Isaac flying down his first training run of the season:

Mike Dawson, another strong contender about to take his Leap of Faith on the bottom drop. Definitely trickier at the higher flows:

Honza, the Czech representation:

And we finished up just in time for the strong storm to swing in. Snow in the end of May, only in CO:

Here is a quick video clip that Team LL Isaac Levinson put together from one of his training laps. Enjoy:

Just getting back from an awesome weekend at CKS PaddleFest in Buena Vista, CO. It’s a great way to start off an epic looking season with all of the industries greats. The CKS Squad was in full force volunteering, running gear, selling swap equipment, and all the industry professionals were there to help people find the perfect gear. The real story, of course, was how awesome the kayak community is and how everyone chipped in to help Brianne and I sell a bunch of tickets to raise First Descents $2,103! The real work was done by Brianne outside all day Saturday and Sunday. Major help was given by Larissa Graham, Mike Ohmstede, and Stevo Parker on Saturday. Our online sales were a major player with CKS selling $1,340 worth during the past month.

When the dust settled Saturday we tallied up the tickets, walked into the store, and asked a customer a number between 1 and 210. She replied with 79 putting Jacob Gray of Grand Junction with his hands on a brand-new Liquidlogic Freeride 67, Stohlquist Rocker PFD, WRSI FD Helmet, Werner Rio Paddle, and Snap Dragon Whitewater Reinforced skirt. It would not have been possible without these companies supporting our cause. Please consider them the next time you swing into your local retailer.

Here is Earl Richmond of CKS handing over to Brianne the check for $1,340 thanks to their online sales.

And here Jacob Gray sporting his new gear. He was pumped and will be out Freeriding the rivers soon.