February river running

The past weeks weather has been crazy. 25 degrees and snowing one day and the next day 85 mile an hour winds. I have been itching to get back on the water. Today was the day!

The only water I found not frozen was in rivers. I hit a small section of the platte up. The section was perfect, hidden from the wind and cold. The sun was out but it was only about 45 at the warmest.

I paddled for about an hour going downriver and paddling back against the current. I missed the sun and water really bad!

Etretat

Etretat is most known for it's breathtaking white stone cliffs. The cliffs are 70 meters high. There are three rock formations among the giant cliffs which include the falaise d'aval and the aiguille ('downstream cliff and needle); the manneporte, a natural rock arch; the falaise d'amont ('upstream cliff'), a thin rock that juts into the sea.

Not only can visiting paddlers enjoy the cliffs from the sea, but can also enjoy scenery from the walking paths above the cliffs. Just below the cliffs is a pebble beach that is popular. There are many different ways to enjoy the beauty that this location has to offer including horse back riding, diving, hiking wind surfing, and Stand Up Paddle.

If your eyes get tired of the beautiful ocean scenery, you can always wonder around the town. Originally this town was a fishing village but is now a resort like town. Famous artists and authors use to come an stay in this town including Monet, Maupassant, Victor Hugo and Flaubert.

Life Balance

Balance is what holds our universe and lives together. As you start to kick off the new year with all kinds of health and diet goals, it is important to keep this in mind.
Lots of different kinds of people are stuck in this all organic state of mind. I believe that this can also have adverse health effects. Have you ever herd the saying, "too much of a good thing is bad?" while eating organic is good for your body, eating all organic I believe will cause just as many health effects as eating poorly!
Our bodies are constantly adapting and building up immunity against foreign things that enter our bodies. Not putting things that are part our our environment into our bodies might deprive our bodies the chance to build up immunity to certain things.
It is important to keep a balance in our diets as well as in our everyday life. Stay active and be part of nature.

The Great Salt Lake

As I drove into the Great Salt Lake Marina there were old buildings that seemed to be abandon. I couldn't help but imagine that one day these ruins were gift shops of some sort. Full of visiting people but now looked like they hadn't welcomed visitors in years.

Once we got to the marina I was overwhelmed with my surroundings. The lake was bigger than I thought it would be and the hills surrounding it were beautiful.

A sulfur smell permeates the air around the lake and where the wind blows it. Swimming in the lake would be tough because the water is so shallow in most spots. Not only that but the water is so full of brine shrimp, I don't think anyone would want to swim in it!

As I put my board into the water a storm was rolling in. I pushed off the dock and headed toward the closest hill. There was weird purple algae growing in the water so I made sure I stayed on my board. Because of the smell I felt like I was paddling in lava on some great adventure you would see in movies.

After a good paddle I got back to my car just as the rain started to fall. I loaded ip my ROGUE paddle board and began my 8 hour drive back to Denver.

Cancer free ocean

Like my friends at Ocean Minded say, "Everything ends up in the ocean." I couldn't have said it better myself. Maybe because I am a stand up paddler and spend so much time on the water I have a better understanding about how true that statement is. Why should you care?!

About eighty percent of the plastic in the ocean comes from inland states that don't even touch the ocean. Wind, rain/snow runoff, rivers and creeks and just some of the ways your litter will find it's way into the oceans. Then what?!

Every chemical in plastic is toxic. Tiny fish and other wildlife eat small pieces of plastic and other litter thinking it is food. Then a bigger fish eats that fish and so on. While the chemicals are absorbed into every fish all the way onto your dinner plate. Then you eat it and the chemicals are absorbed by you!

We have all sorts of cancer awareness programs. Who would have thought it all starts with respect for our environments and oceans. No matter how far inland you live, you are still effected by he oceans. Do your part to fight cancer and keep our oceans blue!

Teva Games

You want to put your SUP skills to the test. The thrill of 1000 cheering fans. To share the sport of Stand up Paddle with people at home flipping through television channels. Then Teva mountain games is your destiny.

The Teva games is 5 days and is held in Vail Colorado. Spectators and participants for almost any outdoor sport you can imagine show up from all around the world. Kayaking, fly fishing, dog jumping, running, bike racing, BMXing, rock climbing, and the sport we all know and love, Stand up Paddling!

Two Stand up paddle events will be held at the games. Both events will be river races on gore creek. The down river sprint which is a 3 mile down river time trial. The second event is a SUP cross short sprint.

Participants in the Down River Sprint all need to register their boards and drop them off a day before the race. This is required because there is no parking at the races start point. It is literally in someones backyard. Boards and riders will be shuttled to location. I learned the hard way last year and ended up missing the race because of it.

The SUP cross race will be held the following day. The starting point and finish are within walking distance of each other. Heats will be run in groups of four racers and top two will go onto the next round. Elimination will go on until the finals. A cash purse is awarded for winners. Last year I made it to the semi finals. This race is an everyone for themselves sprint! All or nothing and anything can happen. I saw some of the fastest racers get cornered and eliminated before they could do anything about it. Make sure you practice your river skills!

I also recommend checking out the other events and food vendors. Chipolte had a booth up last year and there is nothing better after a hard race than one of their burritos! Eighty percent of the ingredients they use is organic.

See you on the water at the starting line. Paddle fast and take chances!

Winter SUP

After church I got a call from my friend Dave. "We are almost to the hill and we have some SUPs and paddles" he said. I hopped into my car and headed off to meet them at Ruby Hill Park in Denver.
A day before we had talked about taking some SUPs over to a sledding hill because the lakes were frozen. I pulled up a little late and they were charging the hill without me.
I grabbed my gear and headed up the hill. When I got to the top, we were getting some strange looks from people. I guess they had never seen this before. It worked really well.
After a few good rides and some epic wipeouts we decided to call it a day. But before we we left we just had to ride the biggest hill there. It was steep and icy but we charged it!