April 26th and still snowing.

We have been ready for summer since the beginning of April but it keeps snowing and snowing and snowing.  Yesterday the women ended their paddle session in pouring rain/snow, so cold.
Tomorrow the men head off to Westwater for a overnight in Utah and maybe warmer weather.  

New Videos

Check out our new videos from Costa Rica and Africa.  There are more to come.

Willow Harvesting

 The USA Men’s and Women’s team volunteer for willow harvesting on the Eagle River this past weekend in Edwards.

Joe spent the afternoon at the Breckenridge Recreation Center, helping a group of kids that were interested in rafting. He showed them how to paddle and guide the raft around the pool. The kids loved it!

April 2011

The Women’s team had a great meet and greet in Steamboat on the 8th. Thank you all for coming out to support us, we had a great time.
The next day, we had a training session with Bushy at Manic Training; it was the best and worst workout ever. If any one wants to feel like they want to throw-up while working out, go to Manic Training in Steamboat.
Thank you Bushy for the great workout session.
Ronni

March 2011

With the upcoming 2011 season both teams have been working hard on and off the water. Getting excited that the weather is getting warmer.

Congratulations Mike and Amy Reid on their new little baby girl, Courtney Royce Reid born February 16, 2011.

Newest Women's Team Members

With the passing of the paddles we would like to introduce some of the newest team members. Sitting front right we have Misty Cummings from Glenwood, CO, sitting middle right is Brooke Magstadt from North Dakota but lives in Redcliff, CO and middle left is Molly Etters from Vail, CO. We are excited for the upcoming race season and look forward to doing some paddling.
Ronni

January 2011: Farewell

The start to the 2011 season has been a changing one. The women’s team is changing and growing. We would like to say goodbye to Lisa Reeder, Dawn Vogeler, and Jaime Passchier. These ladies have been paddling on the Women’s team for the past 10 years and have taken the sport to new levels. They have been paddling for the love of the sport, getting to new levels of understanding about raft racing. They have shown what commitment, determination, athleticism and what love is for rafting. They will be greatly missed. Thank you ladies for everything you have done and everything you have sacrificed for so many years. We would not be where we are today without you, thank you!
Ronni

December 2010- Africa

As winter approaches all the team members head back to CO. But Bishop and I headed to Zimbabwe in Africa to paddle and play on the Zambezi River for two months. We rafted, kayaked, river boarded and swam the Zambezi River which flows below one of the natural wonders of the World, Victoria Falls. It was an amazing experience seeing huge animals, visiting good friends and playing on such amazing whitewater.
Our friend Philani Moyo owns a local rafting company in Victoria Falls called Shockwave Rafting. He allowed us to tag along on all the trips he had booked. I have to say that he and his guides do such a great job both on and off the water. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Africa and on the Zambezi River. Thank you Philani and Shockwave staff!!

Ronni

Thank You

We would like to thank our sponsors for all the support throughout the 2010 race season. A special thank you to Contour HD, Headtrip helmets, Kind Design, Teva, Timberline Tours, and Topper Hagerman.

October 6-10, 2010: Pre-World's Costa Rica

A view of the Pacuare river from the bridge above the finish line.

Here it is, a review from last years Pre-World Championship in Costa Rica, just a bit over due.  We got to Costa Rica with all our gear and ready to see what the Pacuare River had to offer.  The women’s team gained one member since the summer. We welcomed Sarah Hamilton to our team to fill the 6^th spot; left center and our Spanish translator.

All the race events were held on sections of the Pacuare River, mainly the Upper Upper Pacuare. We traveled over 3 hours a day to and from the river; through the highland jungles with beautiful views and death defying roads.  With two days of practice and many laps up and down the river banks and surrounding cow fields we came to the first race day with much anticipation.

The Women's Team scouting the slalom course.

With over 20 international teams representing their countries, we walked down Main Street of La Suiza for the opening ceremonies.  The events began the next day, with Sprint and Head to Head on class 3+ white water. The Men took 2^nd in Sprint and with a great race against Brazil they took 2^nd in Head to Head.  The ladies took 3^rd in Sprint and 3^rd in Head to Head. The second day was slalom day. We took at  look at the coarse and decided that it was going to be fun, with many of the gates spread all over the river. The men took 5^th and the women took 2^nd place.  The last day was the Down River event and the starting line began an hour upstream of all the other events, but finished were the Sprint, Head to Head, and Slalom ended.  It was an exciting race with a helicopter flying overhead filming for a Costa Rican national television station, and it was good close race for both teams. The Women took 2^nd in the Down River giving them an overall 2^nd place finish; the men took 3^rd in the Down River giving them the overall 3^rd place finish.

            We would like to thank the International Rafting Association for putting on a great event; we look forward to the World Championship next year.

We also want to thank our Sponsors for all their support throughout the season.

Here's a summary video from Pre-Worlds in Costa Rica.