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.

Womens USA Raft Team at the Gore Canyon Race

End of Summer

Over the past two months both teams have been enjoying the rest of the summer here in Colorado. We had a great commercial rafting season with wonderful weather and great water levels to finish off the season.

 Back in August the women’s team raced in the Rancho Del-Rio race where they took first and had great time at State Bridge on the Colorado River.

The Colorado Regional Racing Series came to an end with the Gore Canyon Race. The attendance for the race was more than expected with crafts of all sorts; rafts, kayaks, wavehoppers, shredders, catarafts, a creature craft, and a river board. At the major rapids spectators lined the banks waiting to either run the rapids or just cheering competitors on. After the race, the awards were given out and everyone got to enjoy pictures from the day and live music. The Men’s and Women’s Teams both did very well with the Men coming in first and Women’s team third. Thank you to Lisa Reeder for the organization of the event and all the volunteers.

            As we approach October both teams have been training for pre-worlds which are being held in Costa Rica.  The events start on the 6th and goes through the 10th. This race is designed for everyone to see the rivers and venues that the World Championship will be held on next October 2011. We hope to have a great time down in Costa Rica on semi-warm water!

Colorado Regional Race Series: Pine Creek Race

Yesterday was the Pine Creek Race on the Arkansas River. There was a pretty good turn out for an evening race in crummy weather--a total of 10 raft teams, a lone shredder team, a duo-duckie, and a few kayaks. These races always come with a surprise and this year was no different. The start of the race took place under a low footbridge above Pine Creek rapid. Each team lined up under the bridge facing upstream with one team member standing in the middle of the boat, holding the bridge. At the start whistle, there was a mad scramble to turn boats around and jockey for position before heading down the longest stretch of continuous class IV-V whitewater on the Arkansas. The battles for position up top were intense and the team from Breckenridge got out in front with the US Men's Team in hot pursuit. Teams from Granite, CO and a Timberline Tours team from Vail stayed hot on the tails of the leaders. The front two boats were neck-and-neck down Pine Creek and were surprised to find themselves in a barrage of water balloons (courtesy of some Lakota Guides) just as they approached the crux move. Half way down Triple-Drop rapid, the Men's team made a pass on the right and got out in front. The grind began at the bottom of the rapid as all teams pushed across a large stretch of flat water. Time gaps grew and by the time the race ended at Rapid #5 in the Numbers section, the men had a clear lead. The Breckenridge team finished second, and an AVA team finished up in third.

Final Day Downriver

The downriver event on the Dutch Water Dreams course was bound to be an interesting event, based on the round and round nature of the water park. The women went off at exactly noon. We were in the second heat of women's teams; luckily the faster heat. Eight teams, side by side, against the shore. We got a decent lane pick by default and got out in front, however, had to navigate around several buoys along the way, getting edged out on the corner. We finished the first lap in third place. We battled for the next four laps against the Brits, bouncing off the back of their boat, coming up alongside them a few times on the flat water, but having to drop back to get around the buoys each time. Anyway, the USA women finished with a BRONZE. We had great crowd support from our family of spectators and our mens team. Women finish top five overall!!!

The US Men's downriver event went off right after ours. The heat was stacked; Brazil, Japan, Czech Republic, USA...... first lap put the Brazilians out in front; there they stayed. The boys had a decent start, fought hard and came around the first lap in fourth. A few bobbles by some men's teams put the USA in second by the third lap. The fourth lap Japan charged back and took over second from the men. That's where they stayed, however, the New Zealand men from an earlier heat stole the third place position from the men by 30 seconds or so. Fantastic showing from our USA men. Men finish top four overall; 1 bloody point out of third place overall!!!!

Both teams had some great successes on this journey; fun was had by all. Thanks to everyone for their support; spectators and sponsors. Tonight we mingle with teams from all over the world as we eat, drink, tell stories and finish our trip in the Dutch land; a friendly, warm, beautiful place I might add.....

Slalom Day

Slalom is one of the most challenging events of a competition. The course here in Zotemeer was no exception. The eddies were strong, the current fast, and the gates were set in a way that only the best teams in the world were going to make it through the course with a completely clean run. The men began the competition with the US team set to start late in the day. This allowed us to watch other teams move through the course and learn from their mistakes and successes. Our first lap through was pretty good. We cleaned most of the course and had only two gate touches, giving us a 10 second penalty and putting us in the top ten as we moved into the second round. On our second lap through, we sped things up a bit, had only a single gate touch, and improved on our overall time. This was one of our best slalom showings ever, but not good enough for the podium. The men finished in fourth for the day with the Czechs, Brazilians, and Japanese in the top three. On a bright note, we were one of only two teams able to clean the course with only a single touch. The women began their day with a brilliant run in the top of the course. They were the only team to clean the top five gates, but disappointingly missed gate number seven. The second run through for the women was a great showing. They had more gate touches, but made every gate and improved on their raw course time (one of the fastest for the day). It was a good day for both teams. Overall standings put the men in sixth and the women in eighth. It all comes down to the downriver race this morning. If either team can podium, then we are guaranteed an Overall medal. Wish us luck!