Salida FIBArk Whitewater Festival - Kayak Loop Videos

	Colorful welcome from a colorful town.	One of this boater's first "kayak loop" attempts.

I was at Colorado's Leadville Airport training for my pilot license this morning. Before going home I decided to head a little further south to check out the weekend festivities in Salida. The 55th annual FIBArk Whitewater Festival is just getting started.

Some preliminary amateur competitions were underway in Salida's upper wave during the FIBArk festival, but the lower wave was available for use by anyone. I still don't own a kayak but I had a Dagger G-Ride demo in the back of my vehicle along with my other gear. Boating was a definite option, but I was hesitant to get in the water today during the Salida festival. There were so many kayakers in Salida's whitewater park that some of the boaters were surfing two at a time on the lower wave. I eventually decided to give it a shot and I'm glad I did.

	A Giant FIBArk Festival Tiger Raft... or maybe not.	Competitor executes partially submerged "kayak loop."

Boaters were entering the wave from both sides, but some psychic eye contact across the river and my jump into the middle of the wave (along with my obvious lack of skills) sent an effective message not to hop on and crowd me during most of my rides.

Later in the day, the crowds thinned out and I got to talk with some boaters in the eddy about loops (front flips) and other more advanced wave moves.

The one girl in our discussion decided to try a "kayak loop"' for the first time. She made several attempts. Although she was not successful today, it was inspiring to watch her. It seemed to me that she only needed to work on her timing a little. She was almost instantly able to simulate the kayak looping technique. With consistent effort, I am sure she will be flipping the boat in no time. There are two kayak loop videos above. One of the kayak loop videos shows one of her first attempts.

With the right wave, the right boat, and the right technique, it is possible to flip a kayak end over end completely out of the water. I will confess that perfecting the kayak looping technique is one of my goals in kayaking. I was very intrigued to watch someone make their first attempts.

In Salida's upper wave, I shot a sequence with an amateur junior men's competitor throwing a kayak loop as he enters for his ride. He is partially submerged as he finishes the flip, but I assume it still counts as a loop in the competition.

Next year I will try to come to the festival on the last day. There should be some great image acquisition opportunities during the Pro Finals.
-Dan

SAVAGE SNOW Main Entrance

Design and Contents © Copyright 2006 Savage Entertainment
All Rights Reserved