Surfers make a stand in Glenwood Canyon
Hawaiian surfers shock drivers in Glenwood Canyon
by descending Colorado River in new style
by
Pete Fowler
Desiree
Powell had never seen people surfing down the Colorado River.
Not kayaks or rafts or boogie boards. Surfboards.
She was at work, driving fish to Sylvan Lake for stocking when she spotted
the four surfers somewhere not far east of the No Name tunnels.
"I just thought they were crazy," she said. "At first I thought they were
standing on kayaks, then I was like, 'No way, they'd fall over.'"
Sean O'Leary was somewhat surprised when the group from Hawaii and
California came through the door of Glenwood Canyon Kayak asking for
lifejackets for their stand-up paddle surfing excursion.
"I've heard about it before," O'Leary said. "But you
never think a bunch of guys from Hawaii are going to be in Glenwood."
O'Leary has seen people surfing on the South Canyon wave with a surfboard,
but hasn't seen or heard of anyone actually traveling down the river on a
surfboard. He was invited to try it out firsthand having never surfed
before. He fell a number of times but had a blast.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "It was just a different experience, a
different way to see the water. I definitely want to do it again."
He liked the challenge of balancing while standing and paddling and the
increased view from standing instead of sitting in a kayak or raft.
"It's just a totally different way to be on the water," O'Leary said. "But
it's pretty wickedly cool."
Glenwood Canyon Kayak will probably try to start selling the boards and
paddles in the future, he added. O'Leary thought they could sell well around
here, especially if a whitewater park gets put in near Glenwood.
Brian Keaulana, Dave Parmenter and Mike Fox tested their
boards on the Colorado River Friday morning. Parmenter is a respected
surfboard shaper and former professional surfer. Keaulana is described by
National Geographic Magazine as an innovator in water safety risk management
who is routinely tapped to teach the best big-wave riders in the world how
to react to wipeouts in 40-plus-foot waves. The magazine's Web site says he
competes in surfing competitions while working as one of the most
sought-after surfing stuntmen in the industry. Phillip Rainey, a 1979
Glenwood Springs High School graduate working for California's Boardworks
shaping company, shot photos of the group.
They were traveling around testing the limits of what could be done on the
boards and promoting them on beaches in the eastern U.S. and in places like
the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., before hitting the
Colorado River from Grizzly Creek to Two Rivers Park. It was the first time
they'd used them on a river.
"Unbelievable," Fox said. "This is fantastic. We're all like young kids
again."
Keaulana, Fox and Parmenter helped launch the C4 Waterman company that
designs and sells stand-up paddle surf boards. Their Web site explains that
stand-up surfing became popular maybe 40 or 50 years ago when beach boys
rode waves at Waikiki. It was started by beach boys who wanted to be able to
more easily snap photos of tourists, to help them learn to surf or to stay
dry and smoke cigarettes while on the water.
The sport experienced a resurgence several years ago when famous surfers
like Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama and Keaulana began stand-up paddle surfing
as an alternative way to train while surf was down, Parmenter said.
"This old traditional thing started morphing into a fitness thing for the
big-wave surfers," he said. "(Keaulana) figured out you could do more on
these boards than just paddle around.
Visit
www.c4waterman.com or
www.boardworkssurf.com
for more information.