2008 Woodie Awards
Riverboarders get thrillingly close to whitewater action
Andrew Wineke
Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Outdoor
Running rapids in a big, rubber raft ain't so tough. A foot and a half of rubber and air between you and those nasty rocks and scary rapids does wonders for your self-confidence.
On the other hand, running rapids on a glorified body board, with all your precious bodily parts from the waist down exposed to rocks and rapids - now we're talking.
Riverboarding has a long way to go before it catches the popularity of rafting or kayaking, but for getting up close and personal with whitewater, it can't be beat.
"When it gets you into the surf, your first sensation is you're on a Jet Ski, because you're right down in the water," said Doug Hyldahl of Logan, Utah, after taking a riverboarding class recently on Clear Creek in the Golden, Colo., whitewater park. "It's not like when you're rafting on a river and you just sort of hold on for dear life," he said.
Shane Bolling is riverboarding's patron saint in Colorado. He's the president, CEO and chief instructor for RipBoard, a company he started in 1999 after trying out riverboarding in New Zealand, where it's known as sledging.
"What I like about them is it's real simple," Bolling said. "When you're kayaking, you have to be able to roll over - it's a lot of learning. I didn't have the attention span for that. With this, I could just jump on the river."
RipBoard's riverboards are similar in some ways to kayaks.
They're made out of the same tough plastic, and the sides come up around the boarder to offer some protection from impacts and additional flotation (some riverboarders do use conventional foam body boards, or a larger version intended for river running).
Before sending them down the river, Bolling puts his students in sleeveless wet suits, life vests and short swim fins, plus helmets, shin guards and knee pads.
The body armor suggests riverboarding will be a rough ride and it certainly can be. On the other hand, the boards seem to get caught in holes (where a rapid crashes back on itself and sends paddlers through the spin cycle) less often than kayaks.
On the other hand, running rapids on a glorified body board, with all your precious bodily parts from the waist down exposed to rocks and rapids - now we're talking.
Riverboarding has a long way to go before it catches the popularity of rafting or kayaking, but for getting up close and personal with whitewater, it can't be beat.
"When it gets you into the surf, your first sensation is you're on a Jet Ski, because you're right down in the water," said Doug Hyldahl of Logan, Utah, after taking a riverboarding class recently on Clear Creek in the Golden, Colo., whitewater park. "It's not like when you're rafting on a river and you just sort of hold on for dear life," he said.
Shane Bolling is riverboarding's patron saint in Colorado. He's the president, CEO and chief instructor for RipBoard, a company he started in 1999 after trying out riverboarding in New Zealand, where it's known as sledging.
"What I like about them is it's real simple," Bolling said. "When you're kayaking, you have to be able to roll over - it's a lot of learning. I didn't have the attention span for that. With this, I could just jump on the river."
RipBoard's riverboards are similar in some ways to kayaks.
They're made out of the same tough plastic, and the sides come up around the boarder to offer some protection from impacts and additional flotation (some riverboarders do use conventional foam body boards, or a larger version intended for river running).
Before sending them down the river, Bolling puts his students in sleeveless wet suits, life vests and short swim fins, plus helmets, shin guards and knee pads.
The body armor suggests riverboarding will be a rough ride and it certainly can be. On the other hand, the boards seem to get caught in holes (where a rapid crashes back on itself and sends paddlers through the spin cycle) less often than kayaks.
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