Destinations

In a sign that the paddlesports retail world is, if not riding a wave at least creating ripples, on October 22 the Nantahala Outdoor Center opened the doors of its groundbreaking experiential retail and outdoor activity concept shop, NOC Asheville, inside Asheville, N.C.'s The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa....

With a new conversational format designed to get more participants into more discussions, organizers heralded the 2012 Whitewater Symposium Oct. 12-14 in Jackson Kayaks' back yard of Rock Island, Tenn., as a resounding success...

What kind of schwag do you bring on a 60-mile canoe trip in the Canyonlands? Whatever is up to the task. PL (in company of 12 kids and eight “grown-ups," if you can call us that) whiled away the dog days of August canoeing Canyonlands National Park. And while we tested out a slew of canoes and paddles, we also put an array of accessories to the task, from newschool firestarters and firepans to SUPs and sleeping bags. Here’s the rundown...

Boaters heading to the Gauley this season have reason to celebrate: for the first time in recent memory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced that 2011’s release schedule will feature 29 days instead of the normal 22, with most of the later release days pumping out 3,200 cfs vs. versus the normal 2,800...

Rock/Creek Outfitters is opening a new, improved retail paddling store, outlet and distribution center at 1530 Riverside Drive in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Icing on the cake for an already stellar Colorado whitewater season, more than 200 people showed up to paddle and party at the 2nd Annual Bailey Fest in Bailey, Colorado, August 13-14, with PL on scene to revel in the river running mayhem...

Don't be surprised if your local eddy starts to get a little more crowded. Okay, not really. But the Paddle Council, a volunteer advisory group providing input to the Outdoor Industry Association to help grow the industry and expand participation, recently received a $30,000 grant from Nielsen Expositions to help grow participation in water sports. That's a lot of enchilada plates...

Paddlers like to get wet. No where was this more evident than day one of the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in Salt Lake City, where paddlesports took center stage in the outdoor industry at the Open Air Demo at Jordanelle State Park in Park City. Bonus: a record number of people on SUPzilla...

Once a year, industry bigwigs gather in Salt Lake City for the annual Outdoor Retailer tradeshow, where those lucky enough to attend can ooh and ahh over paddlesport manufacturers' new designs for the upcoming year. For those smart enough to stay on the water instead, here's a quick PL sneak peak of what the tradeshow cronies will see...

Boardworks Surf has a new fish in its SUP and surfboard school...a bad fish. The company recently announced that it will start making Badfish river boards, owned by Zack Hughes and Mike Harvey of Salida, Colo., taking the manufacturer from garage-maker to gargantuan. PL catches up with founder Hughes for his take on all things river Sup...

Wondering where to canoe in Canada? Here are the 50 best canoe routes of Ontario as chosen by one of Canada's most famous paddlers. Bring your hockey stick and Kokanee...

Kayak? I don't need no stinkin' kayak. That's the sentiment that could be shared by longtime kayaker Dan Gavere, who showed his versatility in the stand-up world by winning the SUP downriver sprint race on Gore Creek at this year's Teva Mountain Games, edging out rival Charlie McArthur by 13 seconds...

If you’re a paddler and it’s the month of June, then we know you’re in Colorado. Last weekend (June 2-5) the 10th annual Teva Mountain Games wrapped in Vail and upcoming this weekend (June 11th & 12th) the newly christened Rocky Mountain Surf Festival goes for the full Polynesian in Glenwood Springs. So, what if you’ve got a day job and couldn’t make it to Vail or Glenwood Springs? No worries, FIBark finishes off the tri-fecta in Salida the following week.

The water was cold, but the paddlers were hot. After a winter that was heavier with snow than usual Spring seemed reluctant to give up any of the goods. For the US Teva Whitewater Raft Teams competing in the 2011 USRA National Championships it was exactly what they trained for.

Tim Niemier, 59, has always thought outside the box...or cockpit. It was in his garage in Malibu, Calif., in 1971 that he indented a surfboard hull to create the world’s first sit-on-top kayak. By the time he sold Ocean Kayak to Johnson Outdoors in 1997, nearly every kayak manufacturer worldwide had a sit-on-top in its line. Forty years later, the visionary’s light bulbs still burn at his Wild Designs firm as he tries to get more people out on the water...

Get ready to rock out your Rocky Mountain bling. 2011 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Teva Mountain Games (TMG). Diamonds are the traditional gift for a decade of mutual admiration, just ask your spouse. Not that you’ll find many athletes sporting jewels in Vail June 2-5; tradition flies out the window when there is a race to win. Besides, those things are heavy...

Allo, Gubnah! Ok, so our English accent needs work, but that’s OK; we’re still more than a year out from the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Games in London. The good news: paddlers don’t have to wait that long to take a run down the official Olympic whitewater course. The Lee Valley Whitewater Centre opened in April and allows anyone with £49( about $80 US) a chance to descend the same rapids as next year’s Olympians...

And now for something completely different…. Monty Python references aside the staff at PL is stoked that the former Whitewater Stand Up Paddling Championship held annually in Glenwood Springs, CO is morphing into a bigger, better event (and not really a completely different event). Anybody with a wet-suit and a paddle can tell you- bigger is always better. Keep reading for all the details.

Get your high-water boats out. From Colorado to California, record snowpack is fueling the biggest water season paddlers have seen in decades, and in some places the biggest ever on record. A PL rundown of where it’s all going to spike...

Recently we've gone a little heavy on the West Coast articles here at PL. We thought it was time to check in with East Coast correspondent Jeffrey Cheatham, who filed this report from Rockingham, N.C....

Last month prized access to one of the most beautiful river floats in Oregon was secured by Western Rivers Conservancy with the purchase of the famed Minam Store property...

This past weekend marked a major milestone for Olympic hopefuls on the USA Canoe/Kayak teams. Over one hundred of the best U.S. sprint athletes took to the water on Friday and Saturday for the USA 2011 Sprint National Team Trials at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif...

There are few places more ideal than the Pacific Northwest in Summertime. The parkas are put away in favor of wet suits. The natives stop avoiding the water and start attacking it. Now, thanks to some of the guys at Mountain to Sound Outfitters and Sea Kayaker magazine (among others), there is a place to purge all that cold weather angst...

Northern California, specifically Sonoma and Mendocino counties, have been known in the last 50 years primarily as a solid wine making region. What you may not know is that on the weekends many of those wine makers put down the wine glass and pick up a paddle. And they all head to the waterway that gives life to their valley: The (Great) Russian River...