Paddling Industry News
Paddling’s latest news and product reviews. Paddling Life keeps you informed on what’s new in the paddling industry. From new product launches, paddling trade shows, company mergers, advances in paddling technology, and more – Paddling Life is here to inform you.
Athlete Stories
Hydrus SUP Co-founder Nicholas Zawadzki Dies Paddleboarding Payette
Nicholas Zawadzki, 36, co-owner and co-founder of whitewater paddleboard company Hydrus Board Tech, died on Monday, Aug. 9, following "a complete freak and unexpected accident"...
Paddling Industry News
OARS Launches “Cathedral in the Desert” Dory Down the Grand on its Inaugural Voyage
Family-owned and operated river running outfitter OARS launched its newest dory, Cathedral in the Desert, on its inaugural run on the Colorado River through...
Accessories
A PL Q&A with Mustang Survival’s Josh Horoshok
Forget singing that catchy little song "Mustang Sally" by the Committments. Established in 1967 by Irv Davies, the inventor of the world’s first Floater...
Paddling Industry News
Catching Up With Former Pro Boater Luke Hopkins on BG’s New Tandem SUP, Built for the Pandemic
For Body Glove, Nautica and Spyder licensee Surf 9—whose 45 employees are based in Benita Springs, FL, including 10 added in just the past...
Paddling Industry News
BOTE Wins ICAST 2021 “Best Boat” Category
SUP-maker BOTE banged out a big win at this year's ICAST trade show in Florida.
Held at the Orange County Convention Center, this year’s ICAST (International...
Events
Honoring Rafael Gallo: Go Fund Me Launched for RAFA, IWHOF and IRF
Rafa lives on. Rafael Gallo, the former conservationist, rafting advocate and owner of Costa Rican outfitter Rios Tropicales who passed away from pancreatic cancer in...
Paddling Industry News
A Boost for Diversity and Conservation: NRS Launches 2021 “Just Add Water” Project
Talk about putting money where your river mouth is. Northwest River Supplies (NRS) recently launched the third year and phase of its Just Add Water...
Packrafts
20 Years and Counting: A Q&A with Alpacka Pack Rafts CEO Thor Tingey
Alpacka pioneered the pack raft industry when president Thor Tingey’s mother, Sheri, helped him invent the craft for her son’s multisport racing exploits in...
Paddling Industry News
Czech’s Jiri Prskavec Wins Whitewater Kayak Slalom Gold; US’s Smolen 5th
Czech dynamo Jiri Prskavec buried the demons of Rio 2016 with a barnstorming run to win men’s kayak gold in the final event on...
Paddling Industry News
Flash Flood Kills Rafter in Grand Canyon
A 29-year-old woman was found dead and others were injured following a flash flood July 14 in Grand Canyon National Park, according to the National...
Accessories
Kokatat Sold
After 50 years under the direction and ownership of its founder, Steve O’Meara, Kokatat has been purchased by the company’s Director of Operations Mark Loughmiller.“Before joining Kokatat Mark...
Apparel
Summertime Kayak Fishing: What To Wear—A Primer from Level6
Ah, summer. The season for paddling, canoeing, paddleboarding, and of course, kayak fishing. Although kayak fishing can be a year-round activity, summertime sees the...
Destinations
Rafting Season Strong Despite Low Snow, Pandemic
While snowpack levels are below average across much of the western U.S., rafting outfitters are anticipating a solid season coming up as COVID-19 restrictions...
Paddles
Hasta Luego, PADDLEexpo
It was great while it lasted. But, like a river, all great things have to come to an end. Europe’s PADDLEexpo tradeshow series, also...
Apparel
50 Years And Going Strong: Catching Up With Kokatat Prez Steve O’Meara
It was the same year Disney World opened, the U.S. launched Apollo 14 and "All in the Family" debuted on television. For paddlesports apparel and...
Paddling Industry News
New A-DASH Program Helps Address Sexual Harassment, Discrimination in the River Community
Hot bodies and cold whitewater rapids have been the recipe for river romance for decades. But what happens when sexual advances are not welcome...
Paddling Industry News
Kayaker Dies on Meatgrinder Rapid on Colorado’s Crystal River
A kayaker drowned on June 17 while kayaking the Crystal River, according to the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office. According to reports, Chason P. Russell, a...
Inflatables
RMR Rafts Celebrates 10th Anniversary
While 10 years isn’t much in the lifespan of a river, it certainly is in the raft industry, with RMR popping the Champagne on...
Paddling Industry News
Pelican International Acquires Advanced Elements
Now you can add a high-end inflatable IK line to Pelican International’s growing paddlesports portfolio. Just two years after acquiring Confluence Outdoors, whose brands include...
Destinations
Montgomery (ALA) Whitewater Park Breaks Ground
Make me an angel, that flies from Montgomery... Those words by John Prine come in the form of a new recirculating whitewater park coming to...
Paddling Industry News
Mustang Survival Acquires Ocean Rodeo Dry Wear
As part of a strategic move as they pursue growth in action watersports dry wear, Mustang Survival, the North American brand known for innovative...
Accessories
Inventory Issues and Paddlesports
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That quote by Charles Dickens sums up the paddlesports industry this season,...
Multi-Sport
NRS, AW Release Paddle Wise “Responsibility Code” for Paddlers
NRS and American Whitewater have released a new responsibility code for paddlers. Called Paddle Wise, the program outlines what all paddlers should do to help be...
Paddling Industry News
Western Snowpack Roundup
With runoff starting throughout the West, paddlers are heading out in droves to area waterways—despite Mother Nature not necessarily providing a wealth of water...
Latest news
Win a Good Vibes River Gear Prize Pack
Winning a Prize Pack from Good Vibes River Gear
After you've entered for your chance to win the Good Vibes...
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The Quest for 4.0: Dane Jackson on Breaking the 4-minute Mark on the Green
Forget Chasing Mavericks. Like runners’ quest for the 4-minute mile, Red Bull athlete and Jackson Kayak’s Dane Jackson is...
Back For More: Check out NRS Flowstate!
Getting the flow state. That's the mantra being preached by NRS, which is halfway through the second season of its...
Must read
Hydrus SUP Co-founder Nicholas Zawadzki Dies Paddleboarding Payette
Nicholas Zawadzki, 36, co-owner and co-founder of whitewater paddleboard...
OARS Launches “Cathedral in the Desert” Dory Down the Grand on its Inaugural Voyage
Family-owned and operated river running outfitter OARS launched its...
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Fluid Changes Focus to Rec and Fishing Markets for 2015
For now, at least, Fluid fans will have to make do without much fanfare for a new whitewater model release. For the first time in 12 years, the company announced that it will not release any new whitewater models this year, instead focusing on introducing its South African born and bred recreational and fishing range in Europe and the USA.
Drought, Schmought: Shoshone Protocol Spells Higher-than-Average Flows in Upper Colorado
Believe it or not, in this year of historically low runoff in Colorado, the state's main artery, the Colorado River, is running higher than average in Class V Gore Canyon and Class II Lower Gore Canyon downstream (1,150 cfs), and perfect for rafters in Shoshone Canyon near Glenwood Springs. And paddlers owe it all to something called the Shoshone Outage Protocol...
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Creature Craft Founder Hospitalized After Running Wash.’s Sunset Falls
The raft didn’t flip, but it landed its inventor in the hospital. In late May, Darren Vancil, inventor of the Creature Craft, landed in the emergency room after taking his Creature Craft brainchild down Washington’s notorious Sunset Falls on the Skykomish River.