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.
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...
Apparel
Going Green with Level6: A Q&A with Production Manager Addison Dark
When it comes to sustainability, Level6 is on the level. The company is implementing several key environmental initiatives to help protect the world we paddle...
Paddling Industry News
American Rivers Releases 2021 Top Endangered Rivers List
For 36 years, American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers report has sounded the alarm about rivers facing urgent threats, spotlighting critical upcoming decisions and mobilizing public action.This year’s list highlights...
Destinations
Bad News for Black Canyon Boaters in Colo: Road Closed for 2021
Hoping to up your game and kayak the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado this year? You’ll have to wait another year. As reported...
Paddling Industry News
Rafting Community Loses a Legend with the Passing of Rafael Gallo
The international rafting community lost one of its biggest stalwarts and promoters with the passing Tuesday, March 23, of Rafael Gallo, founder of Costa...
Latest news
Jimmy Blakeney on TAHE’s Acquisition of BIC Sport
Last year, after more than 40 years as a French-made watersports icon, BIC Sport merged with Tahe Outdoors to...
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6 Days/6 Rivers: A Costa Rican Kayaking Odyssey with Amazing Vacations
“Buenas Lineas,” says our guide Arnaldo Cespedes. “Good lines.”
We just finished scouting a Class IV rapid called Robin Hood...
2021 Photo Contest Entries Are In
2021 Photo Contest Entries
2021 was a great year to get out and paddle. Check out some of the incredible...
Must read
Hellooh 2022: Slew of Acquisitions Lead to Changing Face of Paddlesports
In the past few years, there’s been a changing...
Inside AIRE’s Outcast Sporting Gear (OSG)
Want whitewater-worthy beefiness with your fishing craft package? Look...
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Colorado Creekin’: PL Creek Race Wraps Up Yampa River Festival in Steamboat
Down home fun is what you could call the 33rd annual Yampa River Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colo., held this year June 1-3. And wrapping it all up on the Monday afterward between the Lyons and GoPro Games in Vail was the eighth annual Paddling Life Creek Race, sponsored by the City of Steamboat Springs, Rocky Mountain Remedies, Kokatat, Rhino-Rack, Canoe & Kayak magazine and more...
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A Couple of Beers Can Go A Long Way to Save the Colorado River
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make a difference drinking a couple of beers. Earlier this summer PL reported that the New Belgium Brewing Company in Ft. Collins was spearheading an effort to restore the Colorado River after being named one of the “Most Endangered Rivers in America”. Now all those brewskies enjoyed after a full day of paddling have come to fruition...
The Emerald Mile Sends Readers on Record-Setting Grand Canyon Adventure
In the spring of 1983, a massive snowmelt, fed by the largest chain of El Niño superstorms on record, surged into the Grand Canyon, swelling the river to dangerously high levels and setting the stage for one of the greatest rafting legends in recent history. Kevin Fedarko, river guide and travel writer, narrates this extraordinary tale in his debut non-fiction book, The Emerald Mile.