Paddling Industry News

RIVERSPORT Whitewater Center in OKC Brings Championship Lineup to the U.S.

Oklahoma City poured its heart - and $45 million - into a world-class, man-made whitewater center, one of the few of its caliber worldwide. This year, that investment is paying off for OKC in a new way with an invitation from the International Canoe Federation to host a number of championship water sport events building up to the 2028 Olympic Games.

Bird’s-eye View of the “New” Barrel Springs on the Colorado

While 2020’s Grizzly Creek fire wreaked havoc on the Colorado River’s Glenwood Canyon outside of Glenwood Springs, CO, the resulting mudslides also did the...

Mustang Survival’s Live Beyond Land Vid Showcases Kayak Angler Annie Nagel

Mustang Survival, a pioneer manufacturer of lifesaving solutions since 1967 for those pushing themselves to the extremes, has released Part 6 of its Live...

Meet the USA Freestyle Kayak Squad; Next Stop, England Worlds!

Well, the USA Freestyle Kayaking Team’s Team Trials at Oklahoma City’s RiverSports Whitewater Center are all said and done, after a whirlwind of high-flying...

Swell Watercraft Hits Ground Running with WeFunder Campaign

Swell Watercraft is getting a boost from a WeFunder campaign for its sit-on-top kayak with footwells lowered below the waterline, a patent-pending scupper valve,...

OR Show Moves Back to Salt Lake City

After a run of five years in Denver, Colo., Outdoor Retailer is saying hasta luego to Colorado for its two annual tradeshows and heading...

Passing the Torch: Bending Branches/AquaBound Sold; Ed Vater Retires  

Bending Branches/Aqua Bound owner Ed Vater has sold the company to an in-house team and is retiring, the company reports. Based in Osceola, Wisconsin,...

What to Watch: 2022 USA Freestyle National Team Trials : Updated with video

Updated 4/13/2022: If you missed the 2022 USA Freestyle National Team Trials check out this highlight video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEKaMY0Vdg8     This weekend you can watch the best of...

NRS Welcomes Emily Jackson, Darby McAdams and Rush Sturges to Athlete Team

Northwest River Supplies (NRS) is welcoming three new athletes to a growing team of ambassadors that prioritize paddling and whitewater as well as community...

Small World Match: Outfitter Pledges to Match Donations to Ecuadorian Rivers Institute by 4/15

Outfitter Small World Adventures is putting its money where its river mouth is. The company announced that for all donations to the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute made by...

Singleton to Retire as AW Head

For as long as most of us at Paddling Life can remember, Mark Singleton has been the life force behind conservation and river access...

Down River Equipment Launches Used Gear Program

Used paddling gear just got easier to find. Wheat Ridge, Colo.'s Down River Equipment, a leading river equipment supplier and manufacturer, just launched a new...

OneWater Acquires YakGear OneWater Marine Inc. (NASDAQ: ONEW) announced that its subsidiary, T-H Marine, has acquired YakGear, Inc. (“YakGear”), an industry-leading supplier of kayak equipment,...

GetMyBoat Gets $21M in Series B Funding

SUP and kayak rentals—as well as yachts, motorcraft and other boats—got a big boost recently when Foster City, Calif.’s GetMyBoat, the world's largest boat...

Ecuador’s Quijos River Claims Two Lives This Winter, Saddening Boating Community

Ecuador’s Quijos River claimed the lives this winter of two kayakers, saddening the boating community, friends and family members. While unrelated, the two deaths...

Longtime Industry Vet Kelley Woolsey Joins Hobie

Bringing over 30 years of water sports and lifestyle brand experience, Kelley Woolsey has joined Hobie as Vice President of Global Sales, Service and...

Canoecopia Back on Track Mar. 9-11

It's baaaacckkkk! After cancelling the show at the last minute when the pandemic first hit in 2020, and changing last year’s in-person show into...

NRS Movin’ and Shakin’

Moscow, Idaho’s Northwest River Supplies (NRS) is making moves with big internal developments including promotions in senior leadership, expansion of the product development team...

Euro SUP Brand Mistral Sold

SUP, windsurf, surfboard and wingfoil brand Mistral has been acquired by Dutch equity investor NMG. The Haarlem-based investor will take over 100% of the...

Austin Canoe & Kayak Closes Doors; Taken Over by The House

Sound the Taps song for another paddlesports retailer. Austin Canoe & Kayak, a longtime Texas paddlesports retailer with five stores and a robust e-commerce...

Watercraft Up 17% for Johnson 1st Quarter Report

RACINE, Wisc.' Johnson Outdoors Inc. (Nasdaq:JOUT), a leading global innovator of outdoor recreation equipment and technology, today announced lower sales and earnings year over year...

Holiday Doubles Down on DEI

Holiday River Expeditions is doubling down in terms of DEI, with a new series of trips designed for the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities. Following two...

Wait, What? $100K for Kayak Fishing?

Yep, you heard right. There’s big news on the 2022 Hobie Bass Open Series (B.O.S.) Anchored by Power-Pole trail. Hobie has just bumped the total purse for its...

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 become a new brand, TAHE,...

Latest news

Canoeists Study “Environmental Kidneys” of Florida 

Expedition Team Studies Everglades, the “Environmental Kidneys” of Florida  As reported by Expedition News, a team led by a University of Florida...
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“They System is to Blame”: Landing a Coveted River Permit an Upstream Battle (By The Colorado Sun)

Want to float one of the West’s most popular rivers? You have roughly a 2% chance of getting a...

Front range Rafters Rejoice! DRE’s Raftopia March 27-April 1!

Down River is bringing back Raftopia and it's going to be bigger than ever! Raftopia will return as an...

Must read

2022 World Paddlesports Festival Set for Aug 26-29 in OKC 

Call it a Festivus for the Restivus. With the ICF Canoe...

Boating and Bears: PBS’s Expedition with Steve Backshall Tackles Kamchatka’s Kronotsky

Modern-Day Explorer Ventures Deeper into the Unknown Season Two of...
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Special PL Exclusive: EJ and Corran on the State of the Paddling and SUP Industry!

How’s the paddlesports and SUP industries faring? For a take from the trenches, we went straight to two of the most prominent – and opinionated -- paddlers around: none other than Eric Jackson of Jackson Kayak and Corran Addison of Corran SUP, two paddlers well familiar with both each other and making the cash registers ring. Here’s what they had to say…

Breaking News: Ocoee Whitewater Center Burns to Ground

Site of the 1996 Summer Olympics—and its Olympic flame—the Ocoee...

USA’s Eichfeld 7th, France’s Gargaud Chanut gold in Men’s C-1 in Rio

And the first whitewater slalom medal in Rio goes to....France! Denis Gargaud Chanut of France inherited the mantle of French canoe slalom great (and three-time C-1 gold medalist) Tony Estanguet as he won France's seventh Olympic Games gold medal in C-1 slalom at Rio's Whitewater Stadium on Tuesday.