Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Okay, all you free-loading dirtbags. No more free lunch. It's permit season. So get off your duff and send in your applications for your favorite river trip instead of waiting to get asked along. Plus, that way you can invite who you want (which hopefully will include us). Here's all the info you need...

River guides rejoice: finally a book you can all relate to. Former river guide Tom Mahony’s Flooding Granite (Casperian Books) details the plight of river guide Zack Pruitt, a college drop-out who abandoned his girlfriend and young son when things got tough and headed back to the Sierra Nevada to guide. But he gets more than he bargained for. PL catches up with the author for a quick Q&A, and gives it a thumbs-up for those jonesing for whitewater action this winter...

After much time watching guests struggle during unexpected whitewater swims, Hamish McMaster, 20 year whitewater veteran and owner of the International Whitewater Company, Water By Nature developed the leg floaty.

Worried about tipping over on your SUP in whitewater? Boardworks and partner company Badfish of Salida, Colo., recently unveiled a new inflatable paddleboard that will do wonders to keep you on the surface where you belong.

After nearly a century, Washington's White Salmon River in south central Washington is flowing freely again. Earlier today, a hole was blasted in the base of Condit Dam, and its reservoir - Northwestern Lake - began to pour through it. The reservoir is expected to be fully drained by sundown...

The International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHOF) moved to the banks of the South Fork American River Oct. 14-16 to honor members of the Class of 2011, including this year’s inductees: Explorer - Richard Bangs (USA); Champion - JP Burny (Belgium); and Advocate - Oliver Cock (UK)...

After three days of tight competition at the World Rafting Championships on Costa Rica’s Pacuare River, the Teva US men's and women's teams nab 7th, while Japan strokes to its first-ever world title. And PL was there for every dip of the blade...

On one of the toughest slalom, courses in recent memory, the Teva US women's team took 4th and the men 8th in the slalom event at the world rafting champs in Costa Rica, with the spoils going to the Czechs. PL reports from the field...

Don’t think rafting is international? Don’t tell that to the 48 men’s and women’s teams from 32 different countries gathered in Turrialba, Costa Rica, for the 2011 World Rafting Championships on the Pacuare River. PL reports direct from the scene...

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...

Hurricane Irene rocked the Deerfield river valley largetime with historic, 100,000 cfs flooding when it passed over the Northeast at tropical storm force. Local businesses are continuing to recover from the damage as boaters size up new challenges on and off the river.

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

Idaho’s notorious Class IV-V North Fork of the Payette struck again this summer, this time on Aug. 14 when Fidelity Investments executive and Liquidlogic lead investor Boyce Greer, 55, died while kayaking Jacob’s Ladder. The death, which happened just after the rock drop on Jacob’s, occurred just a month and a half after the drown ing death of 19-year-old pro paddler Stephen Forster of Connecticut, marking the North Fork’s second fatality in two months...

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...

They call it “The Floateo,” where anything that floats goes. And pretty much anything goes anyway at the Black River Festival in Watertown, New York, one of the whackier, more festive river festivals in the country, kicking off the Whitewater King of New York race series...

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.

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...

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...