Closest riverboarding operation I know of is Extreme NC in Banner
Elk, NC  here's a link
http://www.extremenc.com/defaultraft.htm
scroll down the page and you can see a description of their
riverboarding trips. I believe they get started in late May.

Closest retail store to you that carries riverboards is
Blue Mountain Outfitters in Marysville, PA
·   103 S. State Road, Marysville, PA 17053.
·   Phone: 717-957-2413.
·   Fax: 717-957-0074
here's a link
http://www.bluemountainoutfitters.net/




Shane
--- In whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com, "riles7777"
<riles7777@y...> wrote:
>
> I live in New York city and I really want to start riverboarding
but I
> can't find any guides in my area to teach me how to do this. Does
> anyone know where I could learn closest to my home? Thanks
>

Checkout the new pics of Liz Arnold from the New River (Fayette Station
Rapid) in West Virginia .

I live in New York city and I really want to start riverboarding but I
can't find any guides in my area to teach me how to do this. Does
anyone know where I could learn closest to my home? Thanks

I live in New York city. And I'm reallly interested in starting up but
I can't find any guides in my area. Can anyone help me?

We've got lots of boarding on the east coast...
depending on where you are... lots up in the
northeast.. and lots in the mideast... and lots in the
southeast! East is the place to be!
Where are you in the east?
Liz

--- regan <regandarcy@...> wrote:

> Kinda new here.
>
> Long time surfer and scuba diver. But never been
> riverboarding yet.
>
> I understand they don't do it on the east
> coast(where I live).
>
> Any suggestions on best places out west? Colorado?
> And best time to go?
>
> I am toying with the idea of going to NZ and
> riverboarding with "Mad Dog".
>
> Anyway...thanks for any advice.
>
>
>
>
>




__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com

Kinda new here.

Long time surfer and scuba diver. But never been riverboarding yet.

I understand they don't do it on the east coast(where I live).

Any suggestions on best places out west? Colorado? And best time to go?

I am toying with the idea of going to NZ and riverboarding with "Mad Dog".

Anyway...thanks for any advice.

Sounds like a great trip!  Don't think I will be able to join you, I
know you will have a blast.

Shane
--- In whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com, "Kev"
<warrior_poet_sixty_three@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I will be in New Zealand February 10-17.  I have intinerary with
> pictures and descriptions of rivers, but i didn't want to clog up
all
> the group's storage space since it is a large file.  If anyone is
still
> interested in going or is just curious to see what we are planning
to
> run, then shoot me an email.  Deadline for sign-up for the trip is
Dec.
> 1st, so I can arrange transport in New Zealand.
>
> Kevin,
>

Hi all,

I will be in New Zealand February 10-17.  I have intinerary with
pictures and descriptions of rivers, but i didn't want to clog up all
the group's storage space since it is a large file.  If anyone is still
interested in going or is just curious to see what we are planning to
run, then shoot me an email.  Deadline for sign-up for the trip is Dec.
1st, so I can arrange transport in New Zealand.

Kevin,

On the way back from mountain climbing, I got to stare into the face of
a class VI rapid from the shore here in Asia.  Picture 60,000-100,000
cfs pumping through a rapid twice as long and steep as pillow rock and
you get the idea.  Total raw power-fun to look at and try to locate a
possible line-wouldn't want to be the person to try out the theory.

We have had two full days worth here in Richmond on the mighty James
River.

The water was big, fast and full of floating debris. I saw frogs
floating by clinging to logs, a turtle hanging to a bridge pylon, and
one daredevil Canadian goose that ran the main drop of Hollywood with
a line I could only dream of.

Hope your rivers are flowing like mine!

Just my luck!! I'll be in Baltimore a few days too late (October
6,7,8) with nothing but time on my hands. I'm ITCHING to try this out.
No seriously, I can't wait!!

Any chance of a carry-over?!?! Anyone?!?!

How about a demo on the Youghiogheny some time?

West Virginia whitewater did not disappoint and the weather was
perfect. Nearly 15 boarders rode the Gauley and/or the New River
(that's just the people Chris and I knew about)and the Fest on Sat
night was one big party. If you missed it - you're loss - as several
boarders rode the lower Gauley and it was only their second time ever
on a board. Way to go Justyn, Broc, Heather and anyone else we missed!
If you have pics - post 'em.  When my travels are done - I'll do the
same.

Hey all you boarders and newbies looking to give riverboarding a try.

Sunday Oct 2nd - riverboarding Demos on the Potomac river (Wash DC
area) beginning at 1pm.  Meet at Lock 6 off the Clara Barton Pkwy.
Demos will begin at the Kayak course and finish at the end of the
Lower
Falls. For more info see
http://www.ripboard.com/company/New2.shtml

Hope to see you there.  Feel free to give me a call if you have
additonal questions or want to reserve a slot.  Space is limited.
303.949.5828

Shane

Can't miss the Gualey Fest! 1 of 50 checking in.

I am excited about the New as well. What a great river to board. It
will be an incredible whitewater week/weekend for sure.

See you at the Gauley!

Riverboarders welcome to this year's Gauley Festival - a group of
boarders will be camping at Extreme Expeditions beginning Wednesday
night Sept 21 through Sunday night Sept 25.  The plan is to ride the
New River on Thursday Sept 26.  Beginning Friday Sept 27 and each
day thereafter we will be riding the lower Gauley as soon as the
release reaches the lower section - approx 10am.  Depending on each
rider's comfort level a group will form to run the Upper Gauley
Sat/Sun in preparation for the Animal Race on Monday. Saturday night
is the Gauley Festival at the fairgrounds in Somerset - be sure and
checkout the deals at the RipBoard booth. Camping is $8 a night at
Extreme Expeditions, directions for the campground are listed below:

Extreme Expeditions is conveniently located in the heart of the New
River Gorge just 3.5 miles south of the world famous New River Gorge
Bridge off US Rt. 19, on Hinkle Road East.

From the South via I-77: Take I-77 North/I-64 West and then take
Exit 48 (Beckley/Summersville) to US Route 19. From the toll booth
take US Rt. 19 North 15 miles to Hinkle Road. Turn right and go .02
miles to our headquarters.

From the East Via I-64: Take I-64 West/I-77 North and then take Exit
48 (Beckley/Summersville) to US Route 19. From the toll booth take
US Rt. 19 North 15 miles to Hinkle Road. Turn right and go .02 miles
to our headquarters.

From the North and West via I-77 and I-64: From Charleston WV, take
I-77 South/I-64 East to Exit 48 (Beckley/Summersville) to US Route
19. From the toll booth take US Rt. 19 North 15 miles to Hinkle
Road. Turn right and go .02 miles to our headquarters.

From the North via I-79: Take Exit 57 to US Route 19 (Beckley). Go
53 miles south on US Rt. 19 to Hinkle Road. Turn left and go .02
miles to our headquarters.

If you have any questions - we'll try and answer them.  Hope to a
have 50 riders over the weekend riding boards down the Gauley.

Shane

Ken,

mad props for planning to run it this first time before they even have
all the trees cut out of the riverbed.  Give us a trip report if you
are allowed to do it.  If they don't let you in the water, then contact
the AW streamkeeper for it.  Hopefully you can show me the good lines
on it sometime in 07' or 08'
Are you also going to do the lower or upper gauley this year?  It's a
blast.

Kev,

W/ me fill free to shoot me mail...The river will be flowing @
1000...I truely think 2000 would make it more like a Idaho rvr but
hell...I haven't been to Idaho :D..

AW's page: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/3146/

This will be the first(9/17) official release in 70 yrs...sure to be a
hoot. Once again the only watercrafts allowed on the river are as
follows: Kayaks,Canoes and 4 chambered rafts :(

I am going to Dick/Blick today to grab some red letters for my brd...
Each side of my board will read...White Water Rescue Team.. I only
hope this will fly or swim :D

Peace,
Ken Taylor

Nah, he can have the 70 footer.  At the same time, though it makes me
not quite as nervous about the 35 footer in New Zealand.  It's all a
matter of checking the landing and like you said-landing correctly.  I
don't care if it's 10 or 70, no one wants to land wrong and do a
facial shot to their own board. I'm sure it's kind of like people with
tatoos or sports cars, once you get one, you want more. It probably
starts with a 15-20 footer and add 5 feet here or there and before you
know it.  Yeah, I would have fell all over myself running down the
hill in flippers.  His expeditions on river and land are amazing too.
I think it was 70 days he spent on the amazon without any support.
His diary entry talks about rapids that he would have said were
unrunnable, but they also couldn't be portaged due to the sheer cliff
walls, so he made them runnable.

Dude, that picture of him going off the falls is sick...if you're into
that kind of stuff I wish you luck! =) Perhaps I'll have FaceLevel.com
help sponsor you. I certainly am not going to be tossing myself off of
any 70 foot waterfalls anytime soon. I'm into fun - but that's just a
little too nuts for me! That Mike Horn guy looks like he's pretty
crazy too - RUNNING down a steep, rocky hill in flippers?! Wow...

~Ice~


--- In whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com, "Kev"
<warrior_poet_sixty_three@y...> wrote:
> Hey, added two links in the links section.  One is for vaderetro, a
> hydrospeed company in Europe.  Their team page has two great
videos.
> One is of the Gauley.  I thought the camera man was a little
annoying
> but still a good video.  The other one is some of Mike Horn's
> footage.  In addition they have the photo of Mike doing the 70 foot
> falls in Costa Rica (world record).  The other link is to Mike's
> homepage.  He doesn't have a lot of river photos or footage, but it
is
> really interesting to read the accounts of his expeditions on and
off
> the river.  This guy has ran the entire Amazon river from source to
> sea (completely unsupported, he carried in all his gear and food
and
> lived off the land), ran the Colca river (deepest gorge in the
world),
> went around the entire equator without any motorized help, and also
> went around the globe by the artic circle, once again without any
> motorized help.  Pretty amazing sportsman.  Check it all out.

Hey, added two links in the links section.  One is for vaderetro, a
hydrospeed company in Europe.  Their team page has two great videos.
One is of the Gauley.  I thought the camera man was a little annoying
but still a good video.  The other one is some of Mike Horn's
footage.  In addition they have the photo of Mike doing the 70 foot
falls in Costa Rica (world record).  The other link is to Mike's
homepage.  He doesn't have a lot of river photos or footage, but it is
really interesting to read the accounts of his expeditions on and off
the river.  This guy has ran the entire Amazon river from source to
sea (completely unsupported, he carried in all his gear and food and
lived off the land), ran the Colca river (deepest gorge in the world),
went around the entire equator without any motorized help, and also
went around the globe by the artic circle, once again without any
motorized help.  Pretty amazing sportsman.  Check it all out.

Hey I'm putting together a New Zealand trip while I'm down in
Thailand in February.  Some of you will also receive a personal
invite (you know who you are) Come and get wet while the temperature
in the states is chilly.  I know that some of you may be tapped out
financially and vacation time wise if you are also doing the first
descent on the Blue Nile in Africa this fall, but I figured I'd
throw this one out here since I will be in the area.

Basically, the 8th is when I fly from Thailand to New Zealand.  You
may need to leave a day before to arrive on the 8th or you may be
able to fly on the morning on the 8th depending on where you are
flying out from.  I did some checks from a lot of major cities on
the east and west coast to Auckland and got prices between $ 1,200
and $1,700 round trip.  You may also be able to get a better deal
through a travel agent.  I did my searching on expedia/hotwire.  I
am not sure on the price of local transportation, lodging, and food,
but I will be checking on that with a lonely planet guidebook.  I
plan to live cheap either staying in a hostel or camping, and dining
cheap.  Here is the planned intinerary:

Feb 8th.  Travel day.  Arrive in Auckland and then travel by land to
Roturua (4 hours) where we will base our expedition out of.

Feb. 9th.  Kaituna River.  Class V.  This has the big water fall
from the Amazing Race.

Feb. 10th.  Scout and run if favorable water level-Huka Walls.  This
is a 35 foot waterfall that has 200 yards of big class V water
before the drop.  It has been done by some of the guides at
favorable water levels.

February 11th.  Wairoa river.  Class V.  This is a drop and pool
river with a lot of back to back drops in the 8-12 foot range.

February 12th.  Another release on the Wairoa river,  2nd attempt at
Huka if water level wasn't favorable on the 10th, Rangitaiki river
(class IV), or just hang around in Roturua-see if there is any
zorbing, bungee jumping etc.  Leave late that afternoon to return to
Auckland to catch flights the following day .

Februrary 13th-travel home.

Some people could also travel on the 12th if they needed to be back
at the start of the work week on Monday.

Gear:  I have found a kayack shop that rents sledges and gear, so a
limited number of people-myself included could rent our gear from
there for $ 35 U.S. a day.  Ripboard riders could get the travel bag
from ripboard beforehand and won't have any trouble getting it
through on international flights as one of your pieces of luggage.
For people who ride other boards (I'd recommed you bring your board
that you are used to and comfortable riding on), be prepared to pay
a little overage charge since the boards are longer, and give
special care to protecting your board in transit, because we all
know how the people at the airport treat luggage.

Visas: I'm checking on this, but there is plenty of time to apply
for passports and visas if needed.

I will have more information on costs and visas soon for people who
are remotely interested. Just contact me at
warrior_poet_sixty_three@... if would like to and think you
can go and want to be updated with more information.

Kevin,

P.S. Liz-please post this on the MSN Group-I'm not able to log into
msn sites right now.

Hehe.  I was actually talking about your riding and water reading
abilities progressing, I wasn't thinking about your physique.  Don't
worry, getting some really bad parasites over here and backpacking all
summer has turned me from looking trim and in shape to the poster
child for giardia (one of those nasty parasites that puts you on the
toliet for 3 days straight).

Oh heck bud...this run will be next year...I shall go walk it and do many other
rivers/creeks first... Just that run...anaconda/mike tysons just looks to doable
for a board..

Progress LOL...I put on so much weight this past winter I have regressed : (

Peace,
Ken

>
> From: "Kev" <warrior_poet_sixty_three@...>
> Date: 2005/08/19 Fri AM 11:02:47 EDT
> To: whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [whitewaterriverboarding] Re: Ravens Fork
>
>

Get some video proof when you do it, then send it to the blowhards
that won't let us do Tallulah and say "See, look what we are capable
of".
I've thought it was doable before too, sorry I can't be there
anytime soon to accompany you.  A few things to remember.  There is
still a rapid or two that has never been ran in anything period
(Mangler class VI  I think), and also rapids that get portaged when
they have wood on them.  Don't assume that because the video looks
good that the whole river is going to be like that.  Plan to get
there early and do a lot of scouting, a few portages, and setting
safety.  Go with people that have strong skills (same or higher
level than you) and that you have been on the river with a lot,
because trust is important on sketchy stuff.  Look for someone with
some other first descents or difficult stuff under their belt.
I also assume you have read all the info about the road going into
it (don't break that pipe across the road and ruin it for me before
I get back :), as well as leaving some beer for the guy that lets
people park on his property.
While you are waiting for it to run, you need to get creeking to cut
your teeth on some gradient before you bite off that one.  Wilson
(drop/pool) and lower Big Creek (continuous gradient) are my two
recommendations, or get some boaters to show you down the Telico
ledges (close to the Ocoee).  I heard you were doing Chatooga soon-
that ought to help prepare you as well.  Also, show up for Gauley
season and let the locals show you down.  It will get you used to
being in pushy water.
It's been a blast seeing your progression from your first time down
the Ocoee to where you are now.  I think you are ready to go out
there and make a rapid by rapid judgement.  If you get a good crew
around you and treat Ravens with the respect it deserves, then you
can do most of it.  Just don't be the first person ever to go into
Mangler (unless it's by choice).

Kev,

Greetings all...

I have been looking at this one for a while and I really think it is
doable...

Take a look : http://www.lvmvideo.com/quicktime/Ravens_Fork_05.mov

I know many boaters think I am nuts for even thinking about it...but
heck look at that flow...Looks like it would shoot you thru so fast
you wouldn't even have to breathe :)

Your opinion?

I know the protection will have to beef up a bit ...might even need
a mouth piece :D

Peace,
Ken Taylor

PS.. I am heading to La. for the Labor Day weekend if any need a
ride :D  I hear that there is some of the biggest, slowest water in
the south there :D

ROFFL,

Bro I thought this was going to be so extreme when I first bought that board
from you guys...I got the best mouth piece on the market...I fitted it b4
meeting you on the pigeon and haven't put it in my mouth since.
I will wear it when the time comes tho :D
Thanks for watching my back :D

Peace,
Ken

>
> From: "Kev" <warrior_poet_sixty_three@...>
> Date: 2005/08/16 Tue PM 09:53:29 EDT
> To: whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [whitewaterriverboarding] Re: Digest Number 153-add a mouth piece.
>
>

Ken,

whether you go with a face guard or not, I recommend a mouth piece.
Most sporting good stores sell cheap ones that you can boil in water
and then fit to your teeth.  It will come in handy if you ever take a
face shot to your board as they will keep your teeth from making the
inside of lips into hamburger meat.

-----Original Message-----
From: whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com [mailto:whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of shanebolling@...
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 4:49 PM
To: whitewaterriverboarding@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [whitewaterriverboarding] Digest Number 153

Rivers haven't run dry yet - in fact we just came up with a new surfing move - called the butt surf - basically you are sitting backwards on the board and surfing - lots of fun.

Would love to hit some new rivers in Oct - usually turn the Gauley Festival trip into an extended trip around the Southeast and East Coast (2-3 weeks).  Let's make a plan.

SB