The Shuswap Paddle Party.

Wandering into the grounds of the Shuswap paddle fest was like tumbling down the rabbit hole. I quickly realized that the event had more emphasis on the party than the paddle. Tents strewn across the grounds with limbs hanging out the doors were an indication of the previous nights exploits. Artful signs were posted on trees with a concert line-up that resembled fests like Shambala or Koots Roots. The concert stages were freshly constructed out of neighboring cedars. The main stage was awesome, a two tier stage complete with backdrop and lights. The DJ booth looked like the turntables were inside a huge shark mouth with carefully carved teeth made of wood. Giant Chinese gold cats and all kinds of funky trinkets were placed randomly near the stages. There were two teepees near the stages, one housed a few leather couches and a glass top coffee table, the other a shoe swap and costume trunk room for festies to dress up and upgrade their footwear. I had a good chuckle to myself when I saw the glass table in particular, imagine being in a forest in the middle of nowhere and coming upon a rustic looking teepee with a $3000 living room set inside it, what a trip. The other side of the grounds had two food concessions and a baseball diamond with tents starting to pop up in the outfield.
After getting my feel of the fest that was about to explode into my eardrums I checked out the rodeo site on the banks of the Shuswap. A judging booth on one side and a rather large kicker ramp whose lip was about 12 feet from the water surface that made my lower backache just looking at it. This fest was going to be one to remember for sure. The Endless Adventure team set up camp and a demo area halfway between the grounds and the river where the rafts set up shuttle. We had a great spot in the woods with our tents set up and a slew of new Jackson Kayaks for anyone to demo for free. Throughout the morning festies started setting up camp all around us and filling the baseball diamond and surrounding area. It was noticeable just what kind of party this would be when most of the cars arriving were not pulling kayaks out but rather hula-hoops, spring-loaded stilts, costumes and other party ware.
The first event was the ball race starting at the crack of noon only 2 hours after the supposed time. The format was a 3 boater team with one beach ball, first ball to make it from the put in to the kicker ramp wins, only rule was no skirt pulling which I am pretty sure was ignored. Soon after the start of the race three swimmers left their kayaks and I was dodging a yard sale as well as aggressive local boater to try and find our ball. James Roddick, Kelsey Thompson and myself were trying hard to get our ball down the river amongst the assault of hacking paddle blades and pushy big water. At one point James had to bail on the race to help a struggling swimmer, a move that sealed our victory. There were two other balls in the lead with golden girls, the Enderby locals and ours who were doing a great job at being a pain in the ass. One paddler ended up tossing our ball into an impossible eddy I could not attain soon enough taking us out of the lead. All I could do was wait in the lower eddy while the two teams tangled each other up. Sure enough James came down to rescue our ball after saving the swimmer and we were back in the game. While Kelsey caused problems for the two leading teams, James and I knocked our ball past the finish line barely bothered by other paddlers. A sweet victory thanks to the added karma from James’ heroics.
The next event was the freestyle rodeo, a loosely judged competition giving paddlers approximately 2 minutes in the hole to throw down. The feature was kayak shredder with only about 6 inches from the pit to a nasty sharp rock. Loops ended with a loud thud as sterns slammed into the rocks. The men’s division outcome was typical with a Jesus look alike pro boater taking first followed by a few locals. I give my props to Kootenay local Carl Jacks who would have won for sure if effort and obscured facial expressions took the cake. Nice rides Carl-you were really given’r.




















The highlight of the competition was the women’s event. There were some sickkkk female paddlers in attendance throwing loops, cartwheels and tricks I have never seen before. I was inspired by the amount of quality chick boaters in attendance a true indication that the sport is finally shedding its machismo ways. After the competition some hucksters were hitting the kicker ramp the result a mixture of stylin aerial moves and loud smacks as flat hulls contacted flat water at high speeds. Spectators lined the shores to watch the events or line up for $25 rafting trips thanks to Shuswap paddle adventures and Ian Stibbe. Everyone was warming up for the nightly musical acts and the vibes were flowing. Our crew decided to go out for a paddle and take some tentative paddlers down the run. What a sweet stretch of whitewater, a big water feel with numerous play waves and pushy eddy lines. Andrea cleaned the run in her trusty IK while the hard shell boaters surfed the heck out of the features.




Unfortunately, I am not able to report on the Saturday night events after a nap turned into a marathon sleep with my honey. Despite the thumping baselines vibrating our tent poles and occasional visits from concerned friends we slept like we needed it. The next day looked like a war zone with dirty-footed festies passed out everywhere and remnants of what must have been an amazing night. Super bummed we missed out but ready for a day of paddling and partying we made the best of it. After another sweet run on the river we hunkered down into party mode awaiting one of our favorite performers and friends Josh Martinez. The night of partying was one to be remembered; amazingly festies still had the energy to throw down some party. We were about to go for some chill time in the costume teepee when we met up with Mr. Martinez who was gearing up in some greasy attire for his upcoming set. Josh did not disappoint at all, he fired up the crowd one last time with his cleverly engineered words and catchy beats. Thanks again Josh Martinez and all the organizers that made it happen, a truly grass roots event and a hell of a good time.



Much thanks to AMP Andrea Miller Photography for all the great images!