If
you've spent any amount of time around me, it doesn't take long to find
out about my passion for riverboarding. What is it exactly? In a
nutshell, it's bodyboarding meets whitewater, but with a more buoyant
board and a lot more equipment. I was fortunate enough to hear about
it at a time when the sport was in its infancy in the southeastern US
and once I had tried it and gotten hooked, I quickly progressed to more
difficult runs and became a local pioneer while also connecting with
people in other parts of the world where the sport was more developed.
When I went overseas to study language and culture, I left my board at
home to avoid it being a distraction. Then I decided to take advantage
of the cheap airfare from Asia to New Zealand and spent a week
riverboarding during my first winter break from language school. I
opened the trip up to any riverboarders who wanted to go and met some
riverboarders from the West Coast, Josh Galt and Peter Lamka (known
respectively in the riverboard world as Ice and Docta P), and a
bodyboarder from NYC, Regan Darcy, who was trying out riverboarding for
the first time. Through the travels, rivers, and misadventures of that
trip, we became great friends. I was surprised when about a month
after the trip, Josh offered me a sponsorship for when I finished my
time in Asia. Later in 2007, he began putting a team of riders for his
company, Face Level Industries and I received some new gear sent out to
me in China that allowed me to do a few runs there. I came home and
have been pursuing the dream of being a pro rider. It's one of the
greatest rushes I've ever experienced; to go crashing over towering
waves or head first down steep, constricted drops. Another awesome
thing is the camaraderie and fellowship among riders. It's those good
conversations and goofing off that make even an easy river fun; and
even when I'm working like a dog in a competition racing tooth and nail
with others for cash and fame, it's still a blast because I'm racing
against friends. In short, I consider myself blessed and privileged to
be able to do this and continue to press towards the day when this
becomes a full time career. Follow the adventures all over the world
and if you want to give it a try, get in touch with me and I'll see
about getting you in the water thought my guide service, Appalachian
Riverboarding, or connect you with some other great companies or
boarders if you're far away.
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