Memorial day hosted the Paddling Life Invitational in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. With a freestyle competition downtown next to the natural sulphur hot springs and a creek race nearby on fish creek both competitors and spectators were sure to be satisfied.

Boofing the dam at the start line

First up was the creek race. With lower than usual water levels, organizers chose to hold the race on the middle section of Fish Creek to avoid possible issues that could arise on the top section. Fish creek is a tough one to race on. It’s littered with rocks that are just below the surface and isn’t very deep so it can be hard to get a quality stroke in. Jason Beakes once again proved that he’s a hard man to beat in a race missing as many rocks as possible and paddling like a manimal to a first place finish. Nikki Kelly ended up in first place for the Women finishing only a few seconds behind Jason and crushing all of the other men!

Big loops were had by all!

Next up was the freestyle event. Although the hole was a little flushy it allowed competitors to do huge loops, air wheels, and McNastys. At the end of the day Steven Wright ended up in first for the Men, with John Myers in second and also taking home the PBR big air award. Tayna Faux cleaned up for the women winning the event and the PBR big air award.

AH! Godzilla!

Special thanks to Bryan Kirk, Todd Baker, and Dana for taking photos!

Getting Nasty

Kelsey Thompson