Pyranha Logo
facebook twitter vimeo

«

»

08
Jul

USA Tour

What I love the most about kayaking is that it enables me to travel the world, see new places and meet new people. But it is always nice to come home and going to US, especially Colorado, really feels like coming home. In Colorado I stay with Max Karlsson’s family and they have really become a second family. So I was really looking forward coming “home” to Colorado as the snowpack was huge and the run off was going to be EPIC.

10462519_910389378976429_4417880977491163753_n

First event on the Colorado Tour was The Golden Games in Golden, CO. The Golden Games is a smaller local event that attracts the best paddlers from the Denver area competing in freestyle and creeking on Clear Creek . The water level was not optimal as the run off had not quite yet started, but the laid back atmosphere of the event made up for it.

10500555_10204043463918017_5971505463920752605_n

The first big event on the Colorado Tour was CKS Paddlefest in Buena Vista, which not only attracts Colorado’s best freestyle paddlers but also some of the best paddler’s in the world like the Jacksons, Demshitz, Mathieu Dumoulin of France, Tomasz Czaplicki of Poland and many more. What makes this event interesting is that since CKS is the largest kayak retailer in Colorado, every brand known to man was on display.

10422488_10204043451357703_7071034140420341951_n

The next event on the Colorado Tour was Lyons Outdoor Games which normally is a big event. But due to the Colorado flooding last year which devastated the town, there were doubts that they would even hold the event. I am really glad the town decided to hold the event as I hope it was a boost to their recovery as the kayaking community has rallied to support the town of Lyons in their recovery.

10351731_10152455688880505_7226125994681594_n

After Lyons we went to Vail and the GoPro Mountain Games which is my favorite event on the Colorado Tour. The reason for this is that 50,000 people descend on the beautiful town of Vail to celebrate outdoors activities such as kayaking, climbing, mountain biking, slack-lining and more. The GoPro Mountain Games did not disappoint as we had huge crowds at the events, even though the weather did not cooperate 100%.

10312091_10152455689005505_1381041108553193100_n10342399_10152455688630505_8047929048757069335_n10415647_10152455689045505_4478620648239031141_n10423752_10152455688975505_2503244665615760239_n

FIBArk, or First In Boating Arkansas, in Salida, CO is the oldest whitewater festival in the US and this year the event turned 66 years old. As an athlete this is another fantastic event as the crowds are HUGE. The really high water level made the freestyle event even more to my liking as what normally is a hole becomes more a wavy hole. Sadly I ddint not get the chance to compete as I had to head back to Boulder and sort out my Visa!

10345533_10152939234048136_4128241466410507084_n

As soon as FIBArk was over, we drove back to Maxs parents house and stayed there for a day to prepare for the 14 hour drive to Cascade, ID and the Payette River Games. The PRG has only existed for 3 years, but they have definitely set the gold standard when it comes to putting on an event. They have an incredible feature which consists of a hole and a wave so you can throw any move in the book. The prize money is HUGE and nothing else in the world comes even close. They way they treat the athletes as well as the fans is just incredible. They even streamed the events online allowing my family to watch me though I am thousands of miles away. it was great to place 6th against a huge stack of men! I just cannot say enough good things about this event and I cannot wait to come back next year.

Now I am in Spain competing in the World Cups

IMG_4210 IMG_4211 IMG_4212 IMG_4213 IMG_4217 IMG_4216 IMG_4215 IMG_4214 IMG_4218 IMG_4219 IMG_4220 IMG_4226 10500517_10201999296654509_5814348261199286320_n 10260020_910407572307943_4720516941275966374_n 10341877_910407072307993_5733568393436673509_n 10478108_910406825641351_900174461979552477_n   10353582_654579287951010_6547929100147015743_n 10300158_10202116042882560_4264482536752303768_n   10431523_10204043453277751_6489571342136746756_n