GORGE GAMES

This weekend was the Gorge Games. This is a nationally televised local event. It's an event that highlights all the sports that the Columbia River Gorge has to offer. It's sweet. People come from everywhere to compete in the Gorge Games event.

This years Gorge Games had riverboarding as one of the events. This was also the first nationally recognized riverboarding event. Usually there's riverboarding at whitewater events and adventure racing, not in a multiple sport competition. So... in short, it was a big deal for the sport of riverboarding.

I had started training before the Gorge Games, riverboarding the downriver section as fast as I could and getting out on the water as much as I could on my board.The weekend started off great. I was totally nervous and didn't sleep for the 2 nights before the competition. I showed up at the Extreme Downriver Race and there were lots of cameras and people. I met a bunch of riverboarders at the check in.... some that I had met before, but a lot that I didn't know. It was really cool to see that many riverboarders in one place.

The race started at 8 am. It started at the cliff jump below BZ Falls. I was in the first heat of people to jump off the rock and start racing. In heats of 3, we jumped off the cliff jump and were in the water racing. I jumped in with Dave, Docta P, and Kevin. As soon as I hit the water, I felt someone hit the water right behind me. It was crazy mass jumping off the sketchy cliff jump. I hate that jump. It freaks me out.

So, I took the lead at the bottom of Maytag and stayed in front of the pack until the Barge Wave. That's when Sean O'Shea totally passed me with his huge arms and legs just moving the water aside. No one had a chance against that guy. Ha ha. I held on to second for a while, until Alex Koutzoukis passed me in the flats. I stayed right behind Alex until the last stretch just above Husum, where I almost passed him, but ended up dropping the falls right behind him and finishing in 3rd.

Photo by Joel Policar

Kevin Yount came in 4th, but there was a considerable gap between us. River Dave came in 5th with Rochelle just behind him. Hell yeah. Two girls reprezentin! Docta P came in somewhere in the middle of the pack. My one goal of the Gorge Games was to beat Docta P. I thought that he was the one to beat. All the hype was on him, all the news articles, all the cameras were on him, and he was the favorite going into the Games. And I kicked his ass. Hell yeah.
Once the race was over, it was all hugs and high fives. Overall, I thought there was a great display of sportsmanship from most of the riverboarders. There was one poor sport in the bunch, but that didn't bring the rest of us down. Congrats to Sean O'Shea and Alex Koutzoukis on their 1st and 2nd place wins! They earned it!

The next race was at 3 pm and I spent the rest of the day still freaking out about more racing. The second event was the Timed Sprint. It started at the cliff jump at BZ and then ended in the last wave of Maytag Rapid (Top Drop). That frickin cliff jump got me so freaked out and so nervous that I actually think it made me race better. My first time was 2:18 and my second time was 2:16. My two times were overall faster than everyone's and I got 1st place in the Sprint event. Hell yeah. Congrats to Rory Camm for coming in 2nd, and Alex Koutzoukis for 3rd. Both those boys had times like 3/100ths of a second faster than me, but their other runs were slower times.
So, day 1 was over, and I had 3rd place in the Extreme Downriver Race, and 1st place in the Timed Sprint under my belt. It felt good. I've never been so sore in my life.... but it was a good sore, a rewarding pain. I spent Saturday laying low and preparing for Sunday's events.

Photo by Joel Policar

Sunday started out with the Surfing Event at Rattlesnake Rapid. Rattlesnake was stompy and not easy to surf. A bunch of boys from Idaho that competed at the PBR Whitewater event showed up and reprezented. I didn't even make it to the semi-finals. But I think I scored one point! Ha ha. It was fun. Levi Gallas totally laid it down and killed it. He came in 1st, followed by Morgan from Idaho, and Rory took 3rd with his crazy board throwing spin move. Good stuff.

The last event of the Gorge Games was the Boardercross Event. I had been... guess what... nervous! Since it was such a full contact mass start off that friggin cliff, I was all freaked out again. We ended up racing from the put- in right above Maytag Rapid, and then racing to an undetermined location. I was less nervous about the race now, but still freaking out. I was in the first heat with Kevin Yount and a guy named John. I came in 1st, but didn't see the finish line, and neither did Kevin. So, they changed the finish, and we had to re-race. Aaaah!

Ok, same thing, 10 minutes later. I came in 1st again and advanced to the Semi-finals. Next race... me, Rory, and Docta P. I was nervous. At the start I got clobbered by both of them, and started in the back. I almost passed Rory, but ran into him in Maytag and came in last. No finals for me. Props to Rochelle for coming in 2nd!! and Alex Koutzoukis came in 3rd. Docta P came in 1st, and in my mind, displayed the most poor sportsmanship I've ever seen. I think the P stands for Poor Sport. Boo.

I came in 2nd place overall. Alex Koutzoukis came in 1st, and Rory Camm came in 3rd. I think that's awesome. In a world full of dudes, it was nice to reprezent for the ladies and give those boys a run for their money. I hope my win is motivational for some more ladies to come out and compete next year.

All in all, I thought the weekend went awesome! It was a great display of riverboarders from all over. It was so nice to meet some of the people I've been hearing about for so long, like Alex and Levi. It was good to see Kevin and Dave again. I'm really glad to have met Rory and Rochelle and Sean and John... all the people I met this weekend. A big thanks to Josh Galt/Ice for organizing everything and making it happen so smoothly. I bet that was hard. Thanks to the Gorge Games for having a Riverboarding category. It was a great display of people doing what they love and getting to share it with each other and the world. Experiences of a lifetime packed into one weekend. Good times.

Dinner at the Tacqueria, clockwise;
Me, Dave Boucke, Josh Galt, Levi Gallas,
Rory Camm, Kevin Yount, Rochelle Parry,
Eric PetersonJohn Walker, Alex Koutzoukis