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| Primal Quest riverboarding - the biggest riverboard section possible |
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| Written by Face Level Staff | ||||
| Last Updated ( Sunday, 13 July 2008 ) | ||||
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Riverboarding
has been used in adventure races for a number of years, but never like
this. Face Level founder and CEO Josh Galt worked with Primal Quest to
create the biggest and yet safest whitewater course ever used in AR
(Adventure Racing), and nature did the rest! With the Gallatin river just below flood stage on the USGS gauges, racers in "The World's Most Challenging Adventure Race" were treated to about 20 miles of class II / III whitewater paddling in inflatable duckies, then 9 miles of huge waves for class III / IV riverboarding. Said Josh, "I ran the whole stretch [along with an 80 mile kayak on the Yellowstone, which was cut from the course last night due to treacherous flooding] and I have been watching the gauges and the river every day. It's mostly just huge waves, and the only danger area became a mandatory portage. With the safety team I had in place, I knew people would either love it or be scared to death, but I was confident it would be safe. Huge but safe - that's what I was going for, and in my opinion, that's what it was." The riverboarding section ended up being the least of the carnage, despite the whitewater that would make even most hardcore riverboarders think twice. The real dangers lay upstream in the kayaking section, where many islands in the middle of the river became catch-all's for wood, creating sizable strainers. Two racers had to be rescued off an island after a brush with death on one of those strainers when their boat pinned against it. But as far as Josh is concerned, the day was a huge success in many ways. "I accomplished what I set out to do and have been pushing for with PQ for 3 years - to have a real riverboarding section. The high water made it even more epic, so I'm thankful for that, and glad that no one got hurt. I think it's safe to say though that on an internationl scale, and from a TV standpoint [Primal Quest will air on Rush HD and possibly FOX Sports], this is easily the biggest thing that has ever happend to the sport of Riverboarding." You can view the incredible pictures and follow the rest of the race at www.ecoprimalquest.com. QUOTABLE: When asked how the ride on the river was today, one rescued racer said: "Epic. I almost died three times but I'd do it again." ***
Face
Level sponsored Team Nike, Team Merrell / Zanfel Adventure, and Team
Dart-nuun for the riverboarding section. Nike used a custom hydrospeed
board, Merrell had Carlson riverboards from a previous race, and
Dart-nuun used nuun-blue colored Kern Riverboards.         Add as favourites (0)
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