I'm happy to say that we have a
fantastic prize thanks to Gareth Tate and Adventure Technology who will
award a paddle of choice to the champion. It's a tough time of
year for budgets and awesome that they came through with the largest
prize in the history of the contest.
Immersion Research also has some love for the competition with a pair of
Tangerine Guide Shorts and
Supafly Zinger Shorts, thanks IR!
Other potential sponsors are still considering their budgets.
Before talking about a few of our contestants I'd like to take a moment
for one of our first contestants, Xavier Engle who passed away just
over one year ago. I regret never meeting Xavier, his good attitude and
energy are reflected in the wonderful bio he wrote for the competition:
"My name's Xavier, and I love to dance. I grew up paddling in Alaska,
and my first ever kayaking pump-up mix was Dance Hits of '96 Supermix;
my favorite track was Zombie (Club Remix) by the Cranberries, a genuine
classic. Things have pretty much gone downhill from there. This photo
was taken during in impromptu dance party at Sunshine Creek on the
Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone; the spirituality of that place
certainly moved me. Currently, I'm a first year medical student at the
University of Washington Alaska WWAMI program, where the closest I
generally get to running the shit is C. dificile. I look forward to
years of "playing doctor" ;) with all my best boating buddies, in
beautiful, remote, inescapable gorges. I was inspired to enter this
contest because of the high calibre of entrants thus far, including
many of my mentors on and off the water. For instance, Nick "Chico"
Gottlieb showed me how to party in college, Tom Janney taught me
everything I know about women, and Leif Anderson unequivocally
demonstrated to me the practicality of mullets. I'm titillated to think
of this entry being posted alongside theirs."
Xavier, we'll miss you this year.
We're currently stalling as some contestants are traveling and will
return at the end of this week. Thanks for understanding - Darin