The gear is impressive and everyone is attractive! Not only do attendees get to see awesome gear, they also get to be surrounded by healthy and happy outdoorsy type eye candy. If I owned a dating site... exhibiting at the OR Show would be a must! Think "speed dating" to fill your time between meetings. Just kidding, but not really.

Since BoaterTalk is a whitewater community, my plan for Day 2 of the OR Show was to provide the community with video footage about gear and exhibitors featured at the show. Liquid Logic, Pyranha, Level Six, Immersion Research, BadFish and few other companies were kind enough to provide interviews but due to technical difficulties those videos are not quite available for production. To be quite honest, I'm no videographer and failed to realize (until today) that I had no way to transfer the videos from the video tape to a digital format.

Most paddling adventures are deemed "EPIC" not only because of the river experience but often times because of the time spent getting to the paddling destination. The same concept absolutely holds true for our shuttle ride to the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Show held in and around Salt Lake City, Utah.

There is no cuter picture than the family on the river together: mom/dad with the little ones in their own little kayaks.enjoying a family day on the river.  Many a parent/kayaker who has a child looks forward to that day; it makes the first six-to-ten-years worth suffering through (mostly because of the lack of personal river time that is given up for diaper time). The anticipation that one day the little chip off the block will be following you down the river is part of the evolution of parenthood for a kayaker.

Written by Stephen Wright

      It's a kayaker's party, and all my friends are here.  There's all the normal ingredients: a huge tent, a live band with thumping music, lots of beer, good food, dancing, and a thousand of our closest friends from all over the world...but wait.  Something's definitely NOT normal here. 

Who had the most EPIC 4th of July Weekend? Please share your Trip Report, Video, or Best Photo on our Facebook page for a chance to win a FREE Kayak Session Magazine Subscription. Please read below for the nitty gritty details (especially how to post trip reports). See ya on the river!!

First off, I'd be stepping over something major if I didn't report back to you on the fact that there were noticeably less companies attending OR this year. Apparently, it's been a tough year in the industry and some big companies (Werner, Johnson Outdoors and PeakUK) opted out. Add to the equation that OR takes place during peak season for a lot of outfitters/companies. Attendance was down; we'll leave it at that.

As I wandered the OR floor my first day there, it was fairly obvious that the newest and most popular addition to most manufacturer lines was Stand-Up Paddleboards (SUP). Like it or not, SUP is growing and its here to stay. At least for a while.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado (May 11, 2009) The US Freestyle Kayaking Team Trials will take place in Glenwood Springs on May 30-31, 2009, from 9:00am-6:00pm on Saturday and 9:00am-3:00pm on Sunday. Top paddlers will compete at Glenwood Springs' highly acclaimed $1,000,000 Whitewater Park on the Colorado River.

Nantahala River, NC. – Spring 2009 -   Endless River Adventures and Team Wave Sport, along with a supportive group of industry sponsors are pleased to announce the 5th annual Nantahala Open, to be held on the Nantahala River on Saturday, April 25th, 2009. This year the Nantahala Open will have a special dedication to support the Augusta Chapter of Team River Runner. A special raffle will be held with proceeds going to the chapter’s kayak equipment and training fund.