Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Aug. 01, 2009

WATERSPORTS: River boarding puts riders eye-to-eye with raging waters

She's technically from Western Washington University and regularly sports pads and a helmet. But Rochelle Parry never played for the now-defunct Vikings football team.

Maybe she should have.

The 46-year-old, who works as a web and graphic designer for the Bellingham university, spends a good chunk of her time dodging her own share of would-be tacklers, though these more resemble large boulders, crashing waves, souse-holes and strainers.

She rides a river board - a belly-to-a-plank type of whitewater experience - down some of the Northwest's most challenging riverscapes.

She's not alone. A growing number of outdoor thrill-seekers in the Northwest are trading traditional whitewater vessels like rafts and kayaks for face-fulls of adrenaline, adventure and something they describe as a "more intimate experience with the river."

"It's definitely a rush," said Parry, who rode body boards for decades while living in Southern California and was introduced to the sport at the Wenatchee Whitewater Festival in 2005. "I think everyone who does it is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie."

KISSING THE RAPIDS

Grab a plank of wood, throw yourself into the Nooksack River, pray to hold on, and you're basically river boarding.

"Some people have been introduced that way their first time - just throw them into class IV rapids," Parry said, laughing. "I wouldn't do that to somebody."

Of course, there's more to it. But if a person doesn't relish the thought of an eye-to-eye encounter with raging waters, this may not be the sport for you.

A river board, which is also known as a hydrospeed, resembles a standard body board that's used to catch ocean waves. It puts riders just a couple inches above water and has just enough length to support the torso of a person's body. And, of course, there's the "oh crap" handles.

"If you have any athletic ability at all it's not a difficult sport to enjoy," Parry said. "You need to learn how to read whitewater. You need a good-fitting pair of fins, the ability to kick and steer with your legs."

River boarding as a past-time has long enjoyed popularity in places like Europe, Italy and New Zealand, said Josh Galt, "where 30 percent of the commercial whitewater trips are done on river boards."

Galt serves as sports director for the Gorge Games and Primal Quest, "the Super Bowl of adventure racing" according to Sports Illustrated magazine, and started Face Level Industries, which promotes, sells and facilitates all things river boarding.

"It's still a lot smaller in the U.S. mainly because of the insurance and how litigious America is," Galt said. "A lot of insurance companies are still afraid to grant commercial licenses, even though it's safer than rafting in a lot of ways."

Two rafting companies - one in Boise, Id., the other in Warm Springs, Ore. - have started to offer guided trips and lessons, which has help the sport grow in the Northwest, Galt said.

The allure is a there for a growing number of riders.

"It's just a very unique way to see and feel and experience the river," Galt said. "You can go through class II and III stuff ... and it feels like you're in class V because, as a opposed to a raft where you're sitting up several feet above the waves and you're kind of just bouncing over them, on a river board you feel every nuance, every current, every wave splashes you in the face or goes over your head."

Suffice to say, a rider's chance of getting totally wet is 100 percent.

"Surfers, like Rochelle, stand-up surfers and body boarders, have taken to this sport really well because they already enjoy being in the water," Galt said. "They're used to diving under huge breaking waves. They're used to getting pushed around by the current. And a river's totally different than the currents in the ocean, but the draw is still the same. Anybody who loves to be in the water is going to love this sport."

Events like the Gorge Games, which received TV coverage, and the season series for competitive racers, have helped the sports popularity in recent years.

"It's growing," Galt said. "It's a niche sport for sure. But from last year to this year even, there's probably three or four times more river boarders in Oregon and Washington and Idaho as there was in 2007."

GEARED TO GO

Like any whitewater adventure, there are dangers whenever dealing with fast and unpredictable moving water. But learning to read the river and wearing the proper gear can make all the difference.

"I used to get beat up before I got a good padding system," Parry said. "I have knee pads that go from my midshin to my midthigh. They're mountain bike pads. And I wear two wet suits up here."

Two wet suits? For padding or warmth?

"Both. I wear the padding in between the wet suits," she said. "Mobility-wise it's tougher. But I can go take a bad line through a boulder garden and come out unscathed."

Some pieces of gear aren't up for discussion, Parry said, like helmets and PDFs (personal floatation devices). She also wears gloves for added protection.

As far as reading the river, that's something anyone hoping to tackle a whitewater sport must learn.

"It's as dangerous as you want it to be," Parry said. "When you run class II and III the risk is pretty low. The Wenatchee is an awesome river to learn it on. It's really fun, it's got good waves, there are very few consequences there, drowning or getting caught ... I'll just say I like it better than rafting because you can make your own decisions. You're already in the water, but you have the safety gear to be in the water, where if you fall out of a raft you can get into trouble."

Parry has had some harrowing experiences, including class V runs that left her out-of-breath by the end, but nothing that makes her think twice about jumping right back in the water.

"When you're in it, you're really focused on the moment," Parry said. "There's no time to be scared."

TO RACE OR TO REC?

Parry, who said she's invested 30 years into playing on a body board in the ocean, quickly realized she had a knack for navigating whitewater.

The 46-year-old finished fifth overall in her first competitive appearance, a run at the 2008 Gorge Games where she'd, "basically shown up to finish last."

In 2009, Parry participated in each of the four season events with her eyes on winning the top prize: a free trip to Costa Rica.

She lost. But not by much.

"She came in third overall for the year, beat a lot of guys," Galt said. "She's been really active in the community and been really impressive on the water, too ... she's a great asset to the river boarding community."

Parry enjoys the competition, even though there aren't enough riders yet for a separate women's division. But the sport is also a blast for the casual rider, she said.

Parry also really enjoys the people that make up the river boarding community. Unfortunately, she thinks she might just be the only person doing it locally.

But she hopes to change that. Parry has lived in Bellingham for almost five years - Washington for about 10 - and regularly takes runs at Horseshoe Bend on the Nooksack River. She's getting closer to being able to take fledgling riders out on her own.

"Right now it's mostly friends showing friends," Parry said.

Several river boarding "friends" can be found at teamfli.com, a networking Web site sponsored by Galt's Face Level Industries. It's a great place for Northwest boarders to talk shop and meet up for future trips. Galt's company site facelevel.com is another good resource to learn more.

"The community is really cool," Galt said. "There's a lot of people who like to take people out. I think everybody understands it's a niche sport and they kind of have to work together to make it grow."

And it's not like Bellingham doesn't have room for another rabid following for a unique and exhilarating outdoor activity.

Maybe jumping right in is the best way to go.

"I would say it is some of the most fun I've had and I've been to some epic places for body boarding," Parry said.

Check it out:

Interested in a face-full of whitewater? Visit teamfli.com to learn more about the sport and meet current riders. More information can be found at facelevel.com

Adrenaline-pumping river boarding footage can also be found all over YouTube, including several videos by Rochelle Parry that can be viewed at youtube.com/user/tweaknee.