Reno Was Awesome

I'm just back from the very first Reno River Festival, and it was terrific! It was the grand opening for the brand new whitewater Park on the Truckee River - great weather, great turnout, and some awesome boating. The pro rodeo featured some of the finest talent in the world, with a breathtaking final throwdown between Jay Kincaid and Eric Jackson - Kincaid won, but it was tight, 458 points to 450 points, and they were both on fire.

The women had a terrific session too, with Brooke Winger taking the final victory. The Boatercross downriver race was another hair-raising event, with world-class pros competing against each other and some high-powered local paddlers the men's final heat pitted Bryan Kirk, Eric Jackson, Scott Shipley, and a paddler named Ross O'Donoghue who came out of nowhere to make it to the top. Bryan Kirk won but it was paddle to paddle down the course.

Tanya Faux took the women's final, with Brooke Winger, Emily Jackson, and Shannon Carroll right behind her.

The best part of the weekend was all the people wandering around enjoying this beautful park - there's so much room that they were running a slalom clinic, a kids-try-out-boats session, a pro rodeo demonstration, and an intermediate playboat clinic all at the same time, at different features in the park. there was still plenty of room for the swarms of casual boaters who were taking the time to try out boats, play with inflatables and river boards.

Full results in the next pages, and look for more photos on this Web site and in future issues of this magazine!