Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

(Photo by Kevin Hoffman, The Mountain Mail)

Most sane people stay far, far from Colorado's icy rivers in winter. But one group of boaters is Salida wants to show you paddle all year and it can even be, um, fun. From The Mountain Mail newspaper:

Kevin Hoffman, Mail Staff Writer |

Despite cold weather, a group of winter slalom boaters is using Salida Whitewater Park in an effort to encourage year-round growth in the sport.

Passersby may have seen about a half-dozen kayakers or canoeists on the water practicing slalom racing.

Slalom is a concentration of the sport timing competitors as they weave strategically through gates suspended over the river.

Although there are more slalom boaters on the water this season, the Salida park sees a handful of paddlers who brave cold weather annually. Denny Lee, owner of Capricorn Sports, volunteers to maintain the slalom gates and paddles nearly year round each season.

He said during an average winter there are only about 10 days that are realistically too cold to paddle.

Local kayaker Alli Gober recently joined the FIBArk board of directors and said interest in kayaking as a year-round sport is a topic being discussed by FIBArk organizers.

"Obviously FIBArk and a kayaking program were already in existence, but expanding it into a competitive team with a more year-round emphasis is a goal," Gober said.

"Salida might be the only place in the nation with a world-class facility to support competitive slalom racing. We also want to include training for wildwater or downriver racing and freestyle."

Read more here.