Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Skrapbookin' | Hooray for the 90's

There was a recent Mountainbuzz thread about CO's Poudre Falls. It reminded me that I had, somewhere, buried amongst yrs worth of crap, some photos from the day that I decided to run that triple-set of falls back in like '97. So the hunt began. Over the past cpl days, I pillaged boxes of old photos, postcards, letters, concert stubs, & random accumulated trinkets/crap, in search of the evidence. As I dug deeper -- all the while, trying to dodge frequent landmines (photos/letters/reminders of the ex) -- I found tons of old kayaking-related pictures. For some dumb reason, I thought it would be fun to employ state-of-the-art digital image scanning technology & share a bunch of them on the internets.

Some of you's guys were around during the following shots, so it might be entertaining to check these out some 10+ yrs later.

I can prolly trace my liquid addiction back to this era, the mid-80's, growing up near the beach in MD, where I was into the surf scene & an avid sponger.

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A couple of my high school accomplices, circa '87.

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I chose to go to college in Morgantown, WV. I think the decision was partly driven by WVU's consistently impressive Playboy "party school" ranking. I discovered the Big Sandy & it's "standing waves" right away. circa '92.

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Naturally, a kayak is the preferred craft for this kind of inland phenomenon. Here's the Best Wave On The East Coast That No One Ever Surfs. '94ish.

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Moved out to Idaho for a bit. I *had* to have that blue/pink Sleek when I saw it. Had no money, but the dude at Ski-Tek let me roll with it anyway. I used to park n play this wave on the Big Wood. '94ish.

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Contributing to the myth that chicks like kayakers. Actually if anyone out there on the east coast has any idea of the whereabouts of my old friend Suzy, lemme know..

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Shawn Graham lives & boats in Cali now.

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Under the Rockville bridge, Big Sandy, ca '95.

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Hangin' with Harriet & Bob Taylor during low water blues on the New, summer '95.

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Early spring grovellin' on the Poudre Narrows. Corey-dog used to run/swim with me. '96.

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With Scott B. early spring on the Numbers .. 96ish

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Crystal Gorge, 96 or 97. I think this is the boat that I installed my punk rock chains & padlocks in the space where the grabloops are supposed to go. Safety was of utmost concern back then...


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Cpl of us guys in FC used to car-tweel in the pourover at the start of the Lower Narrows. I think this was seen as "dangerous" because of the rapid below it, but the hole was fun.

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Ted Keyes.

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Poudre Falls, CO, 97.

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Spring Break in Cali. I was in Shane's Blade cuz I was getting hammered while "creeking" in my X.

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Poseurs on Brush Cr, '97: Shane's bro Dusty, Topher "Cpt. Panic" Smith, me, Shane.

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When were rail grabs cool? Rail grabs were never cool. Unless you were airing on a skate board.

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It's really no wonder why chicks dig kayakers so much. Punkass Aron Kendrick, spring break in Cali.

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New River, WV, 99

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Chairman & CEO of "Matz Worldwide Industries", Gordon "Speedo" Miller .. WTF ever happened to this guy, anyone know?

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Super classic! If you were around, you know ..

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B.Good bein' .. good. Upper Yough 99

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Charlie & BJ, 99

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On the way to Mann's. Joey Mosquera checkin' for loose parts.

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Shane I think running his first big waterfall. Cap'n Crunch (RIP) on Laurel Cr, WV.

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Me about to land on my head on Roadside Attraction, Laurel Cr.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice. Those were fun.

Unknown said...

Ahh, yes Brush Creek! And of course......BOGUS THUNDER. Great pics TG.
-Topher

Anonymous said...

HELL YEAH THAT'S "THE GENERAL"!!!!

Unknown said...

Where is the "Best Wave On The East Coast That No One Ever Surfs?"

mv said...

Nice foray into the time vault. I miss West Virginia. Laps on the Big Sandy, summers in Fayettenam, Mann's, etc. Nice pickys!

Darin said...

Haha have to love the old Corvair too. I had a wagon as paddling vehicle for a short while.

Anonymous said...

Didn't you paint Suzy's parents' house in CO? Love the pic of you, Todd E. and Tim! You should send it to Tim.

M.

JB said...

Few short years from the Extrasport/Sleek/Jimistick to a Sherman/xxx/AT.
I haven't seen the general around in some time.
I think Scoredini got a real job.
That wave is photoshopped, and definitely isn't a hundred yards from the car.
Nice reminisce Todd.

Anonymous said...

Ohmygawwwd...what a blast from the past... Great pic!! Just how I remember you guys, too.. thanks for the smile!
Love,
H

Shane Robinson said...

Yessss! Awesome. Just got home (midnight) from a great weekend of boating in Spain ... yes I got to go kayaking! Report coming.

Thought I'd see what my boys have been up to in the NW and looky what I found ... Lower narrows play hole, WV, Poudre Falls, Cali Spring Break ... good shit!

shane

Anonymous said...

NIce pics Todd. How ironic you were doing the same as I, only I was sorting through my 90s video. Yes, it took me back to when I used to playboat with you and Shane a lot. Remember learning how to airblunt? Seems like you always had to try the hardest to get your freestlyin' down, so I'm glad you've got this new creekin' thing going on.

If I had to guess I would say that wave is at Jenkinsburgh on the Cheat River at oh say 50k. And you're wrong, slalom boaters/wildwater boaters doing high water runs of the cheat surf that shit all the time.

For footage of Shane running OBJ in a Hurricane and many other vids of some of the above pictured people click here:
http://homepage.mac.com/hartje/video/Menu73.html