I. The Story, In 250 Words or Less
II. The Results
III. The Photo Dump
IV. The Robe Gnome
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I. The Story, In 250 Words or Less
The 1st annual Robe Canyon Downriver Race! All the elements came together & conspired to make our inaugural race successful. 18 racers & scads of volunteers & spectators gathered at Granite Falls under bluebird skies to make it happen. Watching the flow from 5.3 ft to
4.low the day before the race was a bit of a nail-biter .. but Fri/Sat's warm temps helped to stabilize the flow right at a low, but worthy, 5 ft. The day's events went off without a hitch -- no carnage, no terror, fast times, & plenty of sunburn, good times & beer for all. The Robe Gnomes remained more or less at bay. We started out of a eddy at the lip of Tunnel rapid & didn’t stop til after Conversation, on a beach where our timekeepers awaited -- a length of about 5 miles.
Once we'd all made it to the take-out & shuttles had been completed, about 30 people crammed into the back room at Omega Pizza for the after-party. Amanda B. & the timekeeping crew had kept course times a secret, opting to announce times & crown the champeens at the party.
The winners would each walk away with a super cool satin Boxing Robe (robe, get it?), as well as bragging rights for a year. The robes will be embroidered with the winners' names, & next year, will be passed on to the winners of The Robe Race '09. A new tradition is born!
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II. The Results
The spread between 1st & last place was but 10 minutes. The winning time, posted by McKibbin & Hawthorne, was 33 minutes, 10 seconds! Congrats dudes & savor the sweet taste of sweet sweetness!
Rob McKibbin & Ben Hawthorne 33:10
Chris Tretwold & Ryan Bradley 34:08
John Minerich & Shane Robinson 34:43
Scott Waidelich & Nick Hinds 36:01
Erik Schertzl & Bryan Smith 36:10
Todd Gillman & Andrew Oberhardt 36:39
Jon Dufay & Brad Xanthopoulos 38:30
Ryan Terry & Matt Thomas 42:37
Jeff Bowman & Morgan Hutchings 43:46 (Robe Gnome Award)
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III. The Photo Dump
Many friends have submitted photos. Due to space & time constraints, I had to just kind of pick a handful from each. Still though, there's a LOT of pics!
Andrew Oberhardt & Shane Robinson, stoked.
Organizing the shore support & timekeeping detail pre-race
Building out the team list
Most of the racers posing for group portrait at the start line
McKibbin, confident
Brad X. & Jon Dufay, not as confident as McKibbin .. but pretty sure
Devin & Hale, exhuberant
JP running Tunnel rapid
The winning team outta the gate
Glory Boof #1
Bottom of Tunnel rapid, with GB1 in foreground
GB1
3rd place finishers, Robe regulars, Shane Robinson & Johnny Utard
If there's a radar in the area, this guy's probably way under it, stompin' shit out. There's no vision like
Schertlvision.
Ben H., impervious shoulders @ Little Miss Sunshine
Nick Hinds' 2nd time on The Robe
BradX @ Lil Miss
Matt "Effigy" Thomas made the trip up from Medford, OR .. & that's cool. Lise-Anne's shot of him ...
& Owen's shot of him ...
Awesome shot of 2nd place finisher Ryan Bradley on the newly-opened right line on Lil Miss
Shane Robinson, globetrotter
Me on Lil Miss (thanks Owen)
Me & Drew in the runout
boogie water
boogie water
Utah & Shane in the boogie water leading into Hotel California
Sequence of me in the manky river-right channel of Hotel Cali lead-in
Love this backlit shot of B.Smith & Schertzl in the main ledge of Hotel Cali .. nice one, Kennet.
Doof Boof
Effigy running the meat @ Catcher's Mitt
Utah, backender
"The 20-foot Waterfall" is neither
Effingham @ takeout
Then we drank beer!
Kyle Kovalick, the voice of Robe Race '08, doing emcee duty at Omega Pizza
Ammen & Stephanie Jordan .. finish line timekeepers. thanks guys!!!
Hilary N. caught in the act.
Wayrad!
Half of winning team, Ben H., donning The Robe. His partner had to take off before the awards ceremony. This robe (& Rob's) will be embroidered with the winners' names & will be passed onto the next winners each year.
For even more stories/photos from our contributors, please follow the links below!
Plunge Pool from Owen Callahan;
EJ Etherington's Flickr Set;
Chris Joosse's blog;
Chris Tretwold & B'ham Whitewater.
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IV. The Robe Gnome
Our crew is ruthless about giving each other shit. It's an equal opportunity kind of thing, but when it comes to talkin' smack about kayaking, hiking out of runs, getting destroyed in rapids, being nancies, etc., certain friends tend to
take more than they actually dish out. On Robe in particular, any time someone has a bad line or swims, somehow it ends up always being blamed on the pranksterish "Robe Gnomes" that presumably lurk around some of the more notorious rapids waiting for unsuspecting victims. I don't remember exactly how the term got coined or by whom, but it definitely had something to do with Shertzl & me. It was always "Hey Shertl, beware, I hear the Robe Gnomes are feisty today!" .. or "Whoa man! That was UGLY!" "Shut it Gillman, the Robe Gnome got a hold of my stern & pulled me back into the Mitt .." something along those lines.
So, while at the post-race party, that brilliant, inebriated Ryan Terry ("RT") produced a great idea -- A prize in honor of The Robe Gnomes who get the better of the DFL team, and, of course, in honor of the DFL team itself.
So, starting with Jeff & Morgan, each year, Newt The Robe Gnome will go home with the DFL team, will spend the year with the team, & will hopefully become better friends by this time next year. The DFL team will have to take a "family portrait" & have it printed for inclusion in the photo album that will accompany the Gnome to the Race each year.
Yes, we are serious.
Ladies & gentlemen, meet Newt The Robe Gnome.
