June 6-9 Vail, Colorado
Yesterday was the last day of the GoPro Mountain Games. It was an amazing event! GoPro Mountain Games is an incredible event that literally has something for everyone to see or participate in! There is dog-jumping (you should see them jump!), slackliners doing unbelievable tricks over the river, climbing, biking and all the other Colorado “-ings”. Even my Grandpa, who came in from Minnesota, had a great time. I got there on Tuesday, two days before it truly started and I trained in the hole as much as possible, however this hole is one of the hardest holes ever – it changes everyday. It is so flushy and is just all around not a great hole to paddle.
When the first day of Mountain Games hit it really got busy and so much fun. I had my first freestyle kayak event as a junior there (ages 12-17) and I didn’t do great. I started my ride with an entry move and made it but then when I plugged for loops I was so nervous that I was forgetting how to do them well and I just kept flushing, I tried to back loop and flushed on that too, the only trick I got was a Space Godzilla to the left. I ended up getting sixth and missed finals by 20 points, but next year I plan to be better and get on the podium! The next day was mostly full of me taking pictures of kayaking and watching Finals for Juniors and Sem-finals for Seniors. Saturday was the Tincup Downriver Sprint, this is a race that everyone hates, it is so long and so tiring, there are no rapids so it is just pretty much a flat water sprint. I started off the race feeling pretty good but as I got closer and closer to one of my best friends ahead of me. he wouldn’t let me pass! I kept trying to get around him and it took awhile, but eventually he let me pass, from there it felt like I kept moving slower and slower and I took a bunch of chest shots and waves to the face. I ended up with a time of 19:00 which was 2 minutes faster than my previous record, I felt good about that. After the race it was Women’s finals for kayaking, it had to get stopped halfway through due to lighting, we were able to finish the women’s finals but the men’s finals got delayed to the next day. The final day at the GoPro Mountain Games was a packed schedule! The day started with Men’s Freestyle Kayak Finals at 10:00 a.m. Men’s Finals was so cool to watch – they had some amazing rides but Dane Jackson ended up winning the event. The next kayak event was the 8 Ball Race and personally it was my favorite event to watch. If you’re unfamiliar with this part of kayaking I recommend you look it up, but pretty much there are six kayakers called “8 Balls” sitting in eddys in the racecourse, there are then three pool balls that are trying to make it to the finish while the 8 balls are hitting them with their kayaks and slowing them down. There is so much carnage and many concussions have happened in the past.
Overall, this year’s GoPro Mountain Games was one of the best yet and I can’t wait to go back next year!
-RMA Team Athlete Owen Forster
