Hot and Happening – New Belgium FIBArk Salida

This year the nation’s oldest whitewater festival and Salida’s signature event marks the 63rd anniversay of New Belgium FIBArk– “First in Boating on the Arkansas.” Every June since 1949, during the Spring snow runoff, Salida has hosted New Belgium FIBArk.  Located in Salida’s historic downtown, Riverside Park is the center of New Belgium FIBArk activity and entertainment. Food, arts and crafts, and industry vendors are available, as well as a beer tent, a carnival, and a state-of-the art amphitheater for this year’s extraordinary musical line-up.

The FIBArk boat races started June 19th, 1949 when six boats entered the Arkansas River in Salida, Colorado on their treacherous 57 mile run to Canon City through the vertical cliffs of the Royal Gorge Canyon. Fueled by the spring snow pack runoff from the mountains of the Continental Divide and 5 or 6 feet above normal level the river water ripped down the canyon creating tremendous currents and boiling rapids where the valley walls narrow and the river floor drops. “An invitation to death” claimed the boaters as they looked over the course, but of the 23 entrants in the race that year only two experienced Swiss boaters reached the finish line. The following year the race was shortened to 45 miles excluding the dangerous Royal Gorge waters ending in Parkdale and, although ten boats entered, again only one man finished the race of tremendous endurance. The third year the race eliminated portages and single-boat teams and was set at its existing length of 25.7 miles from Salida to Cotopaxi. Eleven boats entered that year and ten were able to finish. This Classic Downriver Race is still the longest whitewater race in the United States.

During the first years of the boat races, every conceivable type of craft was used to navigate the river. Some of these crafts, the original hooligans of the river, included catamarans, airplane belly-tanks, and pontoon boats. The boats that won the races, however, were the fast, maneuverable, covered kayaks. Developed by the native Northern Americans for hunting, kayaks are easy to paddle, work against strong wind, tide or heavy seas, are easily lifted and carried, and keep the paddler warm and dry. The kayak has been “re-discovered” as the ultimate rough water small craft. Kayaking for sport developed in southern Germany in the early 1900s. Lured to the whitewater rivers rising in the Alps, people began experimenting with wood framed, fabric covered boats. These boats became known as fold-boats because they could be disassembled and carried in a relatively small set of bags.

It is not clear where the original idea came from, but, whether started as a result of idle talk over coffee by a group of young Salida businessmen or as a dare for bragging rights by young boaters over beer, word of the Arkansas River Race challenge went mouth to mouth and more and more people became interested. The original boat races were organized and promoted by the Salida Chamber of Commerce to attract people to the area and to promote international relations with foreign countries. World class athletes were invited to Salida and over the years, boatmen from France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Italy, England, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, Canada, and the USA pitted their skills against the roaring, boulder-strewn river. The City of Salida embraced the event wholeheartedly and a four day festival and elaborate parade were soon organized. To read more of this history click here!

Events are happening and Salida is fully rocking! Even if you only have a day it is fully worth going to down to check it all out. Here is New Belgium FIBArk’s lineup of events and I encourage strongly to check out their very cool website! http://fibark.net/

Thursday, June 16th 2011 7 – 9am – Upper Arkansas Service Club Boater’s Pancake Breakfast, 3rd St between E & F Streets 8:30-9:30am – Pre-Competittion Yoga, at The Salida SteamPlant 10:00am – Pine Creek Boater X, Sponsored by Colorado Kayak Supply (CKS) On-site registration @ 8am – Boater X Final heats start at noon 11:00am – Noon – USA Wildwater Nationals Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 1:00pm – USA Wildwater Nationals Pre-Race Meeting, Boat Ramp 2 – 5 pm – USA Wildwater Nationals Sprint, Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Salida Whitewater Park 3:00pm – 63rd New Belgium FIBArk Festival, First Inaugural Beer poured  in Riverside Park 4 – 6pm – Events Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 5:30pm – Kick-Off Party! Live music by James and the Devil at the Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 5:00pm – SUP Cross, Sponsored by C4 Waterman at The Salida Whitewater Park 6:30pm – “Bryan Dreher” Sackett Street Showdown Raft Sprint, Sponsored by Colorado State University – Registration ends at 5pm 6:00pm – Tenderfoot Hill Climb, Sponsored by Wind X-treme. On-site registration, 4 -5:45 pm at the corner of 1st and F St. 7:00pm – Raft Rodeo, Salida Whitewater Park, Sponsored by Colorado State University 7:30pm – Awards Ceremony, “Bryan Dreher” Sackett Street Sprint & Raft Rodeo, on the Salida Boat Ramp 8:00pm – Kick-Off Party!Live music by March Fourth Marching BandFriday, June 17th 2011 7 – 9 am – Events Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 10:00am – Freestyle Preliminaries Junior, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park – Registration ends at 8am 12 noon – Kid’s Recycled Costume Show, Presented by Salida Boys & Girls Club.  Riverside Park 12 noon – Freestyle Prelims, Expert M&W, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park, starts directly after Junior Prelim 2:00pm – Freestyle Prelims, Pro M&W, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 1 – 3 pm – Karaoke, Sponsored by WRSI – Open Stage/Warm Up/Just For Fun and Pre-Registration at Salida Rotary Amphitheater in Riverside Park 4:00pm – Freestyle Semis Junior & Expert Men, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park, directly after Pro Prelims 4 – 6pm – Events Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 4 – 5pm – Stand Up Paddle Boarding Clinic, Sponsored by C4 Waterman in the eddy upstream from the Salida Whitewater Park 5 – 6pm – USA Wildwater Nationals Classic, Sponsored by the Arkansas Head waters Recreation Area, Salida Whitewater Park 5:30pm – Live Music – The Congress – Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 6:30pm – Freestyle Semis – Pro Men’s, (no women semis) Sponsored by Boat House Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 7:00pm – Freestyle Finals – Expert M&W, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 8:00pm – Live Music– Juno What?! at Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside ParkSaturday, June 18th, 2011 7 – 10am   Events Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 8:00am – 5k & 10k Running Races, Presented by Salida Recreation Program, Registration 6:45-7:45 am Thonhoff Park 9:00am – Salida Farmer’s Market, Alpine Park 9:00am – USACK Slalom Age Group National Championships, Race Boat class followed by Recreational class – Registration ends at 8am 10:00am – New Belgium FIBArk Parade!, Sponsored by The Salida Citizen – F St. 12 Noon – Awards Ceremony, New Belgium FIBArk Parade, Announcer’s Booth in front of Pueblo Bank & Trust on F Street 12-3:30pm – FIBArk’s Got Talent and Karaoke Competition Sponsored by WRSI – Register 10am at the Salida Rotary Amphitheater in Riverside Park 2:00pm – SUP Freestyle, Sponsored by C4 Waterman at the Salida Whitewater Park 3:00pm – Freestyle Junior Finals, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 3 – 5pm – Events Registration at the FIBArk Boathouse 4:00pm – Awards Ceremony for Slalom Race, Salida Boat Ramp 4 -5 pm – Wildwater Open Sprint (Head to Head), Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area at the Whitewater Park 4:30-5:40pm – Live Music – Band of Heathens (set 1) at the Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 5:15pm – Awards Ceremony, Wildwater Series, SteamPlant deck 5:30pm – Hooligan Race, Sponsored by Subaru at the Salida Whitewater Park Registration ends at 5pm – NO ON-SITE REGISTRATION!!! 6:10-7:40pm – Live Music by Band of Heathens (set 2) at the Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 6:30pm – Awards Ceremony, Hooligan Race, Salida Boat Ramp 7:00pm – Freestyle Pro Finals, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 8:10pm – Live Music by Hell’s Belles at the Salida Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 10:30pm – Pine Creek Boater X Video Premier and Award Ceremony, Sponsored by Salida SteamPlant Theater, $10 coverSunday, June 19th, 2011 8:00am – FIBArk 10K Trail Run, Presented by the City of Salida Recreation Program. Register at 6:45-7:45am F St. Bridge 9:30am – FIBArk Chain Drain Disc Golf Tournament, Sponsored by Salida Green Cross, Players meeting at Poncha Springs Park, 8am start 9:45am – Downriver Raft Race, Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, 26 miles from Salida to Cotopaxi 10:00am – Freestyle Cadet & Junior, Sponsored by BoatHouse Cantina at the Salida Whitewater Park 10:00am – Mountain Bike Races, Sponsored by Absolute Bikes, Arkansas Hills Trails 10:00am – Downriver Race Novice, Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, 2 miles from Salida to Stockyards Bridge 10:30am – Downriver Race Intermediate and SUP, Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, 10 miles from Salida to Rincon 10-11:30am – FIBArk Recovery Yoga, Salida SteamPlant, Instructor: Annie Jacob 10:45am – Downriver Race Open Canoe, Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, 26 miles from Salida to Cotopaxi 11:00am – Downriver Race Kayaks C1 & C2,Sponsored by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, 26 miles Expert Salida to Cotopaxi, Start location – river right above 1st playhole, pre-race meeting 10:45am at start 11:00am – Awards Ceremony for Trail Races, at the F Street Bridge 12 Noon – Wynnie Memorial Crazy River Dog Contest, Sponsored by Free the Monkey at the “Office” wave, upper Salida Whitewater Park 12 Noon – Live Music, Bruce Hayes at the Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 1:20pm – Live Music, Todd Sheaffer of Railroad Earth solo at the Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 2:40pm – Live Music, Whitewater Ramble at the Rotary Amphitheater Riverside Park 3:30pm – Closing Award Ceremonies: Downriver Races and Freestyle Kayak Salida Boat Ramp… and the last amazing beer poured in Riverside Park 3:30pm – Last Amazing New Belgium Beer poured in Riverside Park

GREAT PHOTOS = • 2010 FIBArk Event Photos by Rapid Image and FibARK