SUPin' it UP!

Stand Up Paddleboarding, or SUPing, is a relatively new sport in the world of whitewater. It has been popular on lakes and in the ocean for quite a while, but the river runners got a hold of it fairly recently. Once you get on a SUP, though, it’s easy to see why it’s one of the fastest growing sports in whitewater. Yesterday, the Wildwater family decided to beat away any Monday blues by hopping on some SUPs after work. 

Andy Surfin it up!

10 of us rallied right at 5 o' clock and went to Riverside Park in Cashmere to SUP down to the Sleepy Hollow Bridge between Monitor and Wenatchee. It’s a nice, relatively flat stretch, sprinkled with some small rapids. Having been down in a raft and a kayak many times, I thought of it as mostly flat water. After about 30 seconds on a SUP board, though, I realized that what looks flat in a raft turns into whitewater on a SUP. 

Julianna, Lance, David,  Brian, and Rio!

I swam of my board in the first eddy line I came to, and every little tiny wave looked like it would knock me over. It was an intense game of balance. On the wide, deep Wenatchee, however, this meant lots of laughter and smiles. 10 raft guides goofing around on SUP boards was quite an entertaining sight. Trying to surf waves, or just stay upright was down right hilarious. Half the time when we fell down it was because we were laughing so hard.

Trying a little SUP Yoga

SUPing for the first time got me so excited about taking people out on these bad boys. The NRS inflatable boards come in a bunch of sizes, from the squirly surf-able Tyrant to the big stable Baron. The Wenatchee is the perfect place to get started. It's wide, deep and friendly, but has enough waves to make you laugh and test your balance. If you think this sounds like your kind of adventure, come check it out at Wildwater!