Team Jackson Kayak’s Ali Wade’s Bio is up on the Team JK site

November 23, 2004

 

Ali Wade

Age: 18

 

 

 
 

Ali Wade is somebody who I am proud
to call a member of Team JK. She is not only a champion (see results
below) but also a champion spirit. Ali Wade skips to her own internal
orchestra, defying the regularity of people who march to their own
drum, certainly you won’t ever see Ali marching. Ali is moving from
the junior women’s class to the senior class quite handily. She
also works as a ski instructor in Colorado for the winter. Check
out what she has to say about her kayaking:

I can remember floating around in my dad’s T-
slalom right around the time I was learning to ride my bike. Although
I didn’t learn to roll till I was about 11, and the boat I learned
my roll in was the Prijon Rocket, I think one of the wider boats.
My family would take weekend paddling trips in the local rivers,
and the occasional multi-day trip down the Green river in Utah,
the Colorado river, and even the San Juan. I was a bit of a weekend
warrior until I went into high school. The school I attended offered
not only an enormous kayak program for beginner to advanced paddlers,
but also a competitive freestyle team. I was on the team from the
spring of my freshman year, all the way through graduation. We had
the opportunity to paddle a minimum of four days a week, and a max
of seven. Then, of course their were the trips that the entire school
would take in the spring, and in the fall.

I always opted for the river trips of course.
My dad took me down the Grand Canyon for my 16th birthday, which
was where I was convinced by a very cute professional kayaker (Alex
Allen) that I should try and compete beyond the high school competitions
that I had currently been in.

So in the fall I went to Ottawa for team trials,
and that is where my "real" competitions started. Since
then, I have been to Austria, Canada, the East coast, the Southeast,
and Australia. So, here are some of my accomplishments.

2004- Jr. Women’s Champion, RI Games (Rock Island,
TN)

2004- Pro Women’s Second place, RI Games

2004- Third boat named to US Squirt Boat team

2004- Pro Women’s Champion, Flaming Gorge River
Days (Green River, WY)

2004- Jr. and Expert Women’s Champion FIBArk
(Salida, CO)

2004- Jr. Women’s Pre World Champion (Penrith,
Australia)

2003- U.S. National Freestyle Kayaking Junior
Women’s Champion (Rock Island, TN)

2003- Jr. Women’s Freestyle Kayak Runner-up World
Champion (Graz, Austria)

I am really excited to be a part of the Jackson
Kayak Family, and I cannot wait for another spring run off here
in Colorado. But until then, I will be working with the Aspen Mountain
Ski Patrol, hopefully skiing lots of powder on my telemark skis.

Thanks EJ, I hope you and Christine had a good
trip. Let me know if you need more.

Peace, Ali "Danger"