submitted by Mateo Kowalczyk 

Hi my name is Mateo Kowalczyk and I’m a 15 year old kayaker from Boise, Idaho! I just spent the weekend in Buena Vista, Colorado participating in the CKS paddle fest! It was my first ever paddle fest and I want to tell you a little bit about my experience!

Being a long way from home I showed up not knowing any of the other kayakers that were going to be there. I had always heard just how fun paddle fest’s can be and couldn’t wait to be apart of one first hand. As you could imagine I was very nervous putting my boat into the water looking at a brand new feature, with an eddy full of unfamiliar faces. I immediately found that everyone was extremely nice and just happy to be on the water.

On the first official day of the paddle fest (Friday). Two boys that looked about my age paddled down into the eddy. They were both really great boaters and I felt pretty intimidated. After talking to them a little bit I found that they were just my age and had traveled down all the way from Pennsylvania for the next couple weeks to kayak. After talking we started to click and they became my new best friends! This weekends freestyle rodeo was going to be my first ever competition and the same for the PA boys. We all trained together dialing in old tricks and learning some new ones. Not only did I find new friends I got to get help from some really skilled kayakers. Everyone was happy to help you learn a new trick or answer your questions. So even if the sound of competition isn’t for you, I would totally recommend showing up and using the weekend as a time to improve your paddling and meeting new people.

The second day (Saturday) started with a freestyle kayak clinic hosted by Dane Jackson. This was an hour time when anyone could show up for free, demo a new Rockstar 5.0! And learn some new tricks and tips from one of the best kayakers in the world! Following that was Rodeo. My 2 friends and I registered for the Junior Mens freestyle category and were really excited and nervous. Based on the kids we had met the last couple days we were expecting about 5-6 kids to register, but by the end of the registration time there was a TOTAL of 19 Juniors registered!! This was super exciting as this junior competitors is just unheard of! The competition turned out to be super fun. There were tons of spectators cheering you on. Every competitor was rooting for each other and and expressing their excitement. I ended up placing 3rd which I’m super proud of! I also learned a lot about how the point system worked and everything that goes on behind the scenes to put on such a fun event!

DAY 3 contained the downriver time race on the Numbers section of the Arkansa river. A really fun class 4 section that was almost a mix between river running and creaking. This race had a total of 64 competitors and took shout 16-20 minutes depending on the racer. This was a super fun way to see a new river with plenty of safety while also testing your endurance and skills in a super fun exciting way. I placed 12th out of 44 men in the short boat category which I’m super proud with. It showed me where I was as a paddler and truly showed me just how fun competing is for me. At the end of the day I went to sleep sore, tired, and sun burnt, but with a massive smile across my face.

All in all, the CKS paddle fest was one of the most fun weekends of my life filled with friends, experiences, and some amazing whitewater. If there’s any of you that have ever thought about checking out your local paddle fest I would 100% recommend in doing so. Even if you are not the best kayaker or not a whitewater enthusiast at all I know that there is still fun to be had and people to meet wherever you find yourself around the river community!