Team Jackson Kayak’s Ali Wade’s Bio is up on the Team JK site by Will Richardson | Nov 23, 2004 | Whitewater | 0 comments 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" Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ