Whitewater swimming? Why not...

Riverboarding takes extreme sports to the next level

By Mike Bitton
 
I was perched dangerously in the boulders at Carter Falls near Estacada, Ore., waiting to photograph the next paddle team competing in the 2005 Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival, when a couple of crazy guys in wetsuits, helmets and fins flushed through the Class IV rapids… on boogie boards.

Startled, I rattled off a few frames, my zoom lens capturing maniacal smiles. I was sure these swimmers were headed for early graves. Maybe not today, but swimming in Class IV whitewater? That was plain stupid. Just asking for it.

A raft arrived at the top of the falls, so I was back to work shooting what I was really there to capture — the fierce facial expressions of men and women engaged in serious whitewater competition. You know, respectable folks who only swim Carter's when something goes horribly wrong.

I shot a few more paddle teams as they struggled to steer their rafts through the colorful poles strung over the river. Then those boogie boarders showed up again, this time walking back upstream to get in another run.

“Hey, I think I got some good shots of you guys!” I offered.  They seemed oblivious, goofy grins still splitting their faces from ear to ear. I coaxed an e-mail address out of one of them, who told me his name was “Ice Man.” Uh huh, sure it is, I thought. 

“I'll send you a link to the photos!” I shouted, not at all sure he heard me over the roar of the falls.  If Ice's family happened to check his e-mail the next day, they'd have nice pictures of his final moments to run with the obituary.

And that's how I met Portlander Josh “Ice” Lamka, who just happens to be North America's de-facto authority on riverboarding. The other swimmer that day was Peter Lamka, Josh's somewhat saner brother.

During the next year-and-a-half, I photographed riverboarding multiple times for Lamka. Come to find out, he's not crazy or stupid. He does not have a death wish. He just has lots of enthusiasm for a sport he loves and would like to see grow. He even convinced me to try the sport myself.

The first time was in August 2005, at the tail end of a photo shoot on the Upper Clackamas River near Estacada. A fitness magazine in New Orleans had scheduled a story about riverboarding for an upcoming issue, and these photos were to illustrate it. We wrapped after just three hours of shooting. With plenty of daylight left, Josh encouraged me to live the adventure, and try the sport I'd been photographing.

Suiting me up was a chore. Full-body neoprene wetsuit. Neoprene booties. Life jacket. Helmet. Knee pads. Shin guards. Elbow pads. Fins. By the time I was ready to launch at the Fish Creek put-in above Carter Falls, I looked like I was ready for naval warfare.

Lamka talked me through the serene water above Carter's, and gave me some great advice right before things started to get sketchy:  “Don't let go of your board.” I followed his directions, and had an upright (though white-knuckled) ride through Carter Falls. Adventure journalism had led me to try many things, but riverboarding was easily the most thrilling. I knew I'd go again.

My second riverboarding trip, in August 2006, was supposed to be a surprise adventure date with my wife, Jana, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Lamka was our guide, and we planned to ride Carter Falls. But things did not go as planned.

Jana got caught in an eddy early in the run, and decided after we got her out that she'd had enough. She stood up in the shallows, walked to the bank of the river, took off her flippers and hiked back to the car. Lamka and I finished the run, which I found to be just as thrilling as my first time...but my anniversary plans won't include danger ever again.

Lamka's faith in the future of riverboarding led him to launch a website, facelevel.com, that sells all the equipment you need to start swimming whitewater. It also features a huge collection of multimedia offerings showing riverboarding all over the world. Much of the best content is from our very own White River, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge near Hood River, Ore.

Lamka has become the de-facto North American expert on riverboarding. He will serve as the riverboarding director of this summer's resurrected Gorge Games, set to take place in July. He's also the river section director of the Primal Quest expedition adventure race set to take place this summer in Montana. Lamka had the same job with Primal Quest in 2006 along the Colorado River in Southern Utah.

Additional proof that the sport is catching on nationwide, Lamka was able to launch the Face Level Riverboarding Championships in 2008. The season-long competition includes stops on the Kern, Cal Salmon, and South Fork of the American Rivers in California; the New and the Gauley Rivers in West Virginia; the U.S. National Whitewater Center in North Carolina; the Payette River in Idaho; the Pigeon and the Ocoee Rivers in Tennessee; Clear Creek and the Colorado River in Colorado; and the White Salmon River here in Washington state.

The series will include four distinct riverboarding disciplines: timed slalom racing through gates, timed head-to-head “boardercross” races, extreme downriver endurance competitions, and freestyle surfing (which requires competitors to perform impressive tricks to capture the attention of judges).

Lamka continues to promote the sport he loves. To learn more about riverboarding, visit his website at www.facelevel.com.