{"id":25038,"date":"2019-06-07T20:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T02:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event\/"},"modified":"2019-06-07T20:24:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T02:24:01","slug":"cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultures connect through kayaking at GoPro Mountain Games Steep Creek event"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.7016393442623\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-367074-204\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Chris Dillmann \/ cdillmann@vaildaily.com | Arnaldo Cespedes competes in the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The annual race kicks off the annual event.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Arnaldo Cespedes competes in the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The annual race kicks off the annual event.<\/strong><br \/>Chris Dillmann \/ cdillmann@vaildaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1.jpg\" alt=\"Arnaldo Cespedes competes in the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The annual race kicks off the annual event.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Chris Dillmann \/ cdillmann@vaildaily.com | Lepine Thomas goes inverted and sideways during the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The last drop caused problems for some kayakers.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Lepine Thomas goes inverted and sideways during the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The last drop caused problems for some kayakers.<\/strong><br \/>Chris Dillmann \/ cdillmann@vaildaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Lepine Thomas goes inverted and sideways during the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The last drop caused problems for some kayakers.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com | Kayakers compete in the Steep Creek Race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursdya in Vail. The class-5 waters were a challenge for all competitors.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Kayakers compete in the Steep Creek Race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursdya in Vail. The class-5 waters were a challenge for all competitors.<\/strong><br \/>Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/SteepCreek-VDN-060719-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"Kayakers compete in the Steep Creek Race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursdya in Vail. The class-5 waters were a challenge for all competitors.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">RED CLIFF \u2014 Dane Jackson has been called the world\u2019s best kayaker and, on Thursday, he bested boaters from all over the globe to prove the title true.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Jackson was the only American man in the top five at the Steep Creek Championship, a timed race down Homestake Creek that doubles as the kick off to the GoPro Mountain Games every year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">International competitors outnumbered Americans in the women\u2019s event, with only four female competitors completing both of their preliminary round runs through the tight section of class-5 whitewater. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Adriene Levknecht, of Greenville, South Carolina, was the fastest woman on the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">\u2018As cold as cold can get\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Colorado was well represented in the competition, with Glenwood Springs paddlers Kenny and Dally Kellogg, Peter Farmelo of Silverthorne and Alex Tansey of Kremmling holding it down as the most local kayakers in the 37-person field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tansey said if they had any \u201chome water\u201d advantage, it was the fact that they were already acclimated to the elevation and the cold water.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSome of these folks aren\u2019t used to true snowmelt water,\u201d Tansey said. \u201cAs cold as cold can get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Traveling to Colorado for the first time from Costa Rica, Arnaldo Cespedes said the water nearly paralyzed him at first.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEven though I was wearing a wet suit, I thought that I was going to get frozen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cespedes said as a result, he didn\u2019t perform as well as he was expecting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut it\u2019s part of it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the way that you can improve yourself, just getting exposed to that, and to try with the best boaters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">At the boat wash<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Paddlers from Chile, Argentina, Canada, France and Norway also competed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Second-place Gerd Serrasoles, a native of Catalonia, now calls the Columbia River Gorge home in White Salmon, Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With such an international field, the boat wash station did get used on Thursday, as part of an ongoing effort to stop invasive aquatic species into local waterways.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A common sight at competitions like this one, Whirling Disease, Quagga, zebra mussel, chytrid fungus, Didymo and New Zealand mudsnail were identified as species currently affecting the area.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The only New Zealander competing on Thursday, Courtney Kerin, said she recently became aware of the mudsnail issue at a competition in Nevada last month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI had never heard of it myself, so that kind of blew my mind when I read about that,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the New Zealand mudsnail has been present in Europe since the 19th century, its presence in the American west is relatively new.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cPopulations in New Zealand are kept in check naturally by native parasites. In North America, however, native stream communities can be drastically altered because there are no natural predators,\u201d the California Department of Fish and Game wrote in 2004, as the species was first being seen there. \u201c(The New Zealand mudsnail) is a very small snail with the potential of extraordinary population densities \u2013 up to approximately a million snails per square meter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kerin said thanks to the support of her sponsor, she receives a brand new boat as soon as she hits North America, so locals don\u2019t have to worry about tagalong snails hitching a ride with her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI certainly understand and appreciate that effort though,\u201d she said. \u201cIn New Zealand there\u2019s a big focus on biodiversity, as well, and it can be quite strict due to the sensitivity of our ecosystem there. \u2026 As soon as you get there, your stuff is sprayed and cleaned, and they might even tell you you can\u2019t keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In May, Kerin competed in RiverFest in Columbus, Georgia, before hitting the Reno River Festival, Animas River Days in Durango and the CKS Paddlefest in nearby Buena Vista. She arrived at the Mountain Games feeling strong, and has decided to test her running and biking skills in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m gonna jump around to a few different competitions and see what happens,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Ultimate Mountain Challenge tests competitors across six events of their choosing, with at least one biking and paddling event mandatory. It wraps up on Sunday with the Pepi\u2019s Face Off, also mandatory, which sets a clock to 30 minutes and pits runners against each other in a challenge to see who can complete the most laps up the steep, 40% grade ski run at the base of Gondola One in Vail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Pepi\u2019s Face Off is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. For more schedule information, visit MountainGames.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">This story is from VailDaily.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/cultures-connect-through-kayaking-at-gopro-mountain-games-steep-creek-event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arnaldo Cespedes competes in the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The annual race kicks off the annual event.Chris Dillmann \/ cdillmann@vaildaily.com Lepine Thomas goes inverted and sideways during the Steep Creek race for the GoPro Mountain Games Thursday in Red Cliff. The last drop caused problems for some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 19:27:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}