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--Steve Nomchong

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--Mike Mowrey

While remaining primarily a locals' event, this celebration of spring and stamina draws competitors from throughout the country, many of whom come primarily for the paddling portion. "We get people calling all year about it," says Arron Pruzan, owner of Jackson's Rendezvous River Sports and co-organizer of the race. "The river leg is still the biggest factor. Paddlers win the race."

This statement rings particularly true when referring to the Durango, Colo.-based husband-and-wife team of Mike and Jana Freeburn. Mike won his ninth straight title this year, and Jana chalked up her fifth victory, defending her title from last year and adding to the three consecutive wins she racked up from 1991-93. "I always had one leg that I did exceptionally well in," said Mike after demolishing this year's field by more than 10 minutes. "But this year they all felt good. It took nine years for it all to click."

Freeburn admits that it's probably easier for him to train earlier in the spring than it is for Jackson-based paddlers. "It's convenient for me because I live right next to the river," Freeburn says of his home on Durango's Animas. "I started training in January - which I kind of doubt those guys can do." The "those guys" Freeburn is referring to consists of Jackson locals Pruzan, Larry Thal and Jim Mitchell, a local ski patroller who has won the event twice and taken second 15 times. "Mike was paddling for a living for several years so his skills are a lot more advanced than us hackers," Mitchell says. "Mike's a great guy to lose to. He's strong but humble." Freeburn retired from the U.S. Wildwater team in 1993 and now spends his off season as a science teacher at Durango High School. He was in Gardiner, Mont., for a National Team training camp in 1990 when he came down to compete in his first Pole, Pedal, Paddle. Pruzan is a six-year race competitor, finishing second to Freeburn in 1996 and placing third this year.

Though the river leg may be where the race is won or lost, it's also the portion that competitors--many of whom are non-paddlers or who haven't been in a boat since the previous summer--feel most tentative about. "We've done a lot to make people feel more comfortable about being on the water," Pruzan says. "We do a downriver clinic the week before so people at least know what to expect come race day." But to most, the race is about having a good time and enjoying the post-race party. According to event coordinator Ann Stephenson, more than 600 people competed in 1998, with many dressing up in costumes for the fun category. And the increase in participants, she adds, is due mainly to the river portion.

Harry Baxter, founder of the race and member of the three-generation team that took second in the family category of last year's event, says he had no idea the festivities would become so huge. "I was just trying to think of a way to end the season in style," says Baxter, who worked for the ski resort at the time. Baxter adds that although the main goal of the competition is to have fun, he admires those who compete in the solo class. "I think I could probably finish it," he says of the race he founded. "But I'm afraid I'd have to start the night before."

--Tom Bie

Thus reads the first of seven stipulations of the Winter Shop Days Kids 'n Boats Program, which puts kids to work refurbishing canoes and kayaks at a workshop in Freeland, Md. Little do the kids who sign on the dotted line know that the idea is not just to equip them with a boat or paddle--it's to teach them paddling-related shop skills, responsibility and pride of ownership (not to mention the gratification that comes with hand-sanding wood paddles, thwarts and gunwales).

The concept behind the program, which started in 1996 and has helped more than 10 kids build boats and paddles, is simple: lurking in basements and garages everywhere are forlorn canoes, kayaks and paddles, damaged, outgrown and outdated. Pair these up with boatless young paddlers and semi-knowledgeable adult supervision, then throw them all together in a well-equipped shop, and the result is a boat-building operation that, while not on par with the Perceptions of the world, evokes enthusiasm, dedication and inventiveness. And it gets canoes and kayaks in the hands of children who otherwise wouldn't have access to them. While the kids learn skills that will serve them throughout their paddling days, adults learn from their ideas born of innocence: hula hoops, cut in half, make fine spray cover cowlings; racing stripe accents make great trim-check lines; and graphics on offset paddle blades make visual orientation easier.

Item 2--Kid money pays the way. Parental Units permitted to assist only with labor and/or advise. Raw material gifts acceptable.

Fact--Polyester resins start at $10 a quart, ABS putty runs $60 a quart and adhesives, abrasives and stainless steel aren't cheap; no kid's piggy bank is that deep. But parents aren't allowed to donate funds. Instead, they have to practice saying things like "Happy birthday kid, here's a nice piece of ash for your replacement thwarts" and "Oh wow, Santa brought you snap fasteners for your spray cover."

If all parents want is a boat for their kid, it would be easier to simply visit a paddle shop and dicker for a used boat. Any repair project involving kids takes more time, is more expensive and keeps parents off the river more often than they would like (if it's warm enough to paddle, it's warm enough to paint, putty or mix resin). If the kids spent as much time working a job that involved saying "Would you like fries with that?" as they spend working on damaged hulls, they could pay cash for the boat of their choice.

Item 3--A report of the refinish/refurbish/repair process shall be submitted to the original donor by the recipient (photographs optional).

Most of the boats and paddling gear the kids receive are clunkers acquired as donations from local paddlers; in return for their generosity a summary of the repairs and a few photos is a small price to pay. Don't be surprised if the kids would rather toil away on their boats or paddles than deal with paperwork...wouldn't we all?

Item 4--Hulls that significantly change color must be refinished in Duckhead Purple and/or Duckhead Yellow (graphics and spray covers included).

This strategy not only allows leftover materials to be used on subsequent projects, but using bright, easy-to-spot colors facilitates taking a headcount when your youngsters are spread out up and down the river.

Item 5--Refurbished hulls shall be passed along to another Youth Division member upon acquisition of a new hull.

Those bantam-weight adolescents will eventually outgrow their perfectly sized boats and flatwater cruising kids have a habit of turning into teenage whitewater runners; when they're ready to graduate to a different hull they should be ready to head back into the shop and learn some new repair skills while working on another boat.

Item 6--An appropriate paddle must be passed along with the hull (laborious refinishing by the recipient acceptable).

Might as well get them accustomed to donating their old gear to the younger generation; with luck it'll be habit forming.

Item 7--Passer-away must provide the new recipient with labor and assistance in further refinishing/re-equipping boat and/or accessories equal to that which he/she previously received from parental units and/or others.

Ah, the concept of the self-sustaining labor pool. If you help a couple of kids with their paddling projects, they'll use what they've learned to help a couple of other kids with their paddling projects, who'll use what they've learned...

--Mike McCrea

Anyone who has ever taken a full-moon paddle knows the rewards of night boating. Those hesitant about such after-hours river running, however, can now turn to Bangert for salvation. His Vail, Colo.-based Lakota River Guides recently became the first commercial rafting company in the world to offer whitewater adventures in the black of night. Instead of boating by Braille, however, paddlers gather at sunset to sample local nightlife with the aid of sight-enhancing Night Vision goggles, which light up everything from rapids to rocks. "I think people used to do things out in the dark all the time," Bangert says. "Then we got chicken and quit."

Built by Roanoke, Va.-based ITT Corp., Night Vision goggles eliminate any need to fear things that go bump in the night--like the sound of a rock scraping a raft--by making use of recently declassified military technology. The nocturnal viewers, ranging in price from $1,500 to $5,000, are typically hand-held binoculars or monoculars (more expensive models come with head-mounts) that gather minimal light energy (photons) from sources such as the stars, convert it to electrical energy (electrons), increase that energy and then convert it back to light. This enables users--in Lakota's case, rafters--to see in the dark as if the sky was illuminated by a bright green lamp.

"I was thinking it was a technological crutch for a long time," says Bangert, who purchased eight sets of the mid-range goggles for his rafting operations. "Now I just think of it as human ingenuity. It's just a new tool you use when it's dark out."

Bangert uses his night vision goggles on commercial trips on a Class II stretch of the Upper Colorado River. And he has found them perfect for late-season runs. As the thrills of daytime rafting diminish with late-summer water levels, the ability to raft after dark more than makes up for minimal flows. The goggles are less intrusive than flashlights and head lamps, enabling users to scan banks for wildlife while guides negotiate rapids. "The adventure is more about being out at night than the actual rafting," maintains Bangert. "It's the simple stuff: the sounds, the smells and the sensation of movement in the rapids--the things people don't notice so much during the day." The goggles are also a hit with neophyte astronomers, allowing for stargazing even on overcast nights. All rafters are issued star charts along with their goggles and are encouraged to learn constellations, which virtually jump out of the sky with Night Vision enhancement.

In its first summer offering Night Vision tours, Lakota booked as many as four two- or three-raft trips per week. While the $89-a-night bookings are expected to increase as word of the night tours spreads, Bangert concedes that the adventures appeal only to a certain type of person, whether they regularly ply Class V or have never been in a boat before. "These are trips for people who want to do something a little different," Bangert says. "This way they can do something all day, and then still go out at night. But the goggles definitely extend paddlers' play time, which is a good thing in this day and age."

--For more information, contact Lakota River Guides at (970) 476-RAFT.

--Scott Willoughby