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Quick Bio

Hometown: Sherman Mills, ME

First boat paddled: Dagger Blast

Favorite boat: Liquid Logic Space Cadet

Favorite river: The Ottawa River is a playful river, and we stayed at Widlerness Tours resort.

Favorite park & play spot: Sections and Heaters has a hole, wave, and mystery move spot all at the same destination.

Whitewater hero: My dad who got me into kayaking.

Best thing that has happened to you at Huge Experience: Just having the opportunity to paddle everyday with great people.

Scariest or biggest thrill in whitewater: I was worked on the Ocoee in Humoungus for over a minute.

December 5 - Rio Manso Rodeo in Patagonia

On December 2nd Huge Experiences held a rodeo in the heart of the Patagonia Mountains. The kayak high school drove for two hours outside of Bariloche, Argentina to the Rio Manso for four days of freestyle training. Even the road to the river was incredible as we passed glaciers, gorgeous mountains, lakes, rivers, and valleys. The road wound so tightly around the mountains and lake that the locals keep a one-way schedule that changes every two hours.

After three days of good weather the morning of the rodeo turned cold. Early morning competitors shook the dew off of their wet gear and ran to the river. As they arrived at the Rio Manso hole the judges built a fire. Competitors not in current heats would sit around the fire from the water and lean their hands over the fire. It was an impressive site to view the athletes hanging around a fire from their boats. Some would pull themselves upon the rocks to be closer to the heat source.

The rodeo was eventful to watch as there were two classes of competitors-Jr. Pro and Jr. Experts. Dan Simenc, Ian Mickle, and Todd Baker made the finals for the Jr. Pro class. It was Mickle and Simenc who would rally for the honor of gold. Mickle utilized his cartwheel skills to run up his technical score multiplied by his variety of a blunt, split wheel, and cartwheels. Simenc would go for a higher variety multiplier with a blunt, cartwheel, and backstab. Although he had a lower technical score to multiply he won the event with his 70.0 over Mickle's 65.25.

The rodeo went well in Argentina, and was the sixth of the semester for the Huge Experiences kayak academy. Coach David Hughes stated, "it was great rodeo as kids hit blunts, cartwheels, and backstabs in the middle of the Patagonia Mountains. You don't do that everyday."

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