Who would you nominate? Fabulous 40 in Whitewater......

[shuttelhunny]

Hello all! I am starting a blog for North American River Runners website called ‘Natalie’s Fabulous 40 in Whitewater’ and was hoping you all would have some ideas of who I could include in my blog. Who I am looking for to write about are fun individuals who make an impact in the whitewater world. Nominees do not necessarily have to be any ‘bad-ass over achiever’ that you are use to seeing in other whitewater articles, but more or less REAL people who are willing to conduct a 10 question interview and get some props on NARR’s website! I will be posting links to whatever the ‘Fabulous 40’ are involved with to promote their business, interests and lifestyle!

I have got some pretty stellar ideas and nominations so far (about 11 of the 40) and would greatly appreciate any ideas on more! I will be posting this blog twice a week on www.narr.com . Feel free to email me a name of who you think should make the top 40, any other information on the nominee would be helpful as well: Natalie@narr.com

[tango]

walt blackadar
doug ammons
kirschbaum
rob lesser

[Smokey Carter]

Me, myself and I.

Or just do a search for "shit talk," on this site and pm anyone who posted.

[Gary E]

Ammons and Lesser for sure. I get the honor of paddling with Rob and his stories and paddling ability at 60+ years old is amazing. Fun sitting in an eddy while Rob fires Jakes like he's been there a million times.

I'd put Gordon Banks, Landis Arnold, John Matson in the mix also for Colorado paddlers.

[caspermike]

ed conning, aaron pruzan, john suttor

[ToddG]

Lest this thing turn into a "legends of the sport / hall of fame" list .. I'll respectfully nominate someone who's behind the scenes every day currently influencing the culture & industry around WW .. Mr. John Weld.

The commercial success of IR aside, John (& Kara) tirelessly contribute to the success of individual paddlers through supporting & empowering thinkers in the industry in about a million ways: IR Triple Crown reinvented "rodeo"; IR Big Gun Show re-reinvented (& "killed") rodeo. Some of the best online resources & blogs in WW are hosted, for free, on server space paid for & provided by John. TRL would not be a reality w/o John's support. He asks for nothing in return. Penstock Productions (LVM) would never have been a reality, nor would it have a life post-Daniel, without John's ongoing involvement. He is investing pretty much all of IR's marketing budget into an exploration grant program for both WW & sea kayaking, for which in all likelihood, IR will see a net loss -- & that's fine with him because the program is about supporting exploration/adventure, building community, & carrying out Daniel's vision for the project. He was among the first individuals many kayakers ever heard of making biodiesel in the garage & then firing up the Jetta for kayaking trips with it.

He has his share of domestic & international first d's, sea kayaking exploratories, & still gets it done on the steep runs of northern WV.

And of course, with IR, he & Kara introduced a bit of style into the dorky dayglo world of technical river wear ..

So there you go .. John Weld is my unsung hero candidate for your Fab 40.

[COUNT]

Obviously a few of the Legends:
Snyder Bros.
Kern Bros.
Hilleke
Grace
DeLavergne
Nikki Kelly
Steve Fisher

And some other great ones:
Chris Spelius
Risa Shimoda
Brad Ludden
Corey Volt (a true ambassador for the sport)
Woody Callaway is one that kayaking is lucky to have
You should throw Mr. Gillman on that list too.

These were the first few that came to mind. My .02.

COUNT

[gh]

I second the John Weld nomination.

[skibuminwyo]

I would probably give a vote for Ed Conning, too, nat. If it there was some sort of honorary, memory list, I'd put Dan Crain and Todd Andrews on there too. They MADE Wyoming kayaking.

[Caspian]

Jimmy Holcombe
+1 on the Synders
Corran Addison
Lars Holbek