FOY Board Member Sarah Hamilton Places Seventh at World Rafting Championships in Costa Rica

November 9, 2011 By eugene

Sarah Hamilton (bow right) leads her US Women's team to a 7th-place overall finish.

When the 2011 World Rafting Championships wrapped up Monday, Oct. 10, on Costa Rica’s Pacuare River, Steamboat Springs local Sarah Hamilton was there every stroke of the way to help propel her U.S. Teva Women’s Team to a seventh-place overall showing.

“We didn’t do as well as we had hoped to, but it was a great event,” said Hamilton, who joined the team last fall. “We were in a position to win up until the last day’s downriver event.”

In all, 29 men’s teams and 19 women’s teams from 32 different countries gathered in Turrialba, Costa Rica, for the event, which drew the world’s best rafters to the Pacuare for the first time since the Camel International Whitewater Challenge in 1998.

The U.S. Teva Women’s Team rode a strong fourth-place finish in the opening day’s sprint event to a seventh-place finish in the head-to-head competition. The team then earned a fifth-place showing in the slalom, leaving it overall title contention heading into Monday’s Class IV-V downriver race. It finished sixth on the technical, boulder-strewn course, earning the team a seventh-place ranking overall.

The Czech Republic won the women’s division, followed by Japan and the Netherlands. The U.S. Teva Men’s Team, whose members hail from the Vail area, also finished seventh overall.

The women’s team consists of Hamilton, captain Jess Mason, Molly Etters, Ronni Malson, Brooke Magstadt, Misty Cumings and Karah Frizzle, all from Colorado.

“We did pretty well all in all, but we haven’t trained together all that long compared to some of the other teams,” said Hamilton, who stayed in shape this summer paddling the Yampa River and training with her team on the Eagle River and Gore Canyon of the Colorado River. “Japan is fully sponsored, so they’re a strong team, and so are the Czechs.”

“Both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams are very good,” added Rafael Gallo, president of host outfitter Rios Tropicales and the International Rafting Federation. “Colorado has a lot of similar rivers to the Pacuare. Any number of teams could have won.”

For Hamilton, it was straight from padding down the river to walking down the aisle; she married long-time local Dan Piano at a beachside wedding in Costa Rica four days later.

Results

Men Overall

1 Japan
2 Czech Republic
3 Slovenia
4 Brazil
5 Chile
7 USA

Women Overall

1 Czech Republic
2 Japan
3 Netherlands
4 New Zealand
5 Great Britain
7 USA

U.S. Team Results

Men: Sprint: 9th; Head-to-head: 5th; Slalom: 9th; Downriver: 7th
Women: Sprint: 4th; Head-to-head: 7th; Slalom: 5th; Downriver: 6th

Filed Under: News

FOY’s Annual Fundraiser – Saturday Nov. 19, 2011

November 2, 2011 By Kent

The Big Snow Dance

The Friends of the Yampa is proud to host our annual family friendly, Big Snow Dance fundraiser on Saturday, November 19th at the Sweetwater Grill (5:30 till close). We invite you to support us in our effort to protect and enhance the environmental and recreational integrity of the Yampa River, its basin, and its tributaries through stewardship, advocacy, partnerships, and education.

Along with the silent and live auctions, there will be live music from Steamboat local bands Ragweed and the Old Town Pickers, plenty of dancing and socializing from a diverse group of Northwest Colorado residents. A small entry fee ($20) will include dinner, drink ticket and a great evening of dancing and celebrating the onset of winter.

Everyone is invited to this family friendly event that includes dancing to the festive music of local bands Ragweed and the Old Town Pickers, dinner and a silent/live auction. The event is at the Sweetwater Grill and doors open at 5:30pm.

This year’s family friendly event will take place on Saturday, November 19th at the Sweetwater Grill. Along with the silent and live auctions, there will be live music, plenty of dancing and socializing from a diverse group of Northwest Colorado residents. A small entry fee will include dinner, drink ticket and a great evening of dancing and celebrating the onset of winter.

The Yampa River in downtown Steamboat Springs especially is one of Northwest Colorado’s most important environmental and recreational resources. Tourism to the Valley is an important economic generator and the river is a central part to this economy and the lifestyle that makes Steamboat Springs and Northwest Colorado so special. As more and more people venture in and along the river, it cannot support itself and needs groups like the Friends of the Yampa to maintain both it’s ecological integrity and recreational resources. All proceeds from The Big Snow Dance will go directly to river based work.

The Big Snow Dance is FOY’s largest fundraiser of the season and we welcome your contribution in any way you can. Donation items for the silent and live auction during the Big Snow Dance will help fund river restoration and improvements outlined in the Yampa River Management Plan and the Yampa River Structural Master Plan. You can sign up here on our website for donation items. Thank you.