Hey Everyone,

Canoe and Kayak magazine did a great write up on the team Jackson Kayak’s trip to Newfoundland. Click here to check out the story and photo

Best

Jesse

Hey Everyone,

For our Telluride Colorado show the local paper did a story on Hotel Charley 3: The Lost World.
Click here to check out the story and photo

Best

Jesse

Hey Everyone,

I am very fortunate to have a photo of me on Lower Mesa falls in the Exposed section of the July issue of Outside Magazine. Many thanks to Lucas Gilman for nailing the shot!
Click here to check out the cover and photo

Best

Jesse

Hey Everyone, 

For our Hotel Charley 3: The Lost World show in Edwards I got a call from a local DJ named Weez.  He was on the air with KZYR 97.7 and did and interview that he aired several times that day.  Too cool! Click here to check out the interview:

Best 

Jesse

Hey Everyone,

My good fried Jason Rackley runs Oregonkayaking.net.  He liked my Big Kimshew article so much that he re-worked it a bit, added photos and put it up on his homepage.  Check it out!  http://oregonkayaking.net/creeks/big_kimshew/big_kimshew.html

Best

Jesse

Hi Everyone,

Most people may not realize this, but one of my favorite things about being on Team Jackson Kayak is the fact that we have a bunch of great youngsters on the team.  I have always enjoyed kids, and to have several of them on the team with great attitudes is a special aspect to the team.  During Paddlefest at Buena Vista we all taught classes and helped CKS as well as showing the premier of Hotel Charley 3: The Lost World.  Sunday afternoon I was looking for the opportunity to run something harder.  I spoke with Ben about getting on the Pine Creek section of the Arkansas and he was definitely interested.  Earlier in the day during lunch I saw Jason Craig and invited him to join us for a run on Pine Creek and the Numbers.  I also saw Lauren Burress and invited her to join us as well.  After a short session at the play features I saw Jason, Dane and Jonathan and they were all fired up to get on the river and work their skills on some harder water. 

We loaded up the tour van with the three boys and 5 boats and gear and headed over to the shop.  We saw Lauren there as well as some others.  Before we knew it there were 9 of us for this trip.  I checked with EJ to make sure he knew what the youngsters were doing, and we headed off in a caravan for the water.  Jason, Jonathan, Dane, Ben and I decided to run the Pine Creek section and then we would join up with the rest of the group for the Numbers section.  We spent a minute scouting the holes and then headed for the put in.  With no warm up, we all got in our boats and as soon as we were all in the water we headed straight in to the maw.  Of our group, only Ben had done this section before.  Not wanting to rob ourselves of the experience of figuring it out, Jonathan, Dane, Jason and I took off for the front looking forward to mixing it up.  We all had good lines, each of them a bit different.  Dane decided he wanted to pass the big hole on the right while the rest of us went left.  He got pulled into the hole a bit but a quick flush and roll and he was out with big smiles.  We all were smiling from ear to ear.  It is a short adrenaline filled section with fun moves. 

We then quickly saw the rest of our 9 person group and headed into the Numbers.  I have to say, we have the best kids on our team.  Lauren, Jason, Jonathan and Dane were playing with every feature on the river, knew it like the back of their hands, and were always looking for a reason to smile to the person next to them.  We were taking every hero line we could find on the river and plugging every hole.   With plenty of teasing, laughing and playing we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for the entire section.  There is such a great energy in paddling with younger paddlers, and I truly appreciate their unchained enthusiasm for the river and good times. 

A big thanks to Lauren’s mom for running shuttle and taking photos.   I hope everyone has the opportunity to paddle with kids.  It keeps you grounded!  We can sometimes let our egos or adult responsibilities carry over onto our time on the river, and paddling with kids on the river is a great reminder that only valid reason of being on the river is the smiles.

Hey Everyone, 

We are in the midst of a great tour with the largest audiences we have ever seen.  Here is a summary of how the shows went in Wyoming and Part 2 of Colorado.

Denver, CO

Confluence Kayaks hosts our Denver show and has had it at the Bug Theater for the last several years.  This is a great venue as they sell beer and popcorn and is a great way to see the film with theater seating and a large screen.  Ben is from Colorado originally, and his sister lives in Denver.  We always get a lot of Ben’s family at this show which makes it even that much better!  Every year I look forward to seeing Ben’s mom and sister and family here.  John of Confluence Kayaks is as nice a guy as there is, and we always enjoy bringing our latest film to Denver. 

Winter Park, CO

We started premiering the film in Winter Park last year with Dave Costlow and MAD Adventures, and they always do a great job.  We had a great turn out that was 7% of the population.  We showed at the PUB and the crowd was very vocal during the film during the ups and downs.  They had some great questions after the film, and then Dave held a great door prize giveaway which is similar to a raffle.  I consider Dave a great friend and someone I respect tremendously, so we always look forward to showing our films with him.

Fort Collins, CO

This is one of the shows I look forward to for the entire year.  Dave Costlow of Rocky Mountain Adventures has been doing this show for 7 years and does an absolutely first rate job.  He charges $12 at the door and it is the best bargain of the entire tour.  He hosts the show at New Belgium and provides delicious catering.  Therefore for only $12 the audience gets dinner, delicious beer, a door prize and the movie.  You can’t beat it!  Dave always sells out the show and everyone one of the audience members know him personally.  Dave creates a relationship with his customers throughout the year, and he pre-sells his tickets at the shop.  Dave sets the bar that all hosts can learn from on how to put on the perfect show. 

Jackson Hole, WY

We just had our best show ever in Jackson Hole.  Eric and Jess Seymore hosted the show and had over 100 people!  The turn out of our premiers is always directly related to the effort put into advertising the show, and Eric and Jess put on a great one.  Eric is one of the original members of No Big Names and a great guy.  Jess is a professional extreme skier and won Worlds last year.  They are great friends, and they put on a great show!

Best 

Jesse

The day before and the day of the Telluride show we had the opportunity to do some local Colorado creek boating.  We had been told that Escalante would be high, and we were able to catch it high the first day and medium the second day.  There had just been a bunch of rain in the area, and that meant the road was as slick as soapy water.  Luckily the ClearH2Ofilms van is AWD and pulled right through it.  Ben had done Escalante a while back and I had never done it.  It was basically brand new to both of us.  This area is absolutely beautiful with 300’ cliff walls.  We scouted Escalante falls and then drove to the put in.  After a short hike down the hill we were ready to get in the cold water and beautiful canyon.   We boat scouted most everything, and where the line was completely blind one of us would get out to scout for the other.  We bombed through the top several miles barely stopping.  At this flow there were not many eddys, and that made for exciting corners!  Melissa set herself up above 57 Chevy rapid and Escalante falls and took some great photos of us coming through the crux of the river.  Ben and I styled this section with big smiles and too much fun.  There is something great about running a river that you know is well within your skill level, but still gets your juices flowing.  It is the perfect combination of fun and excitement!  We ran the river both days and had an absolutely great time on the river and camping.  The second day there was huge crew on the river having a great time as well.  I heard that in most years this river only runs for a couple weeks.  This year it has been in for over a month.  If you can, get there right away!

Hey Everyone,

We are in the midst of a great tour with the largest audiences we have ever seen. Read below to check out our first 4 shows in Colorado.

Telluride, CO

Telluride provided another packed show and the most raffle items we have ever seen! Jagged Edge has hosted the tour for several years now. This year looked like it might be tough, but Cari made it happen. And it is a good thing she did! The show was sold out. Cari at Jagged Edge did a great job promoting the film and it sold out! Everyone really enjoyed the film and had a ton of great questions after the film. Then Jagged Edge did their raffle and it was such a good raffle that everyone who bought a ticket won something. I don’t mean everyone got a t-shirt or a hat. I mean they won something significant like a paddle, pfd, sandals, courier bag, stove, headlamp, you name it! If you are ever in Telluride when they are premiering you’ll want to make it a TOP PRIORITY to get in the show before it is sold out. If the raffle isn’t enough, Jagged Edge also provided free beer and popcorn to everyone who came to the show. What a great event for the shop and the community! For the evening the shop offered us a bed and shower which we were very happy to accept. The next morning we were happy to see precipitation, but were surprised to see it in the form of snow!

Gunnison, CO

This year’s show was hosted by the Greg Osgood of the Gunnison Paddle Club at Timber’s Cantina. Greg did a great job of getting the word out and getting our sponsors to support the event. Jackson Kayak agreed to donate a Rocker as a raffle prize! All the proceeds of the raffle support the Gunnison Paddle Club and River Festival Council. This show was a huge success as we ran the film through Timber’s tv and sound system and we projected the film on our 10 foot by 10 foot screen. The crowd loved it and they also loved the great raffle of gear and the boat. We have a lot of friends in this area and it is always great to see them as well. That night we stayed at Chris Larson’s house under the beautiful mountain range that surrounds Crested Butte.

Edwards, CO

Our Edwards show is always hosted by Alpine Quest Sports, and they always do a great job. This year they decided to take it to the next level and have the show across the street at E Town. E Town is the local hot spot bar and grill with a great owner.

On our way to the show I got a call from a local DJ named Weez. He was on the air with KZYR 97.7 and did and interview that he aired several times that day. Too cool! Click here to check out the interview: http://www.jessecoombs.com/media/jesse.mp3

Once we got there we ran the film through his sound system and tvs as well as projected it onto our big screen. He restaurant was packed at a time when it normally would be more quiet. The whole place was standing room only, and people who only came for dinner stayed the whole time for the film as well. Everyone in E Town was riveted to the film and would not budge until it was over. Another great show!

Buena Vista, CO

Paddlefest is always a great show, and this year was another big success. Paddlefest is full of all kinds of paddlers, and they are a discerning group of viewers. Shred Ready set up their helmet art as a fund raiser for American Whitewater. You can learn more about this at becauserockshurt.com. It is a great cause and I highly encourage everyone to contribute. The house was packed standing room only and the crowd was quiet as a mouse focused on the story lines of the film. When it ended the crowd gave a roaring yell and applause. To get this response from such a knowledgeable crowd is truly a great feeling. We had a bunch of people come tell us how much they enjoyed the film and thanked us for our effort. These big festival shows are especially fun for us, and when they go this well it really feels great. The weekend of teaching clinics and helping everyone was super fun. On Sunday we got to bomb down Pine Creek and the Numbers with Jason Craig, Jonathan, Dane Jackson, Lauren Burress and others which was too fun. It is great to see how much fun these younger paddlers are having. This was a great weekend!

Best

Jesse

Hello Everyone,

On our Hotel Charley 3: The Lost World tour through Colorado we had the opportunity to spend some time with Alex Hotlze in Montrose, CO.  We had a few extra hours the day after the Telluride show and called Alex for a tour of the local goods.  He suggested M Wave and we knew we were in for a good time.  What we didn’t know was that we were in for quite the adventure when the spot is park and play.  We met Alex and Kyle at the local library and headed off to the wave.  We heard the road was bad, and it was.  But that was only the beginning.  The road was ridiculously slick with 6’ of mud that acted more like dish soap.  Alex told us that earlier the road fell away on a precarious corner of the road while a truck full of kayakers was driving through.  The truck rolled onto its top crushing the kayaks and truck.  We took it very easy on this stretch!

When we got there Alex and Kyle warned us not to step outside.  They said the mud was thick and sticky.  I ignored them.  I mean how bad could it be?  Well, check out the mud sandals to see just how sticky it is.  Crazy!  The mud got so bad we ultimately started walking like Frankenstein trying to keep our shoes from getting sucked off our feet.  Ben decided to go barefoot, and that was comical.  He said for a kid who didn’t like finger painting, this was not his ideal walking conditions.  

We got dressed and got in the unbelievable cold water.  Kyle said the water comes from the bottom of two dams and under a mountain on its way to M Wave.  The water temp was definitely in the low 40’s.  And if that was not enough, the entire town of Montrose had sun except for this area.  Oh wait, there is more.  Right after we got in the water a driving rain started.  We just had to laugh.  We all wore as much clothes as possible, pogies and a head cap.  And we were still freezing.

But the feature made it all better.  This thing is fast and sweet.  Sometimes it had a huge face, other times it had a sweet pile.  The eddies were fast and pulled you right back into the wave, especially the river right eddy.  Alex spends a lot of time on this wave, and it shows.  He is a great guy and does a great job out there on M Wave!  It was fun to cheer him.  Ben and I had great fun and some good rides and laughed at how much a park and play spot could be a true adventure.  The van, our gear and our selves were absolutely COVERED in this mud that had a mind of its own.  

When we drove back the rain made the road even worse, but the AWD ClearH2Ofilms van pulled right through like a champ!  We went straight to the car wash and spent over $5 at the car wash holding the nozzle of the power washer inches from the mud that refused to give in without a huge fight.

This whole event was actually really fun, and I suggest it to anyone who wants a fast and furious wave with plenty of action on and off the river. 

Best

Jesse