Oh Be Joyful kayak race June 4

May snows bring June flows

[  by Than Acuff  ]

For the past three weeks, trucks and cars with kayaks have been heading out to one of the crown jewels of steep creek kayaking, Oh Be Joyful Creek. Some just for the fun of it and others, perhaps, to prepare for the annual Oh Be Joyful kayak race on Saturday, June 4.

Word is, Oh Be Joyful Creek up the Slate River Valley was first run by Tim Keggerman and a guy named Jack (Barker) and Fred. But then I heard Wild Bill may have been in there with Keggerman as the first to do the full run. Nevertheless, since 1995 kayakers have thrown their hat in the ring to compete in the annual Oh Be Joyful kayak race.

It has bounced back and forth between a legitimate sanctioned event and a rogue word-of-mouth steep creek competition since that first race in 1995. An annual competitor and avid kayaker Brent Toepper did some leg work to bring the race up to snuff with proper permitting around the mid to late 2000s including film footage of the race from 2008.

It was that video that caught the interest of current race director Paul Raymond.

“The reason I moved to Colorado in 2012 was I saw the video of that race,” says Raymond.

That then led to Raymond competing in 2015 when it was a part of the Gunnison Whitewater Festival, which then led to him transferring to Western Colorado University and then led to Raymond’s direct involvement with the race. While the racing itself was enjoyable, Raymond was a bit taken back by the impact of the race.

“There were just a lot of spectators running rampant along the creek,” says Raymond. “That place is one of the most pristine spots in our watershed.”

The race took a hiatus in 2016 and 2017 but Raymond was committed to keeping the race alive with conversations between him and Dan Loftus stoking his fire.

“We were like, this race has to happen,” recalls Raymond. “It’s like the Al Johnson and the Chainless race.”

Raymond and his classmates in a sustainability program at Western decided to direct their attention to bringing the race back, but in a responsible manner both for kayakers and the environment. Part of that plan involved partnering with High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) to minimize impact and Raymond and HCCA continue working toward that goal for the race this year with a vendor village and the after party set for the town soccer field outside of the Center for the Arts. Ultimately the hope is to remove fans from the race entirely providing a live stream at a location in town. 

“We’d like just a small crew of people up there at the race and then everyone else in town with the best seat in the house,” explains Raymond. “It’s a little expensive for us to do that this year.”

So, Raymond is just asking folks to be responsible this year.

“If people do come to watch, we ask they carpool or, even better, ride their bikes,” says Raymond. “We have a parking plan in place.”

Raymond also asks that fans only use the bridge across the river at the Oh Be Joyful campground and remain on that side of the creek, also known as “river left.”

“We don’t want people river right (on the right bank when looking downstream), we want people hiking up from Oh Be Joyful,” says Raymond. “And respect all the boundaries.”

As for conditions, Raymond believes things should be great come race day with flows predicted to be at the high end of medium.

“With our snowpack and the recent weather, it’s looking really, really good,” says Raymond.

Raymond is expecting around 30 racers to register this year, both men and women, and the first of two runs is set to be at noon, with the second run around 2 p.m. Thanks to the support each and every year of Rob and Sydney Dickinson with Precise Painting as well as Eddyline Brewery, Deerhammer Distilling and a host of equipment companies jumping in this year. There’s cash on the line for the top three and prizes for fourth through sixth place for both men and women. In addition, the BOOF belt buckle is up for grabs for “Best Boof.”

Awards and the after party will be back in town at the vendor village Saturday evening.

Information and registration for the race can be found on the Oh Be Joyful race Facebook page.