Author: Warren Currie

We are super stoked to be able to bring you a once in a life time opportunity.

We have arranged with Mervin (the makers of Lib Tech and Gnu Snowboards) for one lucky customer to travel to the factory (in the USA, near Canada) to see where their board was made.

You will be able to enter when you buy any 2015 / 2016 model of Gnu or Lib Tech board at our store – between October 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016.

This contest is only taking place with The Easy Rider.
One lucky Easy Rider Staff, the local Mervin sales rep and the owner of Easy  Rider will also accompany you on the trip.

The trip will take place some time in the spring of 2016.
As the trip is the USA – winner must also hold a valid passport.

 

This past weekend a paddler went missing after falling from his board in the Columbia River Gorge – near Hood River, Oregon.
His board was found within in hour of him being reported missing – as of this writing – he has still not been found.  He was not wearing a leash.
With this tragedy, and the stories from a few customers of close calls due to not wearing a leash – I figured it was time that someone did something to begin a campaign for the education and encouragement of Lease use on Stand Up Paddleboards.
Below is the Open Letter to the SUP Industry that I wrote and sent to all my SUP contacts.
Dave Kalama added his endorsement to the letter.
The logo below – will be available at the store later this week, as a sticker, for free.  Please help to keep our “family” safe by not only using a leash every time you set foot on a board – but also by telling everyone you know that paddles to wear a leash.
Thank you,
Warren Currie
owner The Easy Rider

To Whom it May Concern,

In light of the recent tragic event in the Gorge this past weekend, we are penning this Open Letter to the Stand Up Paddle Industry.
We believe that we, as a collective industry, must take a vehement stand in the education and encouragement of the use of leashes on all types of SUP’s, on all types of water, and in all conditions.  

With the exponential growth of SUP, there are a great deal of boards being sold with very little safety education accompanying the sale.
Like seat belts in cars, leashes save lives on SUP’s.  If it is far enough to paddle – it is far enough to wear a leash.  

A few ideas as to how to implement this are:
– A sticker on the tail of the board near the leash plug that states “Leashes Save Lives”
– Only showing images (both still and video) of paddlers that are using leashes.  This is especially important in Manufacturers brochures and Industry publications (magazines).
– A Public Service Announcement video – featuring the top Pro’s in the industry advocating the use of leashes.
– Instructing Team Riders that they should be setting the example by always wearing a leash.

We need to educate our customers on how to safely use our products.  Unfortunately, as is often the case, it takes a tragedy to create the momentum for positive change.

Please feel free to reply to this email with any comments and or questions, and please share with any industry related SUP businesses.  

Thank you,

Warren Currie
Easy Rider

Dave Kalama
Imagine / Quickblade

The 8th Annual Easy Rider SUP Cup took place on August 15 & 16, 2015.

The event featured a Race and Tour down the North Saskatchewan River on Saturday morning.  This was followed by a BBQ and awards ceremony at Laurier Park in west Edmonton.
While the weather for the Race and Tour was a little on the chilly side – spirits were high at the BBQ and awards when The Easy Rider started to give away over $20,000.00 worth of prizes - all by draw.   Everyone walked away with multiple items.  In fact there was so much “swag” that once everyone had an arm load of goodies . . . all names were put back into the draw box and more product was given away.
For the final two prizes – everyones name was once again put back into the draw box and and inflatable SUP from Imagine and a race board SUP from Starboard where then given away by draw.

A social event at the Provincial Pub (next to The Easy Rider store) was held on Saturday evening.
Dave Kalama said he had seen all the SUP videos we had at the store – so he choose “On Any Sunday – The Next Chapter” – a motorcycle movie – for us all to watch.  It was a great evening with stories of the days race and tour being swapped over good food and drink.

Sunday morning saw slightly better weather for the SUP Polo and SUP Fishing Derby – held at Hermitage Park Lake in North East Edmonton.

We had 21 Polo players and 3 paddlers in the SUP Fishing derby.
The SUP Polo was a great hit – with those that had never played before (including Dave Kalama and Jim Terrell) stating that is was one of the “funnest” things they had ever done on a SUP board.

After the SUP Polo and SUP Fishing Derby were finished – awards were handed out to the winning team – and then even more draw prizes were given away.  Again, everyone left with a pile of goodies.

Thanks to everyone that came out and took part in the event.  In total we had 123 paddlers take part in the weekend.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the suppliers that donated the product that was given away.  They all support our events . . . so please support them!