GLENWOOD SPRINGS — You don’t see a whole lot of people with surfboards slung under their arms here in western Colorado. But that may change, if a group of experimental extreme athletes who descended on Glenwood Springs this weekend have their way.

Twenty athletes from across the continental United States and Hawaii took to the Colorado River on Sunday for the first ever Whitewater Stand Up Paddling Championships.

The three-event competition pitted the paddle surfers against one another in a whitewater race, a slalom event and a freestyle surfing showdown — competitors balancing atop custom converted surfboards and paddling their way through rapids with single-bladed oars.

“This is a historic event,” said Nikki Gregg, a personal trainer based in Oahu, Hawaii, who took third place in Sunday’s eight-mile race from Grizzly Creek to Two Rivers Park. “I think the sport is really going to grow in the next few years.”

There were no crashes or injuries in the race, though competitors said the Class II and III rapids were formidable.

“This is the first time a lot of people have competed in whitewater,” said Charlie MacArthur, owner of the Aspen Kayak Academy and a stand-up paddling pioneer. “So it’s a whole new ballgame. But as far as scouting the rapids, it’s easier than kayaking because you’re standing up and you can see what’s coming.”

MacArthur was first runner-up in the race, finishing only two seconds behind winner Dan Gavere after a neck-and-neck ride that took each man just over 30 minutes. In the overall competition, however, MacArthur triumphed — taking the professional prize for combined performance in the racing, slalom and surfing comps. Gavere finished second.

MacArthur’s wife, Jenny, took second place overall among women in the competition — falling just behind Boulder’s Coral Ferguson.

Gavere, from Hood River, Ore., said he got into stand-up paddling for cross-training. Like many of the stand-up racers, he used to race kayaks professionally.

The idiosyncratic skill set for stand up paddling also draws out a lot of current and former professional surfers.

But Liam Wilmott, a competitor who works for Hawaii-based stand up board and paddle company C4 Waterman, said surfing prowess doesn’t necessarily give you an upper hand in this upstart water sport.

“In the whitewater, the waves stand still and the water moves you along,” Wilmott said, “but in the ocean the waves are moving and water stands still. You’ve got to throw everything you know about riding a wave in the ocean out the window when you’re on the river.”

The burgeoning sport’s inaugural championship did have some apparent growing pains. Organizers couldn’t get buoys set up in the river for the slalom event, so they put orange parking cones on the banks of the river and had racers paddle in a circle around imaginary gates that lined up with the cones. The freestyle surfing competition was judged with a decidedly subjective criteria awarding points for on-river board acrobatics. The slalom and surfing events ran about an hour behind schedule.

“You know, this has never been done before so it’s kind of a work in progress,” said EnviroAction Productions videographer Paul Tefft, who helped set up the events.

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Dick Baker never left the house without five pennies he carried in his pocket.

The first, he had since the day he married his wife Una. Two were added after his teenage boys, Jack and Ryan, were born. And there was one for his dog, Tucker.

Each penny was from the years his loved ones were born.

Those pennies were thrown into the ocean on Sunday afternoon, in the middle of a circle formed by hundreds sitting on their surfboards, during a traditional Hawaiian paddle out honoring Baker.

Baker, president of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, died mid-April after a two year battle with cancer. He was 62.

“He touched so many lives,” said Una. “So many people here, they want to hold on to that.”

Una – who would have celebrated 20 years married to Baker June 10 – said he was a strong-willed man with a great sense of humor who made friends wherever he went.

“Even someone he didn’t know, he knew how to make them comfortable,” she said. “He never judged a person, and he got to know their beauty, their strength.”

John Warner, former president of Quiksilver, said the gathering was a fitting tribute. Despite the fact that Baker didn’t surf, “he earned this honor and respect from the surfing world he loved so dearly.”

Before the paddle out, friends gathered in the park area to share stories of Baker, many drawing laughs – and tears – from the crowd.

Those who showed up at the memorial ranged from surfing industry top business leaders such as CEO of Quiksilver Bob McKnight and CEO of Billabong Paul Naude, to young entrepreneurs just starting out.

“He always made us feel as if we were just as important as any CEO of any major company,” said Dylan Odbert, who gained guidance from Baker as he and his brother Dustin launched Ambission Clothing.

Likewise, Candy Harris was just starting out in her career when she crossed paths with Baker. Through the years, he became and mentor, then a friend. He taught her many life lessons, such as the value of social responsibility.

“He was a cheerleader for our industry, a champion for so many causes,” said Harris, now vice president of marketing for Billabong’s women’s division.

Baker was involved in many non-profits and charities.

Jesse Billauer, founder of Life Rolls On, spoke about how he’d meet with Baker to get advice on running the non-profit.

But he learned so much more – how to be a good husband, father, and how to be a man.

“Let friends and family know how much they mean to you,” he said. “I hope I can touch as many lives as he has,” Billauer said.

As a testimony of how far his reach actually was, a large circle with a few hundred surfers formed offshore at Doheny State Beach. A surfboard covered in flowers was taken to float in the center of the ring of people.

Stories were shared, and tears flowed. At the end of the tribute, an Orange County Sherriff’s boat sprayed water, and the surfers splashed the ocean and hooted for their friend.

Baker had spent most of his time on the east coast before joining the Ocean Pacific team in 1997, helping to increase revenues to $250 million worldwide during his time as CEO. He continued on as president until 2007.

“He taught everybody about the business of surfing and everyone respected him,” said Bob Mignogna, who sits as a senior advisory board for SIMA. “I didn’t meet a guy who didn’t.”

But more than what he did for the industry, he’ll be remembered as a loving father who loved his family more than anything.

“He really was a mentor to all the people here. They all looked up to him, kind of in the same way me and my brother (Ryan) do,” said his son, Jack.

Some life lessons he taught his sons: Always respect people. Be considerate of other people and the way they do things.

For Fernando Aguerre, co-founder of Reef Brazil sandals, he’ll never forget three words Baker lived by: “Giving, giving, giving.”

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OCEANSIDE —- Day one of the Western Surfing Association’s Prime Man-on-Man Championships got under way Saturday at the Oceanside Harbor’s north jetty, despite concerns about the weather and poor surfing conditions.

The invitation-only event featured 84 of the most talented male and female surfers under age 18 on the West Coast, hungry for coveted slots in the Surfing America USA Championships.

Sean Mattison, an Oceanside surf shop owner and assistant coach to the United States surf team, described the competitors as “the best talent in the U.S. and possibly the world.”

Luke Davis of Capistrano Beach and Ian Crane of San Clemente, considered two of the best under-18 surfers in the country, opened up with strong victories in the opening heats.

Jake Marshall of Encinitas, the youngest person ever to make the U.S. Surf Team, also advanced to the next round of competition with a flair rarely seen in someone so young, Mattison said.

Lani Doherty of Maui, who was ranked ninth in the world at the 2008 World Surfing Games in Ecuador last year, asserted her authority with a convincing win in the opening round under the cool, drizzly skies.

In a first-ever for amateur surfing, finalists will be introduced to a “man-on-man” format, which is generally reserved for championship tour events involving the top professional surfers, said Nick Hill of Oceanside, a veteran judge of surf competitions. Two male and two female finalists will compete one-on-one to decide a winner.

Hill said the format makes it possible to focus on the surfing rather than on a bunch of “paddle battles.”

“Unlike typical surf competitions, which are usually geared towards recreational type surfing, the man-on-man format gives these kids a chance to surf to the criteria that they’re going to see if they go professional or if they make the U.S. surf team and represent the country internationally,” said Andrea Swayne, co-director of the World Surfing Association.

Event director Greg Cruse explained that the decision to implement the man-on-man format was in response to a need for a model in North America that mirrors those found in other nations such as Australia.

“Our kids aren’t being prepared for junior pros and professional contests the way kids in the other countries are,” he said. Cruse’s goal is to elevate surfing in the United States to match the level of long-running programs found throughout the world.

According to Cruse, the association, which was established in 1961, is the largest and oldest amateur surfing organization on the West Coast.

“We hope that surfing will someday become an Olympic sport,” he said.

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