A wild river ride; Riverboarding attracts those on the edge

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tim Weems is a self-described adrenaline junkie.

He ski races, plays guitar and sings in front of sometimes not-so-friendly crowds.

And he riverboards -- the extreme of extreme white water sports.

"It's fun because it's crazy," Weems, 27, said on a day in early June with the Gallatin River raging in the background.

Riverboarding is in essence body boarding on a river. The athlete lies belly down on a board, hangs onto handles and kicks downstream with his finned feet.

"It's intimate," Weems said. "You're feeling the currents in a much more direct way than in a kayak."

With a leap and a grunt, Weems jumped from a rock into the frothy, cold and churning Gallatin River near the Lava Lake trailhead. For a moment only the Batman ears tied to his helmet were visible above the white waves.

Then his board, a faded red piece of polyethylene foam with a slick white cover and black handles, appeared bobbing along the greenish-brown surf. Weems, clad in a black wet suit, helmet, purple life vest, flippers, knee pads and gloves, resembled a frog man.

Weems started riverboarding when he was in high school in Maine and was looking to do more than just float on an inner tube. He eventually decided to start his own riverboarding guide service, but ran into problems with whitewater regulations in the state.

"They thought it was suicide," he said. "I was trying to explain to them that it's not."

Overall, people think of a riverboard as dangerous, like a motorcycle in comparison to the safer car-like raft, Weems said. But he believes he can riverboard any stretch of water a raft can handle. He just has to make sure he doesn't get run over by the bigger barges.

"You can stay out of trouble easier than on a kayak. You never pop a skirt or lose a paddle," Weems said. "You're not tied to the board so there are no entrapment problems."

Jason Matthews, owner of River Source in Livingston, has tried riverboarding. He said it's fun, but he would rather kayak mostly because the rivers around here are so cold.

"It's hard core, I'll give you that," Matthews said. "I would say there are probably three to five people in this area that do it and how much they do it I don't know. I'm out on rivers a lot and I don't see it."

As far as he knows there is only one guide in the state, based in Missoula, who takes people riverboarding. Matthews said there are no magazines or Web sites devoted to the sport and only one company he knows of makes a specialized riverboard.

"I would say it's not very popular anywhere," he said. "It's a fringe activity tied into a fringe sport."

Riverboards were first made for whitewater rescue scenarios and are still used in that capacity. Some people, like Christian Ardita, tie the boards to a rock or bridge, stand on them, and surf.

Ardita was excited to see Weems free-floating downstream on his riverboard -- something he said he's wanted to try.

"I've heard of it and seen it on an extreme sports television show," he said. "I was blown out of my seat."

For Weems, the ultimate excitement of riverboarding comes when he catches and surfs on top of a wave.

That's also when the danger level is highest.

"The hairiest moments I've had are getting stuck in holes," Weems said. "I've had a few moments where things got dicey and I was stuck underwater for a few minutes."

In those cases he said he can generally kick his way out, but if not, he's been known to ditch the board and swim out without it.

"Fins are huge," he said. "I could swim this river without a board, but it wouldn't be as fun."

From the board Weems said he can't see what's coming up in the river as much as a kayaker or rafter. He has to take into account every little bump in the water and prepare himself for what might be on the other side.

"You're very low in the water, but you're breathing," he said. "I've fallen out of a raft and it's not at all like this."

The board, which costs about $300, combined with the life jacket and wet suit create about 230 pounds of buoyancy. Weems estimated it costs about $800 to buy all the gear to start riverboarding.

Since the sport is so obscure, Weems made much of his gear -- including his knee pads and gloves -- himself.

Along with the crazy adrenaline rush he gets from riverboarding, Weems said he enjoys the experience because it gets him outside and puts him in touch, physically, with nature.

"It's fun because it's crazy and it's fun because it's peaceful," he said. "The combination is when it's the best."