What's SUP?

After I attemped to do some research last week, I came up with nearly nothing. I was feeling pretty defeated due to the lack of articles I could find on women paddlers. Luckily, after securing my first interview for the article, my spirits were raised.

I went back to do more searching and found something I didn't see before. While there were still numerous posts about what boats work best for women, how women should date a paddler and how to paddle for cheap ... I did find something on stand-up paddleboarding (SUPing).

I love to SUP. For two summers I worked at an outdoor gear shop in Old Forge, New York. We were able to take out the tester boats for free on our lunch breaks or after our shifts. Last summer I hung up my trusty kayak and switched to stand-up paddle board. It's a little awkward at first because you need to find your perfect center and balance on a wobbly board, but it's actually a lot of fun. It helped me work on my posture and helped with my sore back.

While searching for women paddlers, I found Sup World Mag, an online SUP magazine. I found a piece that featured Nikki Gregg, a women SUP-er. After reading this, I felt very inspired. Although my focus won't be on SUP-ing, it showed me that this structure is one I can refer to.

She opens up the piece by discussing how women are looking for diversity in their water sports and the goes into the benefits this sport can offer them. Her introduction is brief, but this is exactly what I hope to talk about in a much more detailed setting.

She breaks her story up into subheads. The next talks about her personal story of getting into SUP. I have already found a face for my story, and this has made me even more excited to dive deeper into what led her to the water.

Gregg then talks about why you should SUP, women who are SUP-ing and how you can get started. This will be similar to my structure. I will talk about real-life women who are paddling in the ADKS that serve as realistic role models. I don't think I'll focus too heavily on how to get started, but I think it's important to mention it in my story.

I loved this. It was short, and it wasn't too in-depth, but it definitely gave me the little bit of excitement that I was lacking.

Where are all the women kayakers?

For my long article, I'm writing about women paddlers –– specifically kayakers. I know this group of women from my hometown who are avid Adirondack kayakers. They actually wrote a book, Women on Water, that discussed the best places to kayak in the Adirondack area and what it's like to be a woman paddler.

 I'm interested in doing something on them because I also paddle. Women paddlers are becoming more popular, but the sport definitely doesn't get enough attention. Not many people know how prevalent kayaking/paddling is for women in the Adirondacks. And there's nothing better than dragging your kayak out on a sunny Saturday, dipping your toes in the sand and paddling out on the open water.

I found the lack of information to be especially true when I tried to search articles featuring women kayakers. I tried a variation of Google searches. I tried: women kayakers, women paddlers, women paddling ADK–– and everything in between. I found close to nothing on the topic, which was actually very surprising to me.

I did find one blog article, Death in the River, in Adirondack Life about a woman who wanted to try white water rafting (much different from leisurely kayaking). Tamara "Tammy" Blake and her partner, Rick, headed out to Hudson River Rafting Company’s base, Cunningham’s Ski Barn in North Creek, to try out the white water.

Apparently, it started out and ended badly. Their guide, Rory Fay, was drunk. The couple and guide hit a rock that led to them being flipped out of of the boat. It's described as a chaotic experience with Rory walking on foot to find Tammy and Rick buckling down in the raft, with little to no experience in white water rafting. Tammy floated downstream, flowing with the white currents. The worst case scenario happened: Tammy died. She drowned in the river that day.

Rory's toxicology report read that his blood alcohol level content was .30 –– a number you might see in a hospital emergency room, in patients brought in for acute alcohol poisoning, according to the article. The writer, Joe Connelly, did a great job with the details about the couple's guide. I loved the part when Connelly describes the contents of Rory's bag: a black sweatshirt, gum and two Gatorade bottles full of vodka.  The mentioning of the vodka is when you know this article is going to end badly.

The article was very detailed and thorough. Connelly did an excellent job of covering the events of that dreaded day, and it's truly sad what happened to Tammy.

While this is a great cover story about paddling, it's not exactly what I had in mine when I was searching for related stories. Besides this piece, I mainly found stories covering male paddlers and a few pieces about "Why women should date a guy who paddles," –– barf.

Where are the women kayakers? It bums me out that I couldn't find any features on a strong woman who paddles! I find it frustrating because I know these women exist. I know handfuls of them. Working in Old Forge, New York, there are a number of women role models who paddle. I know women who teach Stand up paddling boarding (SUP) yoga, white water raft instructors, paddling competitors and women who just love to be on the water.

 I think this is a timeless piece, but important to do something like this. Clearly from my findings, this isn't covered enough. I think  women would really be able to relate to these women paddlers. The women in this paddle group are mothers, teachers, professionals and sisters. After reading about what happened to Tammy, who just wanted to learn to white water paddle, I think this is necessary. I'm sure women like Tammy are seeking out articles talking about women who are doing exactly what they wish they could do. Maybe something like this will be able to not only inspire women but also teach them.