ST. GEORGE — Kids of all ages attended the 2015 Virgin River Skimboard Classic in St. George Saturday at what is locally known as the waterfall, in the Virgin River by the intersection of 2700 East and Waterfront Drive, competing for prizes, gift cards and new skimboards.
Flatland skimboarding is an adrenaline-pumped way to stay cool in Southern Utah. Flatland skimboarders are taking the shallow river areas with all sorts of skimboards and pulling crazy tricks, spins and skimming without the waves.
In 1996, Mike Gardner and his brothers started St. George Virgin River Skimboard Classic. The event has been ongoing for 19 years, Gardner said. Competitors came from as far as Washington state and Sacramento, California.
The event started at 10 a.m. and the contestants were divided into six categories. Prizes were awarded to the top finishers in each category, Virgin River Skimboard Classic’s social media page said.
“Monsoon season happens in July,” Gardner said, “so we never know what the river’s going to be like. This year it’s really muddy, it is really slippery and slimy, which is going to add a little something extra to the skimboarders.”
The competition is anyone’s game, competition judge Tj Stout said.
“We want to see consistency. We want to see variations in tricks,” Stout said. “We’re judging on difficulty and their endurance.”
The 9-year-olds showed off their best tricks, spins and longest rides, Caroline Keele, from St. George Leisure Services, said. The older groups showed off their best tricks off of ramps.
Adventures Plus and Woody Long Boards donated several different skimboards to hand out to the winners, Keele said.
The competition was co-sponsored by St. George Leisure Services, Adventure Plus, SandyCrack Boards, Buca di Beppo and TeriYaki Grill.
Competition Results
Keele provided the following results by text.:
Age group 9 and under
- 1st Braden Jenkins (only contestant)
Age group 10-12
- 1st Max Burke
- 2nd Tayson Payman
- 3rd Brecken Jones
Age group 13-15
- 1st Jackson Gentry
- 2nd Pierce Larkin
- 3rd Kyson Goodspeed=
Age group 16-18
- 1st Colton Lund
- 2nd Derek Millwaril
- 3rd Zach Gibbs
Women’s open
- 1st Meg
- 2nd Dakota
- 3rd Dawn
Men’s open
- 1st Logan Davidson
- 2nd Duran Bickmore
- 3rd Adrian Raza
St. George News Reporter Jessica Tempfer contributed to this report.
Related posts
- Desert beach scene, 2014 Virgin River Skimboard Classic; STGnews Photo Gallery
- Virgin River Skimboard Classic 2013; STGnews Videocast, Photo Gallery
- Student-athlete profile: St. George teen, pro skimboarder Tysen Kirby
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