SUP Cancelled at Teva Mountain Games

Photo from the Teva Mountain Games SUP Races 2011

VAIL, Colorado - The Stand Up Paddle Board Events at the Teva Mountain Games, which were scheduled for this weekend from May 31st to June 3rd, have been cancelled.  Snow levels this year in Colorado were extremely low and almost record breaking.  Consequently very little water is running into the rivers and is as low as 190 cubic feet per second in areas where the racing was supposed to take place.  Experts in Vail stated that in order to safely conduct the SUP races, the water levels preferably needed to be higher than 500 cubic feet per second.

In a recent release by the Teva Mountain Games, Michael Imhof, vice president of sales and operations for the Vail Valley Foundation said, “While we regret cancelling the SUP competitions, we are not willing to put the safety of the competitors at risk.  One thing you quickly learn when you live in the mountains is to have a healthy respect for Mother Nature. This decision was made in conjunction with our whitewater specialists and water safety experts, all of whom concur that the conditions are too shallow for safe, viable SUP races.”

Although the SUP Surf Sprint and the SUP Surf Cross races will not be taking place, all the other whitewater events will carry on as usual.  Those  pre-registered stand up paddle participants can expect to receive an e-mail from the event organizers with instructions on how to receive a full refund.  For more information and to contact the Teva Mountain Games please visit www.tevamountaingames.com 

What other SUP events or races have you seen cancelled due to element issues?  Let's see if we can list them out below.

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