BPS Welcomes You! Riffles & Rapids Newsletter of the Beartooth Paddlers Society July 2011

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1 Riffles & Rapids Newsletter of the Beartooth Paddlers Society July 2011 NO CLUB MEETING THIS MONTH! SEE YOU AT THE JACK NICHOL APPRECIATION FLOAT AND PARTY SATURDAY, 30 JULY BPS Welcomes You! Thank you to the following paddlers for paying your 2011 dues! If your name wasn t in a previous 2011 newsletter, or on this list, we have not received your current dues. So don t delay, send your membership form and dues TODAY! Jesse McClung & Shelli Stevenson Gaye Kaiser Bryan & Kim Busch Neil Suits Tony Barone Tyler & Tara Jensen Michael Madden Bronze Thanks goes to the Swimmer Club Members ($25.00) Michael Madden Silver Thanks goes to the Flipper Club Members ($30.00) Neil Suits Gold Thanks goes to the Ender Club Members ($50.00) Bryan & Kim Busch We encourage you to upgrade your membership and be part of the Swimmer, Flipper, Ender or Surfer Clubs. See you on the river!

2 BPS INVITES YOU TO THE Jack Nichol Appreciation Float & Party! DATE: TIME: PLACE: TIME: PLACE: July 30, 2011 (Saturday) 10:00 am Put In for the FLOAT Jeffrey's Landing Fishing Access (See Map) 3:00 pm for the PARTY American Legion Hall across from Fireman's Point Fishing Access (See Map) WHAT TO BRING: BYOB and a side dish, salad or dessert to share. The BPS will provide pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, pasta salad, chips, cake, ice tea, lemonade and water. For those of you coming long distances, we will have a jar for donations so you don't have to bring a dish to share. ~Please RSVP so we can order enough food~ to Carla Lodders rrlodders@aol.com or (leave a message) It's time to dust off that old boat taking up space in your garage and come float the Lower Stillwater River with Jack Nichol and the Beartooth Paddlers Society "BPS"! The oldest floatable craft gets a prize!

3 Rafting If you don t have a boat but still want to be a part of the "floatilla", Matt Holtz with Absaroka River Adventures will provide professional guide service for you and your family. (Remember to tell him that you are with the Jack Nichol group.) Absaroka River Adventures - Matt Holtz or Shuttle Matt Holtz will pick up drivers from Itch-Kep-Pe Park at 9:15 and from Fireman's Point Fishing Access at 9:30 on Saturday. Take your raft or kayak to Jeffrey's Landing Fishing Access (the put in) and drop your car down at one of these take outs before 9:00 am if you want to use this shuttle. Parking is limited at the put in and Fireman's Point Fishing Access, so please try to carpool as much as possible. Camping If you want to make a weekend of it, Itch-Kep-Pe Park just outside of Columbus has free camping. We obtained a user permit for camping, but were told the park will not enforce attempts to reserve camping. We can put reserved signs up to try to save spaces, but can not guarantee them. If you want a guaranteed space, get there EARLY! Several of us will be camping on Friday and Saturday nights. If you want more comfortable accommodations, Columbus has several motels and hotels. Let me know if you want us to put up a reserved sign for you. Motels Super 8 Motel Big Sky Motel Questions Carla Lodders home, cell, or rrlodders@aol.com

Jack Nichol Commemorative T-Shirt Here's your chance to get a vintage "Stillwater Kayak Company" t-shirt and thank Jack Nichol for all he has done for paddling.

6 Jack Nichol Commemorative T-Shirt Here's your chance to get a vintage "Stillwater Kayak Company" t-shirt and thank Jack Nichol for all he has done for paddling. Jack sold all of us boats out of his garage through his business the Stillwater Kayak Company. Tim Weamer (a fellow paddler) has designed the shirt especially for this event. Tim is donating $5.00 from each shirt to the Beartooth Paddlers to thank Jack. The cost of the shirt is $15.00 and will be delivered at the Jack Nichol Appreciation Party or $20.00 if you want it mailed to you. The shirt is available to purchase online at or call Tim at (please leave a message with your name and number as he will be traveling). Red Lodge Kayak Races The Red Lodge Kayak Races, held on 11 June, were a huge success! Thanks to all of the Red Lodge boaters for pulling this event together, and to all the volunteers who helped make this possible. Check out all the fotos on the BPS Facebook page: Ed Conning came away with top honors, but he will have serious challengers when he attempts to retain his title next year!

7 Yellowstone Oil Spill Impact Assessment What is the real environmental impact of the recent oil spill into the Yellowstone River? What is the extent of the impacted area? Interested in helping with an independent survey this weekend (16-17 July)? Gary Steele of St Ignatius is coordinating an event this weekend to conduct an independent survey of the Yellowstone River and gather data on the effects of the oil spill. He and others are concerned that no uninterested party has done any survey of the Yellowstone other than what Exxon is performing. Gary is looking for volunteers who have the skills to navigate the river from Laurel downstream and acquire GPS coordinates of any affected river-land areas that landowners or Exxon have not yet been notified of. More details are available at the American Whitewater website: Anyone interested please contact Gary Steele directly: PO Box 548 St Ignatius, MT Membership Directory The 2011 BPS Membership Directory is now ready! This year we are distributing the directory in three formats: + PDF Document (attached with this ) suitable for Printing. It s an 11 page document you can print yourself if you want a hard copy. BPS saves the increasing postage costs. + Word Document (attached with this ) best for Desktop Viewing. Save postage and a tree! + Traditional Hard Copy for the Luddites. We will have a limited number of traditional directories available for you to pick up at the Jack Nichol Appreciation Float and Party (30 July). We strive for perfection, but sometimes we fall short of that goal. If you find any errors or omissions from the directory, please bring them to the attention of Carla Lodders at rrlodders@aol.com. Please try to utilize the new electronic formats so we can put your BPS dollars to better uses! One Two Three From the Vault Courtesy of Ron Lodders The following articles appeared in issues of Riffles and Rapids from the early to mid-90 s, and we think both new and older members will enjoy these stories. You ll also notice how Jack Nichol s name keeps appearing, and appreciate the huge impact he has had on BPS, and all of us individually!! Thanks again to Ron Lodders, our official Society Historian.

13 Please Mail to: BPS, P.O. Box 20432, Billings, MT Renewal New Member Date: BEARTOOTH PADDLER S SOCIETY Annual Membership Form Please renew or join BPS today! Thank you for your support! Personal Info: (will appear in our annual club directory which is a great resource for contacting paddlers) Name(s) Address City State Zip Phones (Home) (Work) (Cell) Boater Type: (Please check all that apply) Kayak whitewater Kayak tour/rec Canoe whitewater Canoe tour/rec Raft Memberships: (BPS memberships expire annually December 31st) $20 Annual Membership For gracious paddlers wanting to make larger donations, we offer special BPS memberships $25 Swimmer $30 Flipper $50 Ender $75 Surfer $1,000 Lifetime Release Form: (BPS By Laws require all members to read and sign the following release) Beartooth Paddlers Society RECOGNITION OF RISK AND RELEASE FROM LIABILITY In order to maintain safety on club paddling events, it is mandatory that club members and participants recognize and be aware of the many dangers involved. All forms of water sports can be dangerous. Each member participating on any trip must protect themselves as best they can against natural events and hazards. These events can occur quickly and unexpectedly and may not provide warning time or an opportunity to seek help from more experienced or better equipped boaters. Members must learn to recognize, prepare against and safely respond to potential hazards and to rely on their own skill, preparation and expertise, rather than assuming that anyone else, including a trip coordinator or event organizer will take care of their safety. All members of the club subscribe to the currently adopted club recognition of risk and liability release. Therefore, I acknowledge that the Beartooth Paddlers Society is not responsible for my personal being before, during or after any club venture. I hereby release any and all personal injuries, claims, demands and causes of action of every name and nature which may in any manner arise out of or in connection with the Beartooth Paddlers Society and its constituents whether due or not due to the negligence, omissions or willful misconduct of the Beartooth Paddlers Society and its constituents. Signature: Date: Guardian:

14 Officers: Mailing Address President Tyler Warne Beartooth Paddlers Society Vice-President Jonathan Bates PO Box Billings, MT Treasurer Mike Donovan Secretary Bob Pumphrey Editor Brad Fuller On the Web at Membership Coordinator Carla Lodders

BPS Welcomes You! Riffles & Rapids Newsletter of the Beartooth Paddlers Society May 2011

BPS Welcomes You! Riffles & Rapids Newsletter of the Beartooth Paddlers Society May 2011 Riffles & Rapids Newsletter of the Beartooth Paddlers Society May 2011 MAY CLUB MEETING THURSDAY, MAY 12 TH AT 7:00 P.M. ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE ROOM 14 TECH HALL Jack Exley has an amazing story and photos