Portfolio Items

Risa Shimoda

Risa Shimoda has been one of the most prolific river stewardship organizers for grassroots advocacy, freestyle paddling, and whitewater park promotion in the history of kayaking in the United States.

Richard Bangs

Richard Bangs has been the preeminent whitewater rafting explorer of the last forty years. His always inquisitive mind and spirit of adventure has led him and his Sobek teammates to pioneer whitewater rafting on rivers throughout the world.

Ramone Eaton

Ramone (Ray) Eaton was an outstanding leader of networking among paddlers from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. As Vice President of the American Red Cross, his knowledge and expertise in whitewater instruction and safety influenced ARC’s role and involvement in whitewater canoeing and safety.

Bill Masters

Bill Masters is the Steve Jobs of the modern whitewater kayak industry. He took kayaking from the club days of fiberglass boats being manufactured in limited numbers and designs in the backyards and garages of America to the worldwide exposure it enjoys today.

Julie Munger

Julie has been a big part of the rafting world for over 30 years, she was a huge part of breaking down barriers for women in the sport and her accomplishments at the time were as big or larger than many of the things men were doing.
Robert Harrison

Joe Puliam

Joe Pulliam’s life has been dedicated to whitewater, beginning with a strong love of rivers and the people he paddled with and guided by what became the whitewater industry.

Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff

Carving out a unique learning program, entrepreneurs and national whitewater champions Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff were pioneers in their field by opening the first commercial whitewater school in the world.

Jim Snyder

For over forty years, Jim Snyder has never hesitated to create his own “charc,” building boats and paddles that barely resemble whatever the rest of the whitewater world is currently using, but will be in the future.

Bunny Johns

Bunny Johns stands out for her sport-changing facilitation of how the process, technique, and safety of whitewater paddling instruction was taught and shared across the USA.

Davey Hearn

Davey Hearn dominated the top levels of canoe slalom for over a decade. He was instrumental in collaboration with other top racers, in designing the Max series of canoes that revolutionized slalom racing.