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Bridgeboarding comes to Logan,
and just in time for summer heat
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By Jeremy Wilkins
July 27, 2005 | Looking for
a solution to summer boredom and a way to beat
the heat? Look no further, the answer is easy:
Bridgeboarding!
According to Jesse Crowley, 23, of Logan, and
Eric Grim, 25, also of Logan, what they call bridgeboarding
is relatively new to Cache Valley but has a following
that continues to grow each year.
"It's really similar to wakeskating, where
you ride on a board on water going fast enough
so you can stay on top of it, then you tie a rope
off ahead of you and hold onto it almost like
you're going behind a boat. You can basically
ride on the water and carve across it and splash
and stuff. It's pretty fun," Grim said.
There seems to be only a select group of people
who have heard of bridgeboarding according to
the two.
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LIKE
THIS: Eric Grim teaches Emily Taylor how
to bridgeboard. / Photo by Jeremy Wilkins |
Grim said he first heard of it through a friend of
his from Tooele who showed it to him around two years
ago and Crowley credits his knowledge of it to Grim
and another friend, Dusty Wickham 25, of Salt Lake City,
though formerly of Logan.
"It's great to cool off your body temperature
when the summer inferno beats down upon your head and
back," Crowley said, on the same note with Grim,
who likes it "When it's nice and hot out,"
because "You can get into the water and it cools
you off."
Crowley compares bridgeboarding to longboard skateboarding
because of the carves, which would be comparable to
downhill skating carves and spins which are similar
to 180 and 360 power slides on a longboard or skateboard.
"The thing that's most similar to me is riding
a snowboard in fresh, deep snow. It feels a lot like
that," Grim said.
Down on the Island off of Crockett Avenue, where the
canal passes under the road, is where the two and their
friends have engineered their sport and summer pasttime.
Although there has been speculation of a few other places
where it might be possible to bridgeboard, Grim said
it has never been tried anywhere else by him or anyone
he knows.
For those who are interested, making a bridgeboard
is easy, says Grim. All you need to do is get a piece
of seven-ply plywood and get it wet to bend it into
shape it if you want, cover it in epoxy so the water
doesn't make the wood come apart, grip-tape the top
and get yourself a rope, handle and a pair of shoes.
Then you're good-to-go!
Jesse Crowley bridgeboards the Logan River in the Island
neighborhood. / Photo by Jeremy Wilkins
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