Monday Morning Chat with Scott Shipley

• Description: RICD News Articles
• State: CO
• Date: 7/9/2007
• Author: Zack Brown, The Daily Camera
• Title: Monday Morning Chat with Scott Shipley
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

what it's like at the start of a project
because it's going to be different at
the end of the project.
GO: You get to experience a lot of
the water around here. Is the runoff
and amount of water more than
you've seen in the last couple of
years because of the large snow?
SS: The amount of snow is really
important here in Colorado, but
what is also important is the amount
of heat. I come from Seattle, where
its rains all the time. You get biblical
floods on a regular basis. Here in
Colorado, if you have a lot of snow
like we did this year, but then have a
warm, but not hot spring, you have
a very long runoff, but not a fantas-
tic one. And I like the big stuff.
GO: For people who are just
recreational kayakers, what's the
best way to take advantage of the
situation we have right now?
SS: This season is very good for
recreational boaters because it's a
long season to build up your skills,
and we're actually on the tail end of
that. Already, some of the water lev-
els are dropping. Typically, one of
the neat things about boater parks
is you can get on them very early,
and it's a great way to tune up your
skills in early spring. And as the
flows build day to day, you can build
your skills up with the water level,
Scott Shipley has turned a career as one of America's best kayakers into a second career as
one of the country's premier designers of whitewater parks.
so at some point, when the big
waters come, you're ready for those
flows.
GO: Do you have a favorite place
in the state to keep yourself sharp
and on top of your game?
SS: Oddly enough, my favorite
place to go is Salida. I love that boat-
ing park. There are two drops, and
it's dust a neat town. Just even as a
tourist. You can walk around and eat
at the restaurants. It's a great time.
GO: Do you miss the competition
at all?
SS: Oh, yeah.
GO: Athletes always talk about
that, how when they're done with
competition, there's kind of that
void in their life. Have you found
things to satisfy that that competi-
tive fire?
SS: The biggest thing for me is
that I raced in my time. I did 20
years of racing, so I didn't leave
early, or quit because I had to go to
school. I was done when I was done.
I miss racing, and I really enjoy it,
but I wouldn't give up my wife and
my life in Boulder and go back to
that lifestyle, which I loved then.
But I wouldn't trade this for any-
thing.
r yv
r Rtil r
'Baslcall�
she'd come in and sink my boats."
— Woody Allen
Vitals
Name:
Scott Shipley
Residence. Boulder
Occupation; Project engineer and
whitewater park designer with
Boulder- based Recreation
Engineering Planning
Whst M Lmokur. A n .. — U—+­
On the Web
Contact: Zak Brown, 303 - 473 -1325 E -mail: [e-mail]