Welcome to the 2015 Sandia Paddle & Film Festival at Sandia Lakes!

Sponsored by Garcia Subaru of Albuquerque and New Mexico Kayak Instruction!
100% of proceeds support Kayak New Mexico's Adaptive Kayaking programs for people with physical or developmental disabilities, or life-threatening medical conditions. Kayak New Mexico is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.

Two paddling events on the same day! Paddle Festival + Film Festival!

Have you every wanted to kayak, canoe, or paddle a SUP or raft, but didn't know where to begin? Have you ever been whitewater rafting and seen the kayakers having all the fun?  Are you curious about how to perform deep-water self- or assisted-rescues?  Are you planning a summer vacation or guided tour and want to get a little extra practice before you go?  Maybe you've seen all the different sizes and shapes of kayaks and you're just not sure what's best for you.  Maybe you're wondering "Where do you kayak in New Mexico?", "Where can I find others to go kayaking with?" or "How do I get my kids excited about the outdoors?"  The Sandia Paddle & Film Festival will answer these questions and more, in a fun-filled, water-focused day including twelve 1-hr mini-classes, canoe, kayak & SUP demos and family-friendly games, wrapped up with a 3-hour Reel Paddling Film Festival featuring a collection of whitewater, touring, SUP, kayak fishing, rafting, conservation and world-travel videos to get you even more excited about kayaking in New Mexico!

Quick Links

Ticket Pricing Sandia Paddle Festival Kayak, Canoe & SUP Demos Reel Paddling Film Festival Online Registration

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Sandia Paddle Festival:

45 minute break-out sessions and boat demos to help you get smart, get wet and get started paddling in New Mexico! 15 minutes between classes gives you time to ask questions and demo boats related to your topic.  Certified Instructors from New Mexico Kayak Instruction and paddle-sports ambassadors from the Greater Albuquerque / Santa Fe Kayak Meetup group and the Adobe Whitewater Club will cover the following:

Clinic Schedule

(Note: this schedule is tentative and may be revised over time as we add new clinics and partners to the event)

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Kayak, Canoe & SUP Demos

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Reel Paddling Film Festival

Coming to Albuquerque Sunday, June 14, 2015, at 5:30pm at the Sandia Prep auditorium. The Reel Paddling Film Festival will include an assortment of paddling videos from the 2015 World Tour listed below. We aim to have a diverse mix of family-friendly videos including whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, kayak fishing, canoeing, rafting, Stand-up Paddling, conservation and education.  We will try to show new films that have not been shown in other area film festivals.

2015 Program - Selection in progress. Check back soon!
1st Half Program - TBD
Intermission & Raffle
2nd Half Program - TBD
2015 World Tour Films
Andørja World Record Expedition This is a story about Joel Abrahamsson and his successful attempt to break the former world record for biggest fish ever caught from a kayak. In 2014, Joel caught a 1,200-pound Greenland shark, pulverizing the last documented record.  Director: Erik Lundin & Markus Wickelgren | Producer: Oskar Stenberg Website: www.freewaterpictures.se
Bass on the Road 2 Two bass anglers from the Southeast meet up with two kayak anglers in Florida to fish for exotic species and bucket-list fish. Mosquitos, rough terrain, heavy thunderstorms and oppressive heat make the fishing challenging. The anglers are also trying something new—fly fishing. Director: Rob DeVore | Producer: Bob Bramblet | Website: www.vimeo.com/user13672278
Caleb Caleb Brousseau lost the use of his legs in a snowboarding accident in 2007. While that would end many other people’s careers in action sports, for Caleb it was only the beginning. Caleb went on to become one of the best sit-skiers in the world, winning a medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. In the summertime, this Terrace, British Columbia native descends from the mountain and hits the river with an inspiring attitude and solid class IV skills. Director and Producer: Blair Lion | Website: www.papatuanukufilm.com
A Cross Canada Canoe Odyssey Join four women, two men and three canoes as they journey across Canada from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. On their journey, they paddle, cycle, hike, and snowshoe. The group has to overcome grueling portages, clouds of mosquitoes, food shortages, persistent wind and waves, freighter traffic, poison ivy and having six independent people be interdependent, continuously for six months. The canoeists travel 7,600 kilometers beneath mountain peaks, across the Great Plains and through vast expanses of Boreal forest. A Cross Canada Canoe Odyssey was born out of a love of freshwater and was fueled by a lust for adventure. Director: Stephanie Robertson, Nathalie Brunet | Producer: Cross Canada Canoe Odyssey Members: Nathalie Brunet, Abby Lewis, Ross Phillips, Shane Ringham, Stephanie Robertson and Whitney Vanderleest | Website: www.cancanoeodyssey.yikesite.com
DamNation This powerful film odyssey across America explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go mainstream. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life. DamNation’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature. Director: Ben Knight, Travis Rummel | Producer: Matt Stoecker, Travis Rummel Website: www.damnationfilm.com
Delta Dawn The Colorado River had not kissed the sea in almost two decades, until the spring of 2014 when an experimental pulse of water was released into this forgotten delta. A team of river runners followed the water to witness this unprecedented restoration effort, and attempted to be the only, and potentially the last, to float the Colorado River to the sea by paddleboard. Director and Producer: Peter McBride | Website: www.petemcbride.com
Facing Waves: Outriggers and SUP in Tahiti Explore Tahiti by paddleboard, both above and below the tropical waters of Moorea. Featuring ACA SUP instructor and trainer Jimmy Blakeney and the queen of SUP, Nikki Gregg. Director: Kelsey Thompson | Producer: Ken Whiting | Website: www.helipress.com
Facing Waves: Whitewater Mexico Take part in one of the world’s most extreme whitewater races, the Alsaseca River in Veracrus, Mexico, while exploring big waterfalls, lush rain forests and the world class whitewater the region offers. Director: Kelsey Thompson | Producer: Ken Whiting | Website: www.helipress.com
How Not To Steal A Kayak... FTS Style is a group of professional amateur kayakers who bring paddling movies to another level. The goal of their game is to put a smile on your face. In this short, they offer a few examples of how not to steal a kayak.  Director: Sebastien Leger | Producer: FTS Style
Kayak Fishing Lake Guntersville Chad Hoover visits Alabama’s legendary Lake Guntersville, looking to hook up hogs with frogs in pursuit of the ultimate kayak bass fishing experience. Director and Producer: Ken Whiting | Website: www.helipress.com
Kayak Mario Bros Mario embarks on yet another adventure in order to save the princess, journeying across the land to the Kananaskis River in Alberta, Canada. Will he make it past the strange creatures, and through the long shuttles and difficult whitewater? Director and Producer: Krista Hughes
Mackenzie River: Long Far & Wild Some years ago Spanish paddlers, Carlos Rodriguez and Carlos Ares, tackled a style of kayaking that was completely new to them. Drawn by the vast British Columbia wilderness, they sought out rivers to hone their ability to paddle long distances down whitewater rivers, carrying everything on board so they could spend weeks paddling and travel hundred of kilometers. Then they realized the possibility of going even further and for longer. They began to wonder about the biggest rivers, about the most remote and untamed arctic wilderness. Their target was obvious: the whole Mackenzie River by kayak. Director: Carlos Rodriguez | Producer: Carlos Rodriguez (BICHO Prods) | Website: www.bichoproducciones.es
Muskoka River X Armed with a drone, several GoPros and a DSLR camera, one man follows the incredible Muskoka River X race. The race travels the Muskoka River system for a distance of 130 kilometers and must be completed unassisted in 24 hours. Director and Producer: Andy Hansen - Pure Muskoka | Website: www.muskokariverx.puremuskoka.com
Paddle to DC: A Quest for Clean Water In autumn 2014, National Geographic Adventurers of the Year and Minnesota wilderness guides Amy and Dave Freeman canoed and sailed 2,000 miles from Ely, Minnesota, to Washington, D.C., on a quest to save the Boundary Waters from the threat of sulfide ore mining. If built, these mines would leach sulfuric acid and heavy metals that would flow directly into our nation’s most cherished and iconic wilderness area for centuries into the future. Director and Producer: Nate Ptacek | Website: www.nateptacek.com
A Paddler’s Pilgrimage This documentary follows James Manke and James Roberts as they travel to Qaqortaq, Greenland, to experience and participate in the Greenland National Kayak Championships. The film explores the arctic origins of the kayak, the Greenlandic peoples’ most important traditional tool of survival, and why it is now celebrated as a means to preserve their heritage. Director: David Hartman, James Roberts | Producer: James Roberts, James Manke Website: www.ontarioseakayakcentre.com , www.hayfiremedia.com
River of Eden Join filmmaker Pete McBride on a journey into the Fijian Highlands to discover why the locals said no to easy money from resource extraction. Instead they turned to tourism to fund a conservation area that protects one of the most beautiful rivers on Earth. Director and Producer: Peter McBride | Website: www.petemcbride.com
Serene & Surreal: Healing Waters of Congaree Wilderness “Without having the wilderness so accessible, I know in fact that a lot of vets wouldn’t be here,” says Eric Guzman in Serene & Surreal: Healing Waters of the Congaree Wilderness, a new film from the National Park Service’s America’s Wilderness series. Guzman, who served as a machine gunner in the Marine Corps and as an Army combat engineer, co-narrates this beautiful and moving film that celebrates the redemptive powers of paddling with a PTSD therapy group. Join a transformative journey into the floodplain forest of Congaree National Park. Director and Producer: Sarah Gulick | Website: www.americaswilderness.com
Stand Up Paddling with Jodelle Fitzwater Personal trainer, yoga instructor and obsessed standup paddleboarder, Jodelle Fitzwater, describes discovering SUP yoga from her hometown of Branson, Missouri. Director: Kelsey Thompson | Producer: Ken Whiting | Website: www.helipress.com
The Grand Canyon of the Stikine Shrouded in darkness and legend, the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River is the Everest of whitewater. For over 30 years, its menacing difficulty has lured expedition kayakers looking for the ultimate challenge. Once the river casts its spell, a kayaker cannot stay away. Olaf Obsommer has collected some of the best kayakers in the world for this descent of the Stikine. His team includes Sam Sutton, Gerd and younger brother Aniol Serrasolses and Jared Meehan. Director and Producer: Olaf Obsommer | Website: www.big-o-productions.com
Top 10 Tips for Canoeing & Kayaking Safely With the influx of novice paddlers on all types of waterways comes an increased risk of injuries and deaths. Canoes, kayaks and standup paddleboards were responsible for 20 percent of all boating causalities last year (U.S. Coast Guard 2013 Recreational Boating statistics). The ACA, with funding from the U.S. Coast Guard, partnered with Anzovin Studio to create this animated video with the goal of educating and empowering paddlers to take responsibility for their personal safety on the water. Director: ACA | Producer: U.S. Coast Guard
Tumwater Solitude The Wenatchee River’s Tumwater Canyon ranks as some of the biggest roadside whitewater anywhere. Unlike more remote water, the Tumwater stands brazenly, beckoning all challengers. This film follows 23-year-old Sam Grafton as he paddles this class V+ section by himself. The river is at its annual peak flow, a thundering 14,000 CFS. This is a personal moment between man and nature. This is Tumwater Solitude. Director: Shane Wilder | Producer: Leah Hemberry | Website: www.icicletv.com
We Belong To It We Belong To It follows renowned traveler and British TV personality Ray Mears’ journey into the heart of Wabakimi Provincial Park in northern Ontario, Canada. The film explores the visual beauty of the Boreal forest landscape, and delves into Mears’ reflections on nature and his mastered skill set in bushcraft. Director and Producer: Goh Iromoto | Website: www.gohiromoto.com
Wilderness Canoe Journey - Past, Present, Future Is there any hope for the future? People are paddling less and there’s a concern that we are no longer connected to nature. This new film from Kevin Callan shows a positive view; that there is hope. Director and Producer: Kevin Callan | Website: www.kevincallan.com

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Can I bring my dog to the event?
A: Sandia Lakes Recreation Area only allows registered service dogs on the property. All other dogs must be left behind.

Q: How should I dress for the event?
A: Participants are encouraged to get in the water, paddle kayaks and play games with the kids. However, we cannot guarantee that you won't get wet. Please dress appropriately for getting in the water. Consider storing keys, wallets, cell phones and other valuables in a secure place. Remember to secure eye-glasses and expensive shades, should they come off in the water.

Q: What else do I need for the event?
A: Consider bringing folding lawn chairs for the discussions and on-water demonstrations, lunch, etc. If you have your own life jacket, conssider bringing it.  You should have chairs, life jackets, etc. labeled with name and phone number.

Q: Can I bring my own kayak and paddle?
A: We have other community event at Sandia Lakes where we encourage paddlers to bring their own kayaks to paddle. However, no outside kayaks will be permitted on to the property during this event.

Q: Can I bring food, snacks or drinks?
A: Food only allowed by permitted vendors on Sandia Lakes Recreation Area. We will have two food trucks on the property for a variety of meal options.

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