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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2004)
Kayakers bring quest to ‘go huge’ to campus The first Epicocity Project video, ‘Bigger than Rodeo/ will be shown Wednesday night in Pacific Hall By Kyle Dickman Freelance Reporter It wasn't just a mess of bright red hair or the more than six-foot frame that set University student Trip Jen nings apart from the rest of the crowd at the Clackamas River on Saturday. Jennings is responsible for spear heading the Epicocity Project, a video production corporation com posed of youthful kayakers — near ly all of whom are University stu dents — intent on producing a white-water kayaking video that is, according to http://www.epicoci ty.com., dedicated to "going huge and having fun." After a year and a half in the mak ing, the company's first video, "Bigger than Rodeo," was shown to about 150 people Saturday at Bob's Hole Rodeo, part of the Oregon Cup kayak ing competition. "For me, the Epicocity Project is about more than just kayaking," Jen nings said. "It is a way to encourage peo ple to get away from their 9-through-5 lifestyles and pursue a passion." Jennings said he and the six mem bers of the Epicocity crew are driven by a passion and a love for kayaking. "The pursuit of our passion allows us to dismiss promises of financial 'success' in the world of nine through five," he said. "It helped me decide that I was going to find a way to 'make it' on my own terms." Jennings and the rest of the crew members came to the production table with more than just kayaking ex perience. Jennings has produced pro motional videos for Perception Kayaks and Dagger, a kayak manufac turer. Additionally, all six athletes pro duced their own promotional videos. Their skills are reflected in the final cut and acknowledged by the array of sponsorships awarded to the compa ny's first video. Jennings said he was initially con cerned about sponsorship at the start of production. "When we first started, I was a little worried that the sponsors wouldn't want to take a risk on such a young company," he said. "This worry came from a lull in kayak and accessory Courtesy Jordan Nystrom Epicocity Project coowner Trip Jennings premiered the company’s first video, “ Bigger than Rodeo,” on Saturday near the Clackamas River. sales during the 2003 season. I didn't expect the companies to have much of a budget to play with, but after they saw the teaser we started to win some companies over." "Bigger than Rodeo" is officially sponsored by NRS, Dagger and Bomber Gear. The company has al ready sold 600 of the recently released videos — almost enough to pay for their travel expenses. Jennings and Epicocity Project co owner Ned Trice had been considering making a kayaking video since they were 16 years old, but not until 2002 did the company come into being. "All the elements just started to come together," Jennings said. The idea solidified over a year ago when the crew took a kayaking trip to the 65-foot Upper North Falls in Silver Falls State Park outside Silverton, Ore. "It was when we realized for the first time that what we were doing was actually out of the ordinary, even in the kayaking world," University stu dent and Epicocity Project athlete LJ Groth said. This realization set the pace for the remainder of the 2002-03 year. The kayakers traveled the United States, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama in search of white water suit able for their video. "As cheesy as it sounds, making this video was an excuse to travel and kayak," said Carl Moser, Epicocity ath lete and shareholder. "It just hap pened to turn out really well." 'The pursuit of our passion allows us to dismiss promises of financial 'success' in the world of nine through five." Trip Jennings coowner, Epicocity Project Moser, Jennings and fellow athletes Chris Todd and Amy Jimmerson spent last summer traveling Canada and the United States while Groth, Alex Hotze and Jennings traveled Latin America in search of white water. "The video only shows the kayak ing," Groth said. "The truth is, that is only half the story. I've never had so many challenging, scary and reward ing experiences as I had while traveling for this video." Throughout the video's showing, the crowd responded with collective amazement and a few winces. "To see a group of people my age turn their dream into a reality was in spirational," sophomore Brent Ander son said. "Bigger than Rodeo" holds rights to the footage of the world record for the highest waterfall run in a kayak — 105-foot Alexandra Falls on the Hay River in Canada. It also includes footage of "playboating," or per forming maneuvers on a stationary river feature, that Groth, a self-pro claimed "creekboater," said separates "Bigger than Rodeo" from other re cent videos. The video is set to music from groups including Swollen Members, Atmosphere, Strike Anywhere and The Explosion. "Honestly, the video scared me, I just don't think that people should be kayaking down 105-foot waterfalls," University student Aaron Rettig said. "But I really liked the music." •"Bigger than Rodeo" will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 123 Pacific. Kyle Dickman is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. williani sli;ikrs|)c ;iu 's much ado about | • nothing a tobiitson theatre production Mav 1 I. 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