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.
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