Surf the Rockies!…Sort Of

Make room in your garage for the latest must-have piece of gear.

As if you didn’t have enough toys already, add this to your list of gear to buy and skills to master: the “stand-up paddleboard” (SUP).

“It’s really caught on,” explains Walker Ferguson, Rocky Mountain sales rep for C4 Waterman (c4waterman.com). “You can hop on and just paddle. You don’t have to be a super athlete.”

To wit, gossip mags show celebs like Jennifer Aniston paddling away in the surf. If she can do it, post-Brad break-up baggage and all, we can too.

The SUP is a longer, wider, thicker, more stable version of a surfboard. Practitioners use a longer paddle, stand upright, and get ‘er done. Watergods like Laird Hamilton have run the Grand Canyon on a SUP, and mortals can get a killer workout (think core and back) on flatter water, reservoirs and lakes.

River-specific versions are available for us landlocked folks. Start making space in the garage, friends!