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| Yakima Herald Newspaper 1988 |
| the Original Yakima Canyon Radboarder~est.1986 Jim Fife Selah Washington |
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| ~Yakima Canyon Radboard~ |
| Just a few wiggles up stream of the Yakima River's Roza Recreation Area, 12 miles north of Yakima Washington, you will find Jim Fife and the RadBoarding River Pranksters. You'll know when you've found them when you see the Big Black Truck with the camp Trailer. |
| Odds are there will be death-metal music Pantera,Godsmack or Disturbed thundering from the speakers propped on top of the camper. There will be blonde children. There will be beer BBQ's and open tailgates. For more than a decade, a core group of five dusty-tanned mostly regular guys have spent the summers riding the waves and showcasing the do-it-yourself water sport at a bend just above one of the most popular take-out spots on the Yakima River, a bend that nearly every floater on the river must pass! "This is kind of like our beach, since we don't have a beach here. We bring our families" says Fife of Selah Washington, he's been Boarding at this spot since he founded it in 1986. The father of three is also one of the founding fathers of a conceptual company called Yakima Canyon Radboards, through which the guys hope to someday market their RadBoard designs. |
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| The company name may not yet be airtight, the name not yet trademarked, but like a good band waiting for musicians-the Logo's a done deal. A smiley face with a bullet-hole to the head. |
| Fife, who grew up in the valley, wears his beard braided and forked, it sprouts from his chin like the head fiins of a mantra ray. "RadBoarding is best when the river's high and there are lots of floaters" Fife explains, adding that things start to slow down in late August, when the river level and the number of rafters begin to drop. "You can splash them and mess with them. Lots of times they'll want to give it a try themselves" |
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| Me and my daughter Jamie *RadGirl* June 1994 |
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| Nathan 2004 newspaper pic |
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