Bow Valley Stand Up Paddleboarding-Surf Canmore - Canmore

The water has always had a magnetic draw for me.  In 2010, I caught the travel and surf bug.  The challenge of a new sport in a foreign country was incredibly alluring to me and I became obsessed.

After my trip was complete, I arrived back in the Bow Valley and was immediately on the hunt for surfing related activities. My sister told me about Stand Up Paddleboarding and for a cool first adventure, we decided to paddle from Banff to Canmore. With no one to ask advice back then, it’s quite possible we broke a few safety rules. We did, however, make it back in one piece and I was instantly hooked. From that moment, I searched for companies offering SUP and SURF services. Realizing there were very limited options I decided to start Bow Valley Stand Up Paddleboarding. It was important to me to be able to offer sound advice with regards to safety, gear and information on the local area. As with most businesses we started off small, renting out boards from the back of my 2004 Volkswagon Jetta, at a low price point. To this day we are firm believers that money should not be a barrier of entry to people wanting to try the sport.

An integral step to being a leader in the industry was enrolling in Paddle Canada courses lead by Norm Hamm and Neil Gibson, two pioneers of the sport in Canada. In a short period of time the sport grew and so did our business! For 6 years we had a shop on Main Street in Canmore, renting boards and chatting with locals and visitors each and every day.  When COVID hit in the early part of 2020, we had to come up with a new plan.  Difficult situations often create great opportunities and hence our mobile service was launched. With the outpouring of community support, we were voted 2020 SUP SHOP Of The Year. To win this award was such a huge honour! Organizing virtual paddle races, helping to build the ever-growing river surf community as well as providing top quality products and service to the community are just some of the reasons we stood out to win this award.

Just as my sister introduced me to SUP 10 years ago, my goal is to bring as many people as possible into this incredibly fun-filled world of paddle boarding.