Big Bear PaddleFest set to stand up to the competition

By Chris Erskine

May 22, 2013 12 AM PT

Big Bear is combining the sweet cool of its mountain lake with the exploding popularity of stand-up paddleboarding, or SUPs, in a series of distance races and sprints June 29.

Entrance fees start at $35 for the annual Big Bear PaddleFest at the Meadow Park swim beach. Races, which also feature kayaks and canoes, include 5K, 10K, 20K, downwind, sprints and relays. To register, go to the Paddlefest registration site.

Races begin with a 20K SUP event at 6 a.m. and continue with various sprints and relay races until late afternoon. Separate kayak and canoe races will also be held. The tentative schedule also calls for a kids fun race at 9:30 a.m. for ages 5-12. Live music and food will also be part of the festivities.

Entry does not include any kind of paddlecraft, but they can be rented at nearby marinas.

The sixth annual Big Bear PaddleFest is sponsored by North Shore Trading Co. For more info, go to the Paddlefest website.

Like us on Facebook

chris.erskine@latimes.com

More to Read

Travel & Experiences

Chris Erskine

Chris Erskine is a nationally known humor columnist and editor who retired from the Los Angeles Times in 2020. Previously he wrote for the Sports, Travel and Saturday sections and edited with the paper’s features staff. As an editor, he has been a part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams at The Times (for his graphics work on the Northridge quake and the North Hollywood bank robbery). He is best known to readers for his weekly humor pieces on life in suburban Los Angeles. His latest book, “Daditude,” released in 2018, is a collection of his favorite Times columns on fatherhood. He has written two other books, “Man of the House” and “Surviving Suburbia,” which reached the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. The Chicago native has also worked for papers in New Orleans and Miami.

Big Bear PaddleFest set to stand up to the competition

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times