Slaughterfest seeking a bigger splash

Organizers said the number of participants reached nearly 100 in the 2024 Slaughterfest kayak and raft race held Saturday — possibly the largest turnout in the event’s history. Now being organized by Riff Raft Racing, the event is looking to grow.

Article By: Rich Allen/Aspen Daily News

Organizers said nearly 100 people turned out for Saturday’s Slaughterfest kayak and raft race, with Riff Raft Racing’s Trevor Fredrickson saying “it’s more than we’ve ever had.”

Since Aspen Kayak & SUP operator Charlie MacArthur handed the reins of the race to Riff Raft Racing — Aspen’s top men’s raft racing team — they’ve looked to grow the event and make it more of a river festival. This comes with some give-and-take, particularly when it comes to guessing water conditions, but they felt they put together an epic evening of paddling over the weekend.

“Riff Raft Racing wanted to carry on the legacy of the Slaughterhouse race when Charlie MacArthur was ready to pass on the torch,” Riff Raft member Trevor Fredrickson said. “We’re one of the last valleys in Colorado that doesn’t have a proper river festival, so we wanted to make sure that we at least carry this on and blow it up a little bit.”

A total of 38 entries — 18 raft teams and 20 kayakers — finished the 4.5-mile stretch of the Roaring Fork River between Henry Stein Park and Wilton Jaffee Sr. Park, passing through the race’s namesake Slaughterhouse Falls in the early portion of the race. The number of did-not-finishes was not immediately available.

They competed in men’s short boat and long boat; women’s short boat; co-ed rafting; men’s rafting and women’s rafting.

On the raft side, unsurprisingly, local river guides littered the top of the standings, particularly from the pro teams. Rapid Fire Racing, the U.S. women’s open team — fresh off a third place at the World Championships in Bosnia in early June — won the three-team women’s raft section. Members from Riff Raft, including captain Conrad Niven, were on the first-place co-ed team, succinctly named, in all-caps, SEX.

Off the Couch, On the Podium edged out Shake and Bake by four seconds to win the men’s raft race as the only two teams to finish the route in under a half an hour: 29 minutes and 54 seconds and 29:58, respectively.

Natalie Kellum was the lone female kayaker, taking first place in the short boat race, finishing in 30:58. Nelson Oldhan won the men’s short boat with a time of 27:52. Adam Sampson won the long boat race with a time of 26:53, the only sub-27:00 time of the day. MacArthur took second with 27:40 and Weston Boyles took third with 28:06.

First-place finishers received a cash prize, while second- and third-place winners received schwag packages from various sponsors, including the town of Snowmass Village. Meat from Aspen’s Butcher’s Block was awarded to the two fastest boats on the water.

Fredrickson said in years past, organizers have tried to schedule the event just a few days out to have a post-peak runoff race. This year, they scheduled it a couple months in advance to try to lure in more racers. 

The trade-off was higher water, which he said makes the river run faster and introduces the opportunity for more carnage.

The festival recognized the flippant nature of the sport with the “Beater” award, selected by who got the loudest cheer in the award ceremony. Johnny Youngs and Sam Burdick were given the hand-carved meat pounder for flipping in Entrance Exam, the first stretch of the race. They beat out a safety boater that went for a swim, a boat that did a somersault through Slaughterhouse Falls, and a kayaker who “hit every rock possible on the river,” according to Tess Howland, Rapid Fire Racing member and presenter of the award.

New leadership is trying to lean on some of the traditions of the event but also expand it. More local businesses were brought in as partners, including Blazing Adventures and Zane’s Tavern. The finish-line party featured a solo vendor, Redside Foundation, an Idaho-based mental health organization focusing on the guiding community. A food truck, Chef Cart, set up shop for the hungry racers. Community members and other team members helped with logistics.

“It’s been going on for so long,” Rapid Fire Racing captain Bean Hancock said. “Charlie MacArthur has been putting this on and it’s so cool to see the passing of the torch to Riff Raft Racing and them just kind of taking it and being so eager to run with it and grow it and turn it kind of more into a festival vs. just a community meetup.”

Hancock urged anyone who is curious about the sport to reach out to any of the local guide companies. With the rise of Riff Raft and Rapid Fire, members of both teams have been vocal about trying to grow the sport locally — especially for women.

“If you want to get into this, show up here and there will be someone to get you into this,” Hancock said.

Riff Raft also is collaborating with American Whitewater to help organize the Gore Canyon Race and Festival near Kremmling in late August. More info is available at riffraftracing.com.