Waves can surprise you / SUP boarding

“It’s incredible when you feel how you, the wind, water and the board become one harmonic unity”,-says Astghik Babalaryan who participated in the SUP boarding tour organized by Armenian Geographic.

SUP boarding is not a common type of sport in Armenia but gradually it’s becoming more popular as the ways of extreme tourism are developing day by day. It was Astghik’s first SUP boarding experience though she took part in many hiking trips and other extreme activities before. She lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and seeing how people were doing SUP boarding on Main River she decided to try.

“It was before I came to Armenia when me and my friend saw how people did paddleboarding/supboarding on Main River. The funny thing is that at that time we decided that one day we are going to try it as it seemed very easy. Of course, Main River is a very calm river, but still you can’t do it by yourself”,-tells Astghik.

The irst SUP boarding experience

Talking about her first SUP boarding experience Astghik said that she was sure that she was going to fall down for many times before she could stand on the board. “I was sure that we will spend an amazing time and I was waiting for my meeting with water. I don’t swim well, I mean, I don’t swim at all, I’m afraid of deep water and I was thinking that I must do everything for not appearing in the water”.

“The most pleasant”, “warm”, “adventurous” and “studying”, these are the expressions that can describe Astghik’s emotions on that day. She is happy for overcoming one more challenge.

The most impressive moment for Astghik was when she finally stood on the board and started paddling. “Actually, it lasted only for some minutes, but that was cool. And there is one more important thing that I remember: I was constantly complaining that I’m doing wrong and Karen (the head of the group) told me the water is limitless and any wrong movement can be fixed, we can’t just ignore the endlessness of water”.

Astghik’s expectations of that day were completely satisfied. “Karen is a very professional and caring trainer. I had no doubt that the tour is going to be successful. At the beginning I thought we are going to do hiking, as well, but then I was glad that we spend the whole day doing SUP boarding”.   

The impact of SUP boarding

If you don’t have allergy of water or the Sun Astghik recommends trying this sport activity. “Don’t think that you are going to paddle perfectly at once, be ready that you are going to fall down for thousand times, listen to the trainer and follow the instructions, because you may think that you can do everything but waves can surprise you”.

Astghik admits that she has a fear of water and she considers this experience as a step of overcoming that fear. “I love water, but I’m afraid of it and I think this is a way of approaching it. Of course it is also a lesson that I’m going to use in Frankfurt on the Main River”.

Talking about how she appeared in this group which was doing SUP boarding on the Sevan lake Astghik said. “Usually I do hiking only with one group and I don’t like changing groups. It has always been important for me to trust the guide both as a professional and as a person. Tigran was in my friend list on Facebook for a long time and I was always following him: he has a unique worldview and endless devotion, but as I had a principle of going hiking only with one group I had never done hiking with them. I started doing hiking with ArmGeo since 2017 and I never regretted for any hiking trip I did with them because ArmGeo is a mood”.

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Hiking Trips in Armenia