About Us

~~~Never Forgotten~~~

UWA Mission Statement

UWA Philosophy/Windrider's Creed

UWA Officers-Volunteers-Meeting Minutes

Brief History of the UWA



~~~Never Forgotten~~~

  • Mitch Cummings 2005
  • Marty Lowe 2014


Mission

  • Preserve access to quality, public sailing/riding sites
  • Promote stoke for windsurfing, kiteboarding, and snowkiting locally through events, video adrenalin, camaraderie, and uninhibited web posting
  • Help newcomers get started, safely
  • Keep the windriding community connected and safe mainly with this web site
  • Save Rush!


Philosophy/Windrider's Creed

Windsport as well as physical exercise in general seems to be a zen/spiritual experience for most people. This is apparent as you listen to people talk about their last great windriding experience or look in their eyes as they come off of the snow or water after a sweet session. The Utah Windrider's Association would like to be a shining example to all windriding communities that any kind of maligned negativity whether political or personal, or elitism is not welcome or necessary within its realms.

Because of this spiritual nature, we would love to see Windsurfing, Kiteboarding, Snowkiting and all other windsports keep that mystical edge by maintaining a positive vibe that the wind brings...

We believe that our individual windsports seed the growth and existence of each other and there should be an unsolicited mutual respect amongst us. That respect should transcend age and ability.

Good natured competition that allows one to push the envelope of their windsport, safely... Bring it on! But don't kite or sail over your head... Be smart... Talk to those experienced at a location before you try it... Learn the rules of EVERY location you kite or sail so that you don't ruin it for the rest of us.



The Boards/Elected Officers

  • Rick Heninger - President/Board Chairman... Cell 801-635-6699 email
  • Josh Shirley - Windsurf Board
  • Verne Stokes - Membership chair
  • Sarah Ranes - Windsurfing Activities Chair
  • Craig Goudie - Windsurfing Master Weather Kingpin
  • Rob Umstead... Current Kiteboarding info Contact


Past Presidents and Founder

  • Dimitri Milovich (Founder) 1980-1992
  • Grant McAllister 1992-2002
  • Mike Rossberg 2002-2007
  • Rick Heninger 2007-Present


Meeting Minutes



Brief History of the UWA

    In the late 70's and early 80's, Windsurfing in Utah was an affair that involved loading a board, boom, and rolled up sail onto your car that usually was much longer than the car itself. Whether it was a Bic Dufor Wing or some other barge, the act was to get oneself onto a beach that could bear the weight of the gear itself and the wait of the patient who hoped that the invisible force would come. Beer or rootbeer after beer or rootbeer would be consumed in wait. This mostly occurred up at Deer Creek Reservoir at the Island Creek Resort. Infinitely patient people would "hang out", waiting for the wind. Watching the different, individual, and quite often, qwerky, methods that each windsurfer employed in order to get that ride that would one day lead to this addiction, called windsurfing.

    Sometime in the late 1980's, the windsurf boards started getting smaller. One began to observe windsurfers actually doing "those fast turns"... Whoh! When the "Interwebs" hit in the early 90's, it was all over. And by 1998, like mayflies, windsurfers had invaded all bodies of water that were set where wind would regularly blow. Rush Lake, filled by an incredibly wet year in 1984, became the mecca of Utah windsurfing. A venturi of wind constantly rips through the Rush Valley. Utah windsurfers began to understand the concepts of wind creation as though they were scientists themselves. Hot desert/cool great salt lake water... Differentials, gradients, temperature, fronts, etc. etc...

    Out of all this, Dimitri Milovich, credited inventor of the "winterstick" and quite possibly snowboarding itself, decided that there needed to be an easier way to get out and enjoy the sport of windsurfing. The Utah Windsurfing Association was created. The original website was built and hosted by his company server for years.

    The website has been a source of communication that has served many purposes through out all the changes that the "wind" brings... No doubt, we have saved so much time not having to wait on the beach for wind... Yes, that is a good and a bad thing... For some reason those old times cemented a sense of appreciation for every good ride that would come. But may those times of waiting just be a memory, as much as possible. Thanks to the UWA, many windsurfing and later kiteboarding sites were preserved, cleaned, and used for many incredible memories. In the early 2000's, along with updating the website to a more modern interface, relieving Dimitri Milovich's server, Mike Rossberg brought Kiteboarding into the UWA. The Utah Windsurfing Association was changed through a vote to the Utah Windriders Association. Throughout the early 2000's Windsurfers and Kiteboarders would have meetings and movie nights that would get us all stoked up for the season to come for the water enthusiasts, and the season just past for the snow enthusiasts...

    Craig Goudie, a wizard of the Utah wind science, has been posting a daily, "Where To Ride", forum that gives very specific weather report for sites around Utah. Without fail he continues to provide that free service for all UWA members to save time and perhaps life by knowing where to pinpoint there gear for the best possible outcome. Later Kenny Farnsworth, provided years of Snowkiting weather reports that helped snowkiters to be much more safe and efficient as well.

    The UWA has held swap meets, racing events, beginner learning events, camping events. Sarah Ranes for years reserved the parking lot up at Sulphur Creek Reservoir outside of Evanston, Wyoming for the UWA Campout. The UWA would fill the parking lot for the entire weekend. Once it was realized crawdads occupy the lake by the millions Rick Heninger began hosting a huge crawfish boil to the approval of a few Louisianians. Besides applying his talents to the UWA in many ways, Josh Shirley, helped connect the UWA with the Utah Summer Games for a number of years which provided great exposure to the sport of windsurfing. Amidst litigious woes, Rick Heninger held a number of beginner windsurfing days, and even one pretty ambitious race that involved crossing Utah Lake from Saratoga Springs to Provo Boat Harbor... Mike Rossberg, working at a company that manufactured sporting equipment made of Carbon composite, allowed many of the Utah windsurfers to acquire affordable gear for years by providing discounted gear at the swaps. Grant Mcallister provided the backbone of camaraderie by starting the meetings at Rocky Mountain Pizza. Mike Rossberg carried the tradition on until Rick Heninger saw the growth of technology with video cause for expansion of the meetings. For many years a video night was held at Brewvies that helped to shake off the cobwebs and get ready for a spring and summer of stoke. We also enjoyed the videos of the past winter's Snowkiting... Many other people have donated their efforts and talents to enhance our experiences and memories of windsurfing and kiteboarding. Thanks goes to those missed in this roughed out history of the UWA... Contact us if we missed something here.

    Now, it is 2018, Rush Lake has dried up mostly... So most Utah windsurfing or kiteboarding, occurs on Utah Lake, Deer Creek, or Grantsville Reservoir. The needs of Windsurfers and Kiteboarders are quite distinct and the physical beach sites to enjoy either sport are also quite distinct. The access to beaches is ever changing. For example, the UWA used to provide access keys to a spot on the west shore of Utah Lake called Rocky Point. That access point provided extra motivation for renewal of UWA memberships and was quite a fun place for UWA members to convene when the nice "frontals" would come in. The owner of that eventually sold out for development of a golf course and neighborhood. One other example of the inherent challenges faced by the UWA are the differing needs of windsurfers, kiteboarders, and for that matter snowkiters. After being asked many times from the different points of view for weather stations or site preservation actions, Rick Heninger proposed to create separate funds from the main UWA fund, in order to serve the special interests of the two or three, groups. This proposal, which was run past the organization founders, was to facilitate progress of the special interests in a self-managed way. This was to avoid the, might we say, "gridlock" of getting things done that was slowing up placement of new wind meters or access concerns being proactively addressed. In order for organizations to progress, we must be willing to listen to common sense and adapt. With all the social media platforms there have been suggestions of moving our forum completely to those platforms. However, that places us at the whim of those platforms and thus, this move has not been accepted by all.

    As of December 2018, Rick Heninger, Craig Goudie, and Vern Stokes continue to admin the site. Membership renewals are accepted and paid via Paypal. There is an account with America First Credit Union that maintains about the same balance that was there in 1995. The webpage is paid for via the funds from renewals of members.

    Times change and so does everything else. The UWA will attempt to adapt to those times. We welcome suggestions and ideas for the UWA to be as functional and helpful as possible. We build upon the shoulders of past contributors and welcome new ideas. May we see you on the water!