Alumni

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Zach Hughes ’95 &
Mike Harvey ’98

Fall 2024 Transitions Magazine

Zack Hughes ’95 and Mike Harvey ’98 met as rookie raft guides on the Arkansas River in 1993. Zack had been traveling to Honduras as part of his education at Prescott guiding rafts and leading multi-day kayak adventures. Mike was also chasing his love for kayaking which led him to Honduras where Zack and Mike became close friends that pursued a love for whitewater and kayaking in Central America, California, and Colorado and beyond.

Both Mike and Zack eventually settled in Salida Colorado in 1998. Mike started working for an engineering firm that specialized in the development of whitewater parks focusing on kayak features, trails, and community access to rivers. Zack had started his own successful business in the trades. In 2005 Mike worked on one of the first whitewater parks in Colorado located in Pueblo. On a return trip to inspect the park, much to Mike’s surprise, a few locals were surfing surfboards on one of the standing waves. Zack is a consummate designer and maker and took his love for ocean surfing and fused it with knowledge of kayaking and rivers to create the first Badfish boards. Zack and Mikes skill sets complemented each other and they decided to try to build a river surfing brand from Zack’s garage.

Today Badfish makes and sells river surfing boards, stand up paddle boards, Whitewater rafts and many other fun toys to be used on the water. Badfish sells their products through specialty outdoor retail shops across North America and at their Flagship store in downtown Salida, Colorado.