Carol Kane Dailey (1935-1996)

Carol Kane was an athletic, outdoor person who always accepted a dare.  Growing up with three older brothers in Kokomo and Poncha Springs, Carol became a bit of a “tomboy”, enjoying hiking, soccer, camping, skiing and kayaking.   Carol, one of the few women boating at the time, entered the FIBArk Boat Races in 1956. Paddling her foldboat kayak, Carol became a FIBArk champion in the American and International Championship Slalom and Downriver Races held in Salida 1956 through 1960. Carol competed in the International Womens Slalom and Women’s Downriver Worlds Championship Races in Augsburg, Germany in 1957 with two other Colorado boaters and was the only one of her team to complete the difficult man-made canal (Eis-canal) course. 

Back in Colorado, Carol met her husband in Bear Creek rapids where he was stranded from his kayak.  After “saving” him, Chuck, says “he never let her go!”   The couple travelled and then settled in Santa Fe, where they adopted two Navaho children and Carol became the Director of the Santa Fe Ski School and a Certified Ski Instructor in Taos, NM. Carol and Chuck also began the “Santa Fe Kayack Club” and took trips with their group all over the Southwest. Throughout her life, as a competitor and teacher, Carol shared her athletic skills with people of all ages.  She could do anything, loved life, and was fun to be around.  Carol was an exemplary athlete who used her head and heart as she dedicated her life to her family, her friends, and her sport.

Roy Hicks

Roy Hicks has absolutely, without question earned the right to have the title of “King of the Hill”, after winning the FIBArk Tenderfoot Hill Climb eight times with incredibly fast times. The Tenderfoot Hill Climb is an event that has been run consecutively during FIB Ark since 1973. The race is run from 1st St. up the 555 ft Tenderfoot Mountain and back down to 1st Street. “It looks like a bunch of ants going up a hill” remarked a Hill Climb spectator. Roy won the 1978, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85 and 86 races averaging in the 11 minutes per race! Roy was the first to break the 11 minute barrier with a time of 10 minutes 48 seconds (1980).

The Hicks family moved to Salida when Roy was in 1st grade. During high school, Roy ran on the track and cross country teams; he loved to run and he developed tremendous endurance and stamina. After high school, Roy married Ronda & they raised three children in Salida. He started working for Calco a few years after he was married and he continued to run. In 1990 Roy and his family moved to the Denver area. Roy still thinks of Salida as home. He and his family try to come to FIB Ark every year to enjoy the fun & festivities. In 2000 Roy ran his last Hill Climb with his 3 children (Carl, Marsha & Matthew) & three nephews. Roy never thought he would be recognized for his athletic abilities, he just met the challenges of each race; the heat, the wind, the rain and at times waiting for trains to pass along the active railroad tracks.