Making adventures safer

 

Every time a tourist stands on the edge of a cliff, steps into a harness or grabs a paddle they take a calculated risk.

In adventure tourism, risk is inherent and in the past unregulated activities arguably led to a series of fatal incidents. But those days could be over with the introduction of a new safety regime.

It is more than six years since one of the darkest chapters in the annals of Queenstown tourism. British backpacker Emily Jordan, who was 21, died when she was trapped by submerged boulders in the Kawarau River during a Mad Dog River Boarding trip on April 29, 2008.

Her death and other fatal incidents prompted a Government review of the adventure tourism sector, and new rules designed to enhance safety come into play in a matter of weeks.

Operators who "deliberately expose participants to a risk of serious harm" must be externally audited and ...more

O.A.R.S. Releases River of Eden by Filmmaker Pete McBride

 

For the film, McBride traveled into the highlands of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu 

to explore the Upper Navua River and find out why the locals said “no” to easy money 

from resource extraction, and instead, turned to tourism to fund a conservation area. 

What he discovered was not only one of the most beautiful rivers on 

Earth—a “mini-tropical Grand Canyon”—but a low-impact commercial rafting operation

 in the Upper Navua Conservation Area that has given 

more than $1 million back to local communities in the last 15 years.

The Upper Navua Conservation Area was established in 1998 when Rivers Fiji,

 with the dedicated support of O.A.R.S. president and founder,

 George Wendt, and an unlikely group of local entities including two villages, 

nine mataqalis (land-owning clans), a logging company and a government organization, 

opted for long-term sustainability through tourism. To protect the area’s natural assets,

 the group banded together to set-up a 25-year land lease that precludes logging,

 road building or mining in the ...more

Valley residents representing US at raft worlds

 

Forty countries will have teams representing them at the World Rafting Championships in the Itaipu Canal this week. For many of the competitors, it will be an entirely new experience.

The Itaipu Canal has never hosted a World Rafting Championships. It will be only the second time in history a World Rafting Championships has used a four-man format. But for the Americans, the World Championships in Brazil will be an especially different experience as the team itself is all new.

In the past, the U.S. was represented by the Eagle Country based team “Behind the 8 Ball,” which won the national championship many years in a row. That team has ...more

Junior World Champions are declared!

 

It was a very early start for the athletes today as they headed for the Downriver race held below the Iguaçu Falls. The reward for all their efforts of the last few days was the privilege of starting just below one of the Seven Wonders of Nature. There were 27 teams and 108 athletes.
In the U19 Male category Brazil ranked first with a time of 13:24:68, followed by the Russians (13:39:08) and Argentina (13:39:08). In the Under-19 Female catgeory Russia took the best with a time of 14:13:65, beating Australia (14:35:37) and Brazil (14:42:90).
The U19 Women’s race was won by Russia with Australia come in next and then Brazil and Russia. Australian girls were surprised but pleased to have beaten the Brazilian’s on their home ground.
The Under 23 Female team from Japan did a ...more

Second Israeli tourist found dead in Peru river

 

A rafting accident in the Apurimac River of southern Peru last week has taken the lives of two young Israeli tourists. The second body, of the two who had been reported missing after the incident, was found on Saturday, reports Peru’s Foreign Ministry.

Attempting to maneuver through rapids, a raft containing six tourists and a guide tipped over on ...more

Forget Online Dating — Rafting does the same !!!

 

Yahoo Travel profiles readers who came back from a trip with the best souvenir ever — true love.

Who: Clark and Jacqueline Kotula 

Where we met: Cusco, Peru 

When: 2001 

Relationship status: Married


(As told by Clark)

In 2001, I was living in Peru working as the head guide for an expedition outfitter. 

It was an adventurous job, and I led whitewater rafting, trekking, mountain biking, 

and cultural tours throughout Peru and South America. Jacqui came to Peru 

on vacation from Glasgow, Scotland with one of her girlfriends 

as a sort of bucket list trip to check-in on where she was in life and where she was going. 

At the time, she was a dentist in an established dental practice in Scotland and had a serious boyfriend. 

Jacqui had signed up for a four-day whitewater rafting trip on the Apurimac River, 

a five-day trek on the ...more

 

Search team finds body of Israeli tourist killed in Peru rafting accident

 

A helicopter search-and-rescue team found the body of an Israeli tourist who 

went missing in Peru after a rafting accident on Monday, as confirmed by the Foreign Ministry. 

The body was found on one of the river banks by 

an insurance company's helicopter search-and-rescue team, 

which identified the body as that of the Israeli. 

The Foreign Ministry said that an additional helicopter will come to retrieve the body

 from the scene as soon as dawn breaks. 

Another Israeli tourist still remains missing as of Friday.

The rafting accident occurred on October 6 in the Apurimac River. 

Six other Israelis on the raft found their way to ...more