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

Learning Disaster Management Skills

 

Media is abuzz with the bravery exhibited by our youth during recent flooding in Kashmir. 

Certainly our youth played a commendable role in saving life in the recent devastating flood, 

though many of them were not well skilled in the crisis management operations. 

Alas!

 Some enthusiastic volunteers even lost their precious lives while operating rescue and

 relief works in the flood hit areas. Had these boys been trained by the 

J&K Disaster Management Authority earlier, they might have saved more lives, and 

reached out to more stranded people in time, who were crying for help for many long days?

It is unfortunate that the J&K Disaster Management collapsed at the very first day 

and could not perform at all. 

It is highly appreciable that some active member companies 

of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir

 such as Adventure Call, Kashmir Adventures, Highland Excursions O2 Adventures, Mountain Magic, 

and Highland Journeys etc. took the lead. Besides,

 they loaned about 30 imported commercial inflatable rafting boats to district administration in some districts. 

The Tourism Department also put its fleet of rafts to use. 

Later the NDRF and few NGOs also jumped in by rowing their dinghies to the affected areas. 

 These inflatable boats were perfect to tackle the running waters, 

while the traditional wooden boats were not effective in fast flowing water. 

Unfortunately some causality also occurred in those boats. 

Later those wooden boats helped a  ...more

Body of missing Israeli rafter found in Peru

 

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that the body of a missing Israeli woman was found, several days after she and another Israeli tourist went missing on a rafting trip in Peru. The woman is a 22-year-old from Ramat Hasharon. 

 An Israeli search team was dispatched Wednesday to help search for the two missing Israeli tourists who disappeared when their raft overturned on a stretch of the Apurimac River in southern Peru Monday afternoon. The search for the second Israeli’s body is ongoing. 

The relevant families have been notified.

The raft contained eight Israelis and a guide. Six of the Israelis and the guide were in good condition in the city of ...more

National Geographic Channel Orders Series On Alaskan Log-Rafting From Gurney Productions

 

National Geographic Channel has ordered a series from Gurney Productions that follows log-rafting Alaskans on the Yukon River. Premiering on National Geographic Channel in summer 2015, and globally in 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages, Rafting Alaska will introduce viewers to the log-rafting trade by following a cast of adventurous Alaskans as they  ...more

Nepal anyone?

There is a great opportunity  for white water action in Nepal late November…. firstly there is the Himalayan White Water Festival and straight after that an opportunity to get your IRF Safety Kayaker & Trip Leader Assessments.

The Himalayan Whitewater Festival is fast becoming Asia’s largest whitewater festival. The 4th festival will be run from the 26th to 29th of November 2014.

(Details and schedule)

Nepal is once again becoming the Mecca of outdoor adventures & whitewater paddling after a decade of political instability. In the last 4 years this event has attracted from 37 to 97 participants, both national and international athletes, as ...more