PURE LAND EXPEDITIONS

Zen?

2012-01-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

This post follows on from the last one.

It was a crisp and clear dawn, -3 and the river still had some flow. It was business as normal, it felt good. It is a place of wonder and spells for me. Others on the same day just didnt have the same experience, they left the river questioning ability, place, and performance. They left with doubts. Looking as 'what if' and 'worse case scenario'.

The result of this for many is that they freeze up, focus on potential negative outcomes which loops as feedback in worse performance and a negative mobius bind they are unable to release from.

I have tried here to explain my own rational for dealing with mind games, it may help others.

I have, for this reason decided to write as a reply to an email, it may answer these questions for lots of people.

'First off I guess what you feel in the negative out come is insecurity, am I right? Its not fear in the surrounding per se, but fear in your own mind, your own thoughts and ability. If this is true, which I expect it is, the following will be of help. You can get the long winded approach in the book 'Inner Skiing' and for some part in 'Tibetan Book Of The Dead'.

It is natural to have mind games, everyone has, but the ability to develop from these is key. Your river reading and skill sets you have are obvious - you have too many years under your belt for that.

Let me quess, yesterday, after that tricky hole- you had fluffed one, perhaps two strokes, perhaps you rolled. Then in the eddy you saw the river simply run away, the grey walls closed in and no obvious break and rest appeared. It is only a guess but when you fluffed, you began to doubt yourself. This had a domino effect on you, right?

Fuffing is fine, the human body can fluff, can miss its beats. When you walk to the pub and trip over the curb does that spoil your night? No. Is doesnt why would it? Boating is the same, the body/mind knows what it is doing, christ you would not be in the flow if it didnt. Simple mistakes really dont matter. Believe it or not they are not life and death choices. If you look at the Llanberis footage I fluff the lead in, does matter mind you.

This leaves us to the mind games, whilst you can scroll down this blog to the essays I did on Fear, or to Doug Ammons site it is perhaps of minimal use, words always seem to fall quiet and unused in some ways. But lets look at it another way, lets look at a river you know well.

Lets look at the graveyard at CT, although it could be any river you can mind map. It is my quess again, but I am sure I am right, that you launch in at the top, paddle over to the big eddy before setting off down the flow. On the way you will take some eddys on both left and right, before pausing in the large eddy on river left, near the gate and white sign (it has some EA info). This sign, this eddy is the crux of the whole top of the graveyard, just like splat rock is for the lower half.

All the moves you have made, whilst you have made many times have always been as a result of the big eddy by the sign. You have had the confidence to make the moves because, at an unconscious level you have had a fire door a place to escape if it all goes wrong... You see this lots with groups.

So if we establish that you are happy and confident if you know you have a fire door to run out off it it gets too hot, all we need to do is look at ways to put fire doors, escape routes on rivers without the feeling of failure.

It is never a failure to walk, or portage.

The question you need to ask is simple.
1) are you ready to accept the worst case out come of a move.

I had to explain this to another group yesterday.

For me a worse case scenario is dynamic, it changes with each stroke, each movement. The mind does it for you. Yours said, 'hang on, lets get the f**k out'.

We need to ask why, what was it to be scared of. For you a worse case on the river is one of a few things. Its either a roll, a swim, or and perhaps more so, dinted pride. We know, you and I, that a roll fails from time to time, no issue. A swim from time to time, no issue. Few bruises, end of discussion. Its the Pride thing, the ego game, whether you know it or not. We crave a meaning to our actions, our own mind, our sense of self. Ego is the only word we can use in English. It is perhaps a close link to French as jouissance or the objet petite a, if we look at it as a missed piece. The one we chase in our mind. I only assume that your mind, the monkey analytical mind, made the choices for you, it then moved your body like a puppet? This for me that is, should not be of concern.

Who does it matter to? It matters to no one but you, its not even like your mind is that bothered, since it blocks you at every turn. Then annoys you for it. So we need to keep telling the mind to 'shut the up, stop telling me I cannot do it, nothing makes me want to do it more than been told I cannot'. Red pill blue pill time if your a Matrix fan.'

As readers I expect you will disagree with some of these points I have raised, please do. It will then allow you to grow.

Remember you never failed.

The importance of the simple breath, a meditation in action.

2012-01-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

The river still flows,it rolls and tumbles on its dance. We pause; focus with intendedheart beats for what we are set to do. Our stroke rate is of littleconcern, the edge and angle of our boat foolish to think about. Allthat we can know that is fact, that is known to be the truth, is thesimple breath, our inhale, our exhale. For some it calms, that slowsucking of air to the lungs, the pleasant push as we let it escapeour lungs. Physically it slows the heart, but it does more. Thebreath, this single life point, does not distract – it does theopposite, shedding the illusion of set isolated movements. The breathlike the flow is a constant. No stop, no start.

In the calm on thesesimple moments, in the calm of the simple breath – that is all thatmatters, all that will ever be of concern.

Our thoughts and mentalpicture often, so often, become torn. Our sound track, lifesmemorable audio, plays on the worn grooves and broken stylus recordplayer. Our own memory is not that which we think. Tricks of the mindhappen daily. Are we ever truly centred, in the moment. We think of amultitude of objects and distractions, driving we often forget how wegot from A to B. We take no time. Happy to be fooled by our our mind,by the passing minutes. We flick from social media to TV, from thetext alert to the mp3 player. We dont even pause to eat. A snack atthe wheel, a drive thru too many.

The same is true of ourriver experiences. We name and shame the river. We name and shame ourexperience. Rapids like 'Graveyard', Tombstones', 'Devils punch bowl'all force the river to be an impression before we even commit to aline. Names always shame our experience. Stout, Full On and suchlike. Just think, for a moment, how does this matter to you? When wepaddle, content to be engrossed with each stroke, with the technique,with all these distractions we are tainting the language of our ownconnection. We offend, thinking of this 'all'- but our own place onthe river. Deserves more. This a real standard for this impression,we focus on that which is not of truth.

Our truth is to becalm, to focus on the breath, to breathe alone. This will open thedoor to further exploration. Without hinderance. Motor techniques,the paddle strokes, the optical and physical effects of choosing howto edge, speed, dynamic feel etc. All these will come to pass in themoment of the breath. The in and out. We are with the river, we arenot to be distracted from it. The river is fluid, it rolls and falls,tumbles and grows. It is both an infant and an adult all at once. Inits movement it is all – past, present and future. It is more thanwe can give it credit for.

Many, too many, go tothis haven for less that it deserves. The river doesnt care about ourmissed stroke, it doesnt laugh and ridicule us. We have no place tobe concerned with this. All that is of concern is the way we, eachmoment, experience the flow.

Coaches and instructionbooks cannot teach this. The personal moment – thats it. We needlook no further than our own self reliance. Human skill, faulted,will cope. We can walk without thinking about the technique.Paddling, with the right level of attendance - the right skill set,can also do the same. We need to embrace our skill sets, but we needto understand how they interconnect with our 'oneness' - our breath.To learn skills, set in place without connection holistically isfutile. It will only ever alienate us from the reason we strive to bein the flow.

ALL IMAGES A.BUTLER

Pioneers

2012-01-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

On the road up to theBraldu, my heart slowed, sad and quiet. We crossed the Indus and keptdriving. It was a long day, made longer by the rushing waves of theriver at roadside. In the isolated hamlet we sit. Cold tired, beatedkayakers.

The Braldu rushes fromK2, in our minds a ball of knots and confusion. 12 months previouslyalmost to the day, we were on the Dudh Kosi. It was in the footstepsof Mike Jones that we walked, silence and tender steps. Now on theeve of my return to the Dudh Kosi I have looked again to Mike and hispioneering spirit.

We are lucky to be in asport that has pioneers like this. Perhaps Walt or Rob, Shaun or Jim.Mentors, should they want to be or not.

2012-01-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

Event

The evening will be very interesting with a topic that hasn't been explored yet! Our guest speaker Daz is planning to Kayak down Everest, a challenge that should not be undertaken lightly. Daz will be introducing himself and his previous adventure history then taking us through the expedition plan.

This will be a very unique evening for Plymouth Explorers.

This is a great opportunity to talk to like-minded people; so come along, invite your friends and join our community. Joining will bring you plenty of opportunities and benefits.

Treasury Café-Bar-Restaurant, Catherine Street, Royal Parade,
Plymouth, Devon. PL1 2AD
Wednesday 1st of February from 18:30 until 20:30

The talk will begin at 7pm.

Over the past 20years Darren Clarkson King has kayaked some of the world's most challenging rivers and countless classic descents. He is a writer and has just finished the text for White Water Nepal (3rd Ed), a guidebook to the rivers of Nepal with Peter Knowles.

For more information about Darren please click here:

To discuss further options please email:

Tibet and the birth of the Bhote Kosi

2012-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Over xmas myself and Dave were discussing our adventures in Tibet, An old copy of Paddles magazine , with pages loose and stained by coffee cups, was found. Now over half a decade later Pure Land Expeditions are proud to offer Tibet expeditions for our valued guests. We have the amazing Reting trip that is perhaps the best value trips in Tibet. This is suitable for both rafters and class 3/4 kayakers. It is offered for a limited time and for limited numbers.

Desert and rivers

2011-12-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

A year has passed sincethe small blocks were put in place. So long, in my mind. It is withgreat pride that I worked on the White Water course in Al Ain UAE.A liquid play park in the middle of the sand. The water, all of it is piped in from Abu Dhabi, its a major task for the team. The building blocks are moved by hand, no easy task. Man power at its best.

Pete Aldwinckle, Ian Ganderton, Ben White and myself, spent a tense few months playing with this big jigsaw.

The course is split in 3, withthe rapids building from a lazy river style to that of slalom andfreestyle standard. Its not often that you get the change to build ariver, to play at your whim and dance on the waves you made.

This is just a snapshot of the building process, the course is yet to open to thepublic, I cannot wait for that.

Power of the breath

2011-12-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN

At the end of Jan 2011 Darren will be giving a Full Day workshop at the RIVER'S SOURCE, symposium. Number are limited, so please book sooner rather than later.

27^th Jan

The power of the breath, aworkshop on the ‘self’. 1hr tasterworkshop.

For each of us, we venture to the water for different reasons. For peers, foradrenaline, for what we call fear, what we want as fun and much more. The riverdoesn’t care about the kayak we ride in, it doesn’t even care about theexperience we have, so we must care. We must understand our own experience andhow we interact with the river that forms our experience.

This one hour workshop will feature meditation its use on thewater, over view of Sunday and group discussion.

Simple meditation practice to focus and be still, in the hereand now.

This one hour workshop is suited to those on the FULL DAYworkshop and those with a holistic interest.

28^th Jan

The power of the breath, aworkshop on the ‘self’ - FULL Day

To include

1. Meditation as a living active practice

2. Names and shame ‘Graveyard, Tombstones’

3. Language and words ‘That’s awesome!’

4. Feelings and power games, let the feeling past –hello and goodbye.

5. Relationships to the water, quiet, touch, feel.

6. Riding with the colour.

7. Discussion

The day will be based in a class room and on the river, at asuitable level for all members. The day will offer a holistic approach to themoment and a glance at the truth we can find in each stroke, each drop of waterand each breath.

Falling

2011-12-08T02:33:00.000-08:00

The modern world with all its traps is hard to escape, smartphone by my bed beeps and I am awake. It is far too early. An email has arrived. Long time white water pioneer Doug Ammons is talking of the Stikine again, of the bridge that roars and the feelings. He wants to know about my fall at Zed and more.

Its over a year now and I still think of the place, glad that the magnet pulled and so pleased to have fallen in with a crew, at the right time. Seems I appreciate them more now, how we all fell together, without words.

How do I talk about the fall, I cant- is it strange to have blocked the negative from my mind, perhaps the team can- I cannot. Although I will try, I will be succinct and do a small piece on it.

Parts of the trip, the negatives- wake me from sleep, missed moves and tiredness. Same with the two failed attempts, now they seem like the stories of a different man that I have woven into my own fabric.

Doug you asked me to think about my fall. Which I've not done before. And only an hour ago didn't think I could, but then the words just came. Its 6am UK time, in bed, wind blowing outside writing this on my phone.

Over a year now. Lots of things passed. The moments in the canyon don't fall easy in my memory, its not a linear story board, but just fragments. Mostly its first person views, but sometimes like watching a cheap vhs movie.

Previous choices to walk away, I know left a chip on my shoulder, one of my doubt- one forced by anothers hand. Perhaps that made me stronger? You be the judge as required.

Parts of the descent replay in my mind with ease, the paddle in the entry, feeling like a choir was singing all the way. Vee drive, from the scout to paddling the line, so vivid - I can even tell you the number of strokes I used, or so it seems.

Then I have memories that are harder to remember. The missed eddy at Wassons and running blind, this always melts into the portage at Zed. Where I was tired, beaten and at the back of the pack. What happened on the portage, a tale so close to the terror of a boys own adventure novel, of my slide and fall. That's blocked. Although pieces of the jigsaw appear now and then.

It felt late in the day, beaten. I have no words for how tired I was. We shouldered our boats that night, leaving our supplies at camp. My ankles are badly damaged from previous kayaking incidents and the uneven rocks do me no favours. I am struggling behind the group. Slowly I watch the placement of each foot. First left, then right with all the weight of my shouldered boat. It seems long and painful. The group are not in my vision, when I lift my eyes to find a route. The splintered maze of rocks- I go right, the high road.

Easy at first, then not so much. My foot slides, I forget which one, like it matters anyway. And I am falling. A few feet I could cope with, but this, this is more. I've kayaked smaller waterfalls. I force my kayak in front and wait for it to jam. I can then use the cockpit as a ladder.

Too late, steady at first, trickles of dust and gravel run down to my back. I'm falling faster now, but as always in these times, its replayed in cinematic slow motion. I crumble on to my feet, and stop, still. Then it happens the trickle of rocks become a stream, the stream a river a growing rock infested river - alive.

I hunker down close to my boat, not looking up. I can hear them rolling. Twack, thud, twack, thud. Time and again rocks bounce off my boat, the odd one deflects from my shoulder and helmet. My arms cover my face and they too take a beating. Perhaps this was why I had put my elbow pads on when we left the bridge and yellow sign - I was the only one to do so.

The dust takes some time to settle, as I lay on the cold boulders, a beaten heap. I try to stand, to walk. Even with all he adrenaline my ankles cry with pain. They are not broke, just twisted bad. I sit and reflect. 10ft to my left the giant roars, Zed all hungry.

The dust has settled by the time Max is retracting his steps. I know he thinks I'm just resting. I try to explain, but Zed has turned me into a child again. I fumbled for words, stutter, stammer. Like I did at school. It takes some minutes for all the team to congregate. Then the truth appears. As falls go, it was big. As consequences go, it was big. A broken leg or worse and things would have got interesting.

Max looks at me, I remember now that I couldn't hold his gaze. Without a word he shoulders my boat and carries it along to join his. Its a hard walk back to camp, harder still in the morning. Scouts and portages for the next two days hurt. Ankles still click.

That's about all I can remember. The rest is blocked. It hasn't stopped me thinking if I want to go again.

It is not about the grade.

2011-12-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks I have been asked again about the white water grading system. I think this is in part to the fact the White Water Nepal has just been released but also I think that its down to the frequency that I paddle. Perhaps where experience is the key component. I have touched on this before, here.

On one of my local runs I met a group of kayakers who were having difficulty, in hindsight the river was at the upper limit of the groups ability although they insisted that they were able to paddle at the grade of the river, although they thought the river displayed characters of a harder grade river once they got on.

The question I think that we, as a unit, need to ask is how do we grade the class of a river. I think we agree the following:

1. Within this class we see still water, no hazards .

2. Little ripples of water, small jets.

3 Navigation skills required to move around the river but lines are obvious from water level.

4 Navigation skills to be used to a great extent to avoid problems on the river

5 Extreme end of the classification system, limit of navigation.

6/Portage. Unrunnable rapid, often rapids graded as a 6 are paddled and thus must by definiton become a class 5+.

The rivers grade or class doesn't change with its volume (for the most part) a class 3 can be both large or small, Sun Kosi Nepal and River Dee Wales are the same grade on paper, but have a wide hydrolic difference, for example.

Exceptions are that a flood stage river that flows at class 4 in normal flows can be a class 5. A large volume grade 3 river in drought can be a class 1 or so. It is only subjective in as much as the river is fluid, not so that the grading system changes on either a creek or volume river. Turnback on the Alsek will always be a class 5 as will Cauldron Stout.

Within each we allow for a + and -. So we get rapids that are 5+ or 4- for example.

Around camp fires, forums and bar rooms all across the globe paddlers will have conversations, never quite understanding that this system is not a closed system – like water it is fluid.

One eddy line, to the left – another wave to the right; enough. A thousand paddle strokes is never enough, we can only answer the truth of it from our experience. Some choose to chase the grades, upping the game at each river. Some plateau due to personal reasons, from commitments to pressue of the self and more.

Is it that important to our enjoyment that we class a river by the grade. Is it so much to ask that the river itself is enough. The small drip of water from the tip of the paddle. The cutting of the water as the hull glides from left to right. Glassy waves and thumping hydrolics, rocks littered by gods own hand in the gorge below. White sand beaches still, but alive sand- watching the sun dance in the sky. Deep grey clouds empty the buckets of water in haste and in abundance. Surely this is what matters.

This is what we really crave, this is the point of it all. We need not dance around the linguistics, we need never concern ourselves with the 6 point classification system. All that matters is the moment, the time we are seated in the flow, the time we pull our paddle and dance with the flow. On a personal level how much does it matter that the river is class 1 or class 5. On a personal level it is a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Do I want to dance with the river today, will it matter if I dont? For each yes we reach a pot of gold. It is for us alone. A place of magic, for our our eyes only. It matters not what our friends say, it matters not in the slightest for our own place of fun.

All that matters is our pot of gold, our journey at the rainbows edge

For a day of rainbows.'I believe that if you could stand before God and ask Him for a key to unlock the Truth, a key that would allow you to go where Truth was laid out before you, then I am sure that one of the many paths he might send you on would be a huge river that ran through the wild of the north country [...]. He would put you there alone on the Alsek River at sunset [...]. He would put you on the scoured black walls of the Stikine [...]. He would put you at the brink of a waterfall and not allow you to see the bottom [...]. He would just lay Truth infront of you to deal with as best you could. And your job, given that key, would be to find the Truth and make it a part of you.' D. Ammons - Whitewater Philosophy.

I cannot write as clear as Doug Ammons, above. I doubt that matters, the Truth is all that matters. And the volley of ideas and analysis of the grading system will not change our quest for the Truth. Our need to have a grading system only masks the Truth we crave, positioning it in the reflection of a filthy mirror. We will never get the Truth if all we are concerned with is the grade of the river we paddle. A river is a living thing, its whispers are subtle but solid. The river is selfish not converned by our methods and madness. We must care. It matters that we dance with the river, to hold on to its hand as we twist and waltz. The sparkle of the water reflecting the pleasure in our eyes. The train speed heart beat, echoes the cascade. We are a partnership – a courting pair.

Stikine thoughts again.

2011-11-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

I posted before about this river, here but the mind still races to the grey walls.

It is here, I can feel the pull again and again. The nervous twitching in my heart, the monkey on my back, the chip on my shoulder. VHS machine memory of the gorge still wakes me from the dreams of yesterday. A cold breeze of emotions rattles the attic window. A rocking chair grandparent, all pipe smoke, ghosts and mirage.

It is here again, the call for the bridge – the way trucks make it raw. The yellow sign stained too many times with finger prints and hope. One rapid crashes to the next, large waves, larger than my brain wants to understand. Then hydraulic jumps, formations that dance. Before we were legion, the dreams of the pack united, with thanks, we supported each brother stronger with each stroke.

I ache to go again, to the belly of the earth. To play the harp that has us dancing, to sing in the womb of it all. The slither of water a crack in the earth, more than we wanted and all that we hoped for.

It is a chance to see our own beauty in the places we do not dwell. A place we no longer understand, the place we never look at. What this river gives, what it allows is a full stare at the creature lurking in our minds eye. We all know the creature, the one of our soul. It sits in cracked windows, all shadow and cold. It dances for no one. Its pleasure is fraught. With dangers and annoyance finding the secret it entombs. Our life keeps on living, as if we didn't know, the place we call our soul and the access we fight for.

This is the reason and the process alone. This place called the Stikine a place to take us home.

To All Prospective Browsers,

2011-11-27T12:35:00.000-08:00

For a slight change to our normal blog updates, not that our blog updates are ever 'normal', we thought that some shared words would be welcome. Late on a sunday afternoon in November we got this email.

I went on a Pure Land Expeditions guided trip to Nepal and kayaked on the Sun Kosi river.We travelled from near Tibet to not far from India..I am 57 years old and putting it gently in my own mind past my sell by date!. The whole experience Daz and his very special Team gave us was simply outstanding.I like to be original but am happy to use the phrase of what you see and get is exactly what is written on the tin. I could wax lyrical about our experiences but I won't, because I don't want to spoil it for you. All I will say that pre match nerves,safety and attention to detail are the very cornerstone of all they do. If you do nothing else in life do yourself a favour and use this lovely Team to open your horizons and experience something uniquethat you will never forget.

Matthew Petre

My guess is that Matt is still living the moments he experienced on the river. For your dreams to come true find the trip of your lifetime at www.purelandexpeditions.com

See you all in the flow

DAZ

River life, Sun Kosi.

2011-11-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

The contentment doesn’t come in waves, it is constant. Sitting in Chatra, close to India, we have made yet another trip down the Sun Kosi.

Our aquatic journey starts 11 days earlier, close to Tibet at our riverside camp. It is an expedition that takes us across Nepal. It is not just the rapids that make the expedition a great adventure, its much more. Jungle sounds and village life become a daily event. It is not just a great run for kayakers but rafters too enjoy the run. The pace of life changes, up at dawn to cups of tea in bed, then on the river after breakfast, picnic lunch spots and it is back in the flow. Watching the fishermen at work and the children playing when the rapids ease.

Camp nights are some of the best times, the sand still warm from the days sun, the light breeze and tales of the adventures. In the clear night sky a thousands stars become our duvet. Drifting to sleep and the water laps the sand brining memories of the day.

Before the start of the river journey we all have time to explore the chaos of Kathmandu, giving a great fortnights adventure. From the ancient temples to new shopping malls, Kathmandu never fails to amaze. From classic local places to eat to modern western cafes. Our Pure Land Expeditions trip, features nights in a quiet park of Thamel the tourist district - before the river journey begins. Its a sense overload, requiring time to explore.

At the take out, we run as standard, a private bus back to Kathmandu, overnight (16+hrs) although a flight is an option, bringing in the great Himalayan views is available.

Pure Land Expeditions is pleased to be able to offer the Sun Kosi not just as a fixed departure but also as private dates. So email now, to see what dates are available. bookings@purelandexpeditions.com

Marsyandi, still a great river.

2011-11-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

Not so many years ago a dam was placed on one of the classic rivers in Nepal. We feared that we would lose the Marsyandi for good. In part this is true, we have lost some of the magic, but what is left allows for a day or so of amazing river running in the surrounded by white peaks. It is a place that still holds magic, one of the best runs in the world for many people. We have to agree.

Pure Land Expeditions have pleasure to include this on our bespoke Multi River self-support adventure, the fun never stops, the crisp lines never fail, smiles shine. We overnight in a hotel, so this is luxury self-support, no need to carry loaded boats. Day one is full of fun, thrills and spills, from the standard put in at Bhule Bhule, with harder grade water higher up – with the flat lake of the dam saluting us to the take out, its a long day. With time we can run the section again, or venture around the dan to Paundi, a subtle goodbye to the river as it takes us to the highway. The river still holds passion, rapids still amuse and the views are picture perfect.

Chasing rainbows

2011-11-17T19:36:00.001-08:00

For many years kayakers in Nepal who had a thirst for waterfalls had no choice but to make a walk from the road head up to the Modi Khola in Nepal and then to the Burundi Khola. Now with the advancement of the road working past the trekkers town of Birithanti these waterfalls are a simple 2hour drive from Pokhara. Although you are in the 'park' and have to buy a trek permit its all worth it. Clear waterfalls, cheeky vistas, cake shops and unique 'Nepal Experience'. This makes a great day trip and for those you sit in Pokhara watching the paragliders; it is a welcome distraction.

More from Nepal

2011-11-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

The rivers still flow and the sun sets on our daily adventure. But we know that we have more, each day, each hour a new adventure. The morning sun warms and our smiles our obvious. This season, whilst not finished, has already brought many trips – enough to light our fires. We have played on the Balephi and Bhote Kosi, adventures on the Sun Kosi our classic expedition always bring smiles. Its a pleasure to view customers gopro footage, Mike Hatton was on our Sun Kosi journey and has shared this short film.

http://vimeo.com/32004748

Then it was off to the Marsy, Trisuli and more. Lets not forget the waterfalls at Burundi Khola. What a ride, what a blast on our Multi River self support adventure.

Back to Kathmandu and it is all about looking at maps, looking at new adventures, looking for freedom.

Join us for 2012 adventures, keep an eye open for NEW trip – Arun Gorges, Maroc kayak school and more, we can and will run to your needs.

For the end of 2011 we would also like to welcome our sister company, Elements Adventure in Thamel – Kathmandu. A local company for local needs. Www.elementsadventurenepal.com