While no one here at ERA is much at paddling slalom gates….the 2008 Olympic team trials became personal to us when a fellow-paddler from Ecuador, Omar, showed up this spring for the Pan American Team Trials to attempt to win a berth for Ecuador in Beijing.
Omar joined an impressive list of those who would not be competing in Beijing. The whitewater slalom event was reorganized after the 2004 olympics and for Beijing, only one athlete per event per country would compete in each of the whitewater slalom events, and the whole of Latin America was limited to only a single spot per event for Beijing.
The competition for slots for the US whitewater team came head-to-head this past week in Ausburg, Germany.
Read more about the event and the athletes that will be representing the US in the whitewater slalom events in Beijing.
Posted on July 20th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Monthly Whats Up, Words from Team ERA | No Comments »
For years owner Ken has gotten some ribbing for the staff chain gang sometimes seen out 
shoveling the humps off the gravel road…usually with the big boss shoveling as much as everyone else.
But those days are over and there is now a shiny new blacktop on the criss cross entrance to ERA.
Posted on July 17th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Monthly Whats Up | 1 Comment »
The Ecuadorian Rivers Institute is a non-profit that targets river drainages throughout Ecuador which are important for recreational river use and advocates protecting river corridors for the benefit of maintaining the high levels of biodiversity and realizing sustainable, tourism-based economies in these areas.
Updates from Ecuadorian Rivers Institute include:
- Creation of Amigos del Rio Jondachi
- Support of the Local Population
- real-time stream gauge on the Jondachi
- water quality monitoring campaign
- Networking with from Argentina with International Rivers
For more information, check the ERA website news article.
Posted on June 25th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Monthly Whats Up | No Comments »
The ERA staff wishes a special “Happy Father’s Day” to our own fathers.
And to two special fathers that are part of Team ERA:
Jeff Griffin 
and Ryan Baudrand 
Happy Father’s Day.
You guys are awesome!
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Monthly Whats Up | No Comments »
We do not take the word “team” lightly here at Endless River Adventures. And part of being a team is the ability to be able to work together. So we took a day out to work with Shane Williams on river rescue scenarios—both on how to prevent situations as well as how to deal with situations when they occur.
Shane is a respected colleague of the ERA staff: he is a fellow guide, kayaker, and great trainer. We are always ready to learn from him (on the river at least!).
For more on the day, check out the Smoky Mountain Times article.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Words from Team ERA | No Comments »
Maybe once it was the young guns who set the standard for the kind of kayaker some of us wanted to be… but here at ERA we have a new set of heros: our friends that have seen their 70th birthdays come and go and are still out there living it up on the river. Keep it up! You are setting the proverbial “high water mark” as far as the standard for being a kayaker. Example of this: our friend John Judy. Not scared to ‘fess up that he is in his 84th year, as long as the cardiac doctor says “yes” John is still headed for the river any chance he gets!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, John!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Tales from our Family | No Comments »
“Save the Planet: It’s the Only One with Chocolate!”
-as inscribed on the trashcans at the 2008 Asheville Mountain Sports Festival
You know a good festival when even the trashcans are inscribed with great sayings! The 2008 Asheville Mountain Sports Festival was good, and so much more. And Endless River Adventures was psyched to be part of the festvities. Read more…
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Words from Team ERA | 1 Comment »
This past weekend I had the opportunity to instruct some amazing folks in the art of paddling alongside some of my favorite ERA instructor friends. After a fantastic day of paddling on the Ocoee we were headed to our usual après-paddling BBQ food destination when our plans abruptly changed. There was an emergency situation on the river and we needed to help! Read more…
Posted on May 29th, 2008 by erasteve
Filed under: Words from Team ERA | 2 Comments »
The Ecuadorian Rivers Institute(ERI) is one recipients of our Ecuador whitewater guests’ “t-shirt project,” with donations from the trip t-shirt going to help support the Napo River Festival and other endeavors.
ERI has been working at a feverish pace this year to try and keep ahead of the projects that may well affect the rivers of cuador (including a proposed project at the treasure San Rafael Falls). Take a moment to read through his latest report and think about supporting the efforts of ERI.
Posted on May 14th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Southern Connection Tales | No Comments »
Here it is spring…our 2008 college demo tour is all done for the year and it is time for college graduation. For many that means time for kayaking (in between job hunting of course!), and spending the summer with friends. As a follow up to one of the stops on our 2008 College Demo Tour, I asked the Sweet Briar ladies to sit down and chat about stuff like women and kayaking, college, boys, and sharing thoughts with other women kayakers. They shared all of that and more in an awesome roundtable discussion originally started at dinner at “the Bistro” this spring. Enjoy this great roundtable discussion!
Posted on May 12th, 2008 by Erajuliet
Filed under: Tales from our Family | No Comments »
