Paddling Ontario Alliance Offers Wild Whitewater Opportunities
Toronto, ON, April, 2005&. When rivers swell with spring run-off, conditions are great for wild whitewater rides for canoe and kayakers. Paddling Ontario Alliance, a group of 24 Ontario tourism operators, which offer accommodation, outfitting services and unique canoe and kayaking packages, announces special whitewater and spring trips.
Paddlers who have stood wistfully wondering if a rapid is runnable can learn how to prepare to paddle whitewater at the Madawaska Kanu Centre. Located near Barry s Bay, southeast of Algonquin Provincial Park, it s known as one of the best training centres in North America. The centre s most popular courses are five-day canoe or kayak rapid education programs, which have an instructor ratio of one to five. The idea of challenge isn t to scare them, it s for them to have an experience that they will say was exhilarating , says guide manager Dan Kirvan. We have multi-level training so everyone can operate within his or her comfort level. The Kanu Centre base camp is a lodge just 30 metres from the rapids guaranteed water from Ontario Hydro, because it s a dam release river. Five-day courses cost $510 to $825, plus taxes and equipment, with camping, dormitory lodging or private room accommodation. Weekend programs are also available. While most programs are for ages 18 and older, special family weeks are scheduled that include ages 12 and older.
PaddleFoot, located in Bracebridge, offers teens aged 14 to 16 and paddlers 16 to 21 the Rivers of Algonquin Package. It s fast-paced fun for beginners and experienced canoeists, with six days of whitewater canoeing on the Petawawa River in Algonquin Park, plus an afternoon of riverboarding and river surfing. The cost is $765. The whitewater experience is about pushing personal boundaries. As one parent wrote to PaddleFoot: ... thank you for the extraordinary adventure David participated in this summer. He benefited in so many way& he became so much more confident, he learned that he had certain strengths that I am sure he hadn t known he possessed. He is proud of what he managed to do, and that pride has given him a kind of self-esteem that was always lacking before.
Ontario is blessed with 20 per cent of the world s freshwater lakes and rivers. That s 96,000 km of canoe routes, which gives Ontario ideal conditions for the training the experts. Naturally Superior Adventures is located where the Michipicoten River meets Lake Superior, a setting that has created a range of novice, intermediate and pandemonium paddling conditions. In the spring the company plays host to the advanced level national sea kayak certification courses.
For paddlers who have advanced camping and whitewater canoe experience, Missinaibi Headwaters Outfitters offers the Lost Lower Missinaibi River Spring Canoe Trip, May 14 to 21. The Missinaibi River was on the route of the early fur traders. When the river was in spring flood, the Cree Brigades and Hudson Bay Company Voyageurs used a side cannel called Coal Creek to bypass long portages and the raging torrents of Thunderhouse Falls. Today trippers can travel through the region with Native Elder Fred Neegan, following the ancient portage trails of his ancestors, across his family s hunting grounds, and through the rapids, canyons and falls of Coal Creek. The cost of $1395 plus GST includes pick up from Timmins Airport.
More details on the wide range Whitewater and Spring trips for 2005 are available on at the Paddling Ontario Alliance website at www.paddlingontario.com, phone: 705/745-9343 or email: admin@paddlingontario.com.
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