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Team NRS in China
Team NRS athletes Andy Maser and Trip Jennings have just arrived in China where they are beginning the second phase of the Rivers in Demand Project, www.riversindemand.com. The Rivers in Demand Project takes a crew of kayakers to three biodiversity hotspots to explore rivers in these threatened locales. Trip and Andy just returned from a similar trip in Papua New Guinea. From March through May, they will kayak rivers in the Mountains of Southwest China. While there they will attempt a 110-mile Class V section of unexplored whitewater flowing off the Tibetan Plateau. After the China expedition, the crew will continue on to the Republic of Georgia, home of Europe’s tallest peaks and wildest whitewater. Trip and Andy are also part of the Epicocity Project (EP) that has brought you exciting whitewater footage in the Mission: Epicocity DVD and professional kayaking instruction in the new Amplify DVD. We invite you to join along in their adventures as they post real time blogs from a satellite phone and leave audio updates. Here is a quick look at each of the sections of river these modern-day explorers plan to tackle while in China.The Upper Salween River – March 14-23, 110 miles The Salween is China’s last free-flowing river. The section the crew will run is the last unexplored section of river flowing off the Tibetan Plateau and begins at 11,000 feet. It flows through rugged Himalayan terrain, forming big water Class V rapids. This section of river is some of the most remote and difficult extreme whitewater on the planet. A five-man team will enter this gorge with all the supplies they need to survive and complete the descent. Renowned biologist George Schaller described this high altitude desert as one of only two un-described places on the planet. Through hands-on experience and collaboration with local non-profits in this a spectacular and rapidly changing locale, the team will show river running as a tool for conservation of China’s biodiversity hotspots and free-flowing rivers.  Trip Jennings is the founder and owner of the Epicocity Project. The National Geographic Society recently named him one of its Adventurers of the Year for his work on the Papua New Guinea phase of the Rivers in Demand Project. The Great Bend of the Yangtze – April 1-12, 60 miles This April, the EP crew will be paddling the last descent of the Great Bend of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world. People have lived and farmed on its banks for 27,000 years, utilizing it for transportation, irrigation and a source of nutrient-rich soil. China began the first hydroelectric project on the Yangtze River in 1970. In an effort to provide clean energy to a ballooning economy and population, construction of the Three Gorges Dam began in 1994.  Andy Maser is a producer with the Epicocity Project. In addition to kayaking and producing action films, he’s made social documentary videos. One side effect of the reservoirs created by these hydroelectric projects is the loss of pristine sections of whitewater like the Great Bend. The trip down the Great Bend will be the last descent of what was once China’s premier rafting river. The section of whitewater has already shrunk from 120 miles to 60 miles as the reservoir creeps upstream. Local Chinese officials, environmentalists and domestic journalists will be joining us on this historic trip.
The Middle Salween – April 18 -21, 44 miles The EP crew is headed to the designated Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage site to meet Lai Hui Ming, the director of tourism for the Bing Zhou National Park. They will discuss the challenges the Chinese leadership faces in the development of the Salween River. This piece of water would be affected, if the project begins, by a proposed 13-dam cascade on the Middle Salween. This area falls within the mountains of Southwest China’s biodiversity hotspot. Follow the adventure live at www.riversindemand.com |
