1984
US Olympic team kayaker Chris Spelius is the
founder of Expediciones Chile and your proud
host. He was a pioneer on the Futaleufu River. Awed by its beauty, challenge and playfulness Chris decided he had to live here. He was the first to run commercial trips on the Futaleufu in 1986 and has been running safe trips here ever since. Chris is now a resident of Chile, married and with a young daughter. Several of the locals that Chris met on his first visit to Futaleufu and since then they have and continue to work with Expediciones Chile. In 1985 there was no electricity, no phones and the area was accessed by ferries not bridges.
The philosophy
of Chris as well as Expediciones Chile
has always been of blending the diverse cultures,
working and playing together in this unspoiled
corner of the world. This dream still continues
on.
Chris’s history
Chris’s own
words on river philosophy
Paddling Clinics & Classes
Kayak School: Paddling
Instruction
Chris's
Paddling Biography
Chris
kayaked and guided rafts on the Colorado River
while attending the University of
Utah in the mid 70's. He moved east
to the Nantahala Outdoor Center
where he was a paddling instructor and trained
hard for kayak competitions.
Besides
kayaking on the U.S. Olympic Team
in the 1984 Olympics, he
has won several national championships
and was a medalist in the '91 World
Playboating Championships. He was
the first kayaker to descend the Niagara
Gorge, beneath Niagara Falls,
and has various first descents in Chile.
He
has been featured in Outside,
Men's Journal, Discovery,
TV's Extremists, Team
Timex's PaddleQuest, and ABC's
American Sportsman. He was selected
as one of the legends in paddling and as one
of the most notable paddlers of the century
by Paddler magazine. He has
taught paddling clinics around the world and
has been featured in numerous paddling instruction
videos: Retendo, Kayaker's
Edge, etc. He hosted 'Kayaking
101' on cable TV and worked as a
boat designer and consultant for Dagger
Canoe Company.
He
first visited Chile in 1980. He later coached
on a grant from the International
Olympic Committee to help develop
kayaking as an Olympic sport in Chile. He
is now a resident of Chile. He is married
and has a young daughter. His family lives
6 months of the year on the Futaleufu and
the other 6 months in the USA. Chris is dedicated
to protecting free flowing rivers, he is active
in international river conservation and is
currently presenting videos and slide shows
world wide.
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Spe's
own words on river philosophy
When
I was seven, my mother (author,Carol
Spelius) took my brother, two sisters,
(Christine and Susan)and
I on a boat trip following the Lewis
& Clark trail. Our craft was
a nineteen foot fiberglass cruiser with two
outboard motors. I've always been fascinated
by moving water, where it's coming from and
where it's going. This was my first experience
and was not to be my last.
We
traveled down the Missouri from Fort Benton,
Montana through North Dakota, South Dakota
and down to St. Joseph, Missouri where we
entered the Mississippi River for a few hundred
miles finally reaching the confluence at the
Ohio. From here we went up river for the first
time, picking up our dad at Evansville, Indiana
and on to Cincinnati, Ohio where we lived.
We
had spent two and a half months on this passage,
traveling 3400 miles, learning the geography,
history and river lore of the Midwest, all
taking part in boating chores, and thoroughly
enjoying the life of the ‘river rats’.
Our one cardinal rule was life-jackets on
at all times, day and night.
That
trip also introduced to me for the first time
to Dams. The backwaters of Ft. Peck Reservoir
in Montana had to be one of the trips most
sorrowful and scary moments for me as a young
boy. I can still remember the grotesque silhouettes
of drowned trees slinking by. We idled along,
fearful of the trees beneath the water that
we couldn't see. We all kept looking for warning
riffles.
Just
before Pierre, South Dakota, a huge dam construction
project had dumped massive amounts of rock
in the Missouri River, pinching the river
down to a narrow section causing a choked
white-water rapid. We were the last boat to
pass through before the Army Corp of Engineers
blocked the river completely creating the
Oahe Dam. We lost control of our boat and
spun around twice in the narrow cataract before
we bounced through. My mother and brother
sighed with relief that we'd made it, but
I was laughing with glee. My first 360.
Next
year, I read a memorable book that has since
stuck with me. We had just recently moved
to Illinois and I noticed a book on the coffee
table from the Sierra Club
on the Glenn Canyon, by Elliot Porter. Mostly
pictures, but pictures documenting the stunning
beauty now lost because of the damming of
the canyon. Later my dad brought home a film
from the Sierra Club, based on this book.
The film captured the beauty and subsequently
the destruction of Glen Canyon. I wished I
could have visited that place before the damming.
I took that film to my fifth grade class for
my first river conservation presentation.
My
father, who worked for a big crane and hoist
company, showed me that one could be involved
in the growth and development of our country
but still be aggressive about the stewardship
and protection of our natural world. His law
for our family while camping and/or boating
was the same as the National Parks' slogan:
"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing
but pictures."
While
at college at the University of Utah
my sister Christine introduced me to white
water kayaking. Immediately, I was hooked
on the sport but it was not until I was paddling
on the Colorado when a raftsman offered me
a job raft guiding and that is when it became
something more to me. I learned about the
powerful and spiritual impact the experience
gave to people from "the real world."
Our guests were often renewed and refreshed
like a sandy beach after a spring run-off
washes the beach clean of debris and replenishes
the sand.
One
particular summer I worked for Martin Litton,
I was impressed with the statement he made
by naming each one of his Dories after a lost
natural wonder. He was involved with the Sierra
Club and I admired his aggressive efforts
in protecting our national resources. A friend
and I later started the Wasatch Whitewater
Association and became involved with
environmental groups working on protecting
the Karpairowits Plateau.
I am so thankful for the protected rivers
that we have in the world. They are very special
places. I feel that it is time for our and
the next generations to aggressively accept
the role as stewards so that we leave the
remaining rivers full for the next generation,
satisfy their thirst for beauty, nature and
play. The demand for wild rivers is growing
off the scale. The waiting list for to paddle
the Grand Canyon is over 22 years.
At
Expediciones Chile we are working to cultivate
a deep respect and accountability within us
for our planet's rivers, our guests and the
Chilean and Argentinean friends we live and
play with. Every time we paddle a beautiful
pristine river, we replenish our spirit through
play and passion for the natural world. Surfing
effortlessly on luminous waves of glass, it
is as if everything has evolved to a point
of profound simplicity, in harmony with the
water. We achieve an exquisite balance with
nature, and within ourselves.
With
this balance comes responsibility. The practice
of good stewardship is vital to serving both
the rivers and future generations so that
such a balance continues. How do we achieve
this? By treating the rivers and our fellow
humans with respect and selflessness; by sharing
nature's gifts with the same integrity and
grace that we find while surfing on a wave.
We must be willing to listen to and learn
from the river, not struggle against it.
As
a company we are leading by example by harnessing
solar power at our Campo Tres Monjas and at
our remote office in Chile. Expediciones Chile
also offers support to FutaFriends,
an organization that is helping Chileans secure
legal protection for the Rio Futaleufu, our
favorite river. We also have donated kayaks
and paddling instruction time to local adults
and children to assist one of the most vibrant
whitewater clubs in Chile: The Futaleufu
Kayak Club.
Río
Futaleufu is in grave danger and your help
isurgently needed. A private utility company
has proposed a hydroelectric project that
would submerge the river and surrounding farmland
of Futaleufu under three massive lakes. This
is only one of 70 hydro projects proposed
in Chile over the next 30 years. The local
community is actively fighting to preserve
the river and their homelands. They have proposed
an alternative form of development, an alliance
with river users to help create a protected
river. This would allow the residents to continue
their agricultural economy while developing
tourism. We are informing Chileans and their
elected representatives of the financial value
of this river resource they have been blessed
with. The Grand Canyon river running industry
has a 27 million (1999) a year economic impact
and a 22 year waiting list. Chile has a monopoly
on a river even more spectacular. I remember
as a kid my father telling me about the beauty
of the at that time soon-to-be-dammed Glen
Canyon on the Colorado River. I deeply regret
that I was never able to paddle it before
it was flooded. Please join us in making sure
that the Futaleufu will be around for countless
generations to appreciate.
For
more information on how you can help visit
the FutaFriends.org web page at:
Email: info@futafriends.com
Url : www.FutaFriends.org
Phone and snail mail address
available at web site.
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Paddling
Instruction / Paddling Clinics & Classes
Chris Spelius currently teaches the
following paddling clinics and classes around
the world. Paddling instruction is his passion
so please feel free to book him for your paddling
school, association or organization. 1.888.488.9082
ACA
Instructor Certification Classes
Big Water paddling clinics
Introduction to Playboating
clinics
Getting the most out of Pool Sessions
Teaching the Roll: C to C and Sweep
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