Chris
was a 1984 US Olympic Team Kayak Member,
a Bronze Medalist in the 1991, World Freestyle
Kayak Championship in Wales, England. He
has won numerous freestyle, flatwater and
slalom events around the United States and
the World as a sponsored paddler with Team
Dagger. He was also a member of Team Timex
during the filming of PaddleQuest in 1995.
His last professional freestyle competition
and victory came in Norway in 1997. He was
a longtime instructor at the Nantahala
Outdoor Center and the Otter
Bar Lodge Kayak School and worked as
a raft guide at Holiday
River Expeditions and Grand
Canyon Dories (now OARs). His tenure
as a kayak instructor has afforded him the
opportunity to appear in numerous kayak
instructional videos over the years. As
a kayak designer for the Dagger
Canoe and Kayak Company, Chris designed
the Crossfire and the RPM, which went on
to become the biggest selling kayak in the
history of the sport. Chris' first ever
descent of the Niagara
Gorge in a kayak which was televised
by ABC Sports and garnered him and the sport
international attention. In the year 2000,
Chris was recognized by Paddler Magazine
as one of the “Paddler's
of the Century” for a lifetime of dedication
to the sport of whitewater kayaking. Chris
is a graduate of the University of Utah.
Chris
first visited Chile in 1980 and worked as
a raft guide on the Bio Bio River. He later
coached whitewater kayaking on a grant from
the International Olympic Committee to help
develop kayaking as an Olympic sport in
Chile. Chris first paddled the Futaleufu
River in 1984 and has been personally guiding
kayak trips in Chile since the 1985/86 season.
While spending more time in the office attending
to the operation of his business his zeal
for instruction has not diminished. His
instructionally philosophy and dedication
to excellent instruction permeates the entire
Expediciones Chile staff. A complete biography
can be found here: Chris
Spelius.
Rosi
Olave (Chile) - Operations Manager
Born and raised in Chile, Rosi is known
for her BEAMING SMILE AND SPIRIT, as well
as her organizational skills. She is responsible
for getting you to Futaleufú and
making sure you have an enjoyable and comfortable
stay at our Centro Aventura Lodge. She has
the inside track as her best friend runs
the local airline. She is also a kayaker.
Dave
Carss (Canada) -
Sales
A product of the Rocky Mountains and a graduate
of the University of Calgary specializing
in Finance, Dave has found himself a home
away from home in the Chilean Andes. With
a passion for travel and an ever-growing
knowledge of South America, he’s more
than willing to lend a helping hand or offer
any advice that could better your travel
experience.
Eugene
Resta (Argentina-Canada) - Sales
Inspired by the travels of the famous Argentinian,
Che Guevara, Eugene followed in this revolutionary´s
footsteps across his homeland of Argentina
and throughout the South American continent.
This Argentinian was born in Buenos Aires,
and was raised on the shores of the Ottawa
River in northern Ontario, Canada. Combining
his ambitions for world travel and outdoor
adventure, Eugene has joined the Expediciones
Chile´s team as a sales and marketing
expert. This amazing communicator and well-educated
adventure travel expert will be taking on
the ground operations in Futaleufu as well
dealing with international sales in Ex Chile´s
various offices around the world. No matter
where you are, Eugene is eager to talk to
you about all of Ex Chile´s programs
and help you plan the ultimate adventure
vacation in “the greatest playground
on Earth.”
Andrea
Giampoli (USA) - Writer
Andrea was raised just outside of Chicago,
IL and graduated with distinguished honors
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
with specializations in Communication Arts
and Spanish. After two years in Chicago
working and writing for a non-profit sports
training program, she decided to pursue
her passion for culture, the outdoors and
travel writing at Expediciones Chile. In
addition to the work she does at Expediciones
Chile, she also reports for English-language
newspapers The Santiago Times and The Patagonia
Times in Santiago and Puerto Montt, Chile.
No matter where her travels take her, she
is certainly busy spreading the word about
the adventure that awaits on “the
greatest playground on Earth”.
