Arthur Norton DOB: 12/06/1990 Course: Medicine, Brighton and Sussex, First Year Internet Pseudonym: R4

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Arthur Norton DOB: 12/06/1990 Course: Medicine, Brighton and Sussex, First Year Internet Pseudonym: R4 About Me I ve been paddling for about 7 years in the custard country.

The last two years have mostly been boating and travelling, I spent 3 months paddling in New Zealand prior to a backpacking mission round Asia.

2 Arthur Norton DOB: 12/06/1990 Course: Medicine, Brighton and Sussex, First Year Internet Pseudonym: R4 About Me I ve been paddling for about 7 years in the custard country. The last couple of summers have been fantastic, getting pre-work runs on the Dartmoor classics and sunshine looping sessions in the mighty flowerpots. The last two years have mostly been boating and travelling, I spent 3 months paddling in New Zealand prior to a backpacking mission round Asia. We worked for bliss stick, perfecting the art of moulding boats in sheep shed. Fitted in a few Heli runs on the west coast; I got introduced to the beauty of park n huck and we blew up a campervan. This summer I ve been paddling in Italy and Switzerland, I ve got big love for steep granite creeks and 5 litre bottles of wine. Had a fairly intense trip with boat breakages, vertical extractions and dramas with a sex doll. Right now I m in my first year of medical school based at Sussex uni. I ve taken the opportunity to get involved in the canoe club, running some female specific rolling sessions. Already had the chance to rip up some of the South East classics such as Eastbourne swimming pool and the sea? I m looking forward to getting back in a creek boat again for Christmas. Page 8 of 67 What Can I Offer? I m a member of the Wilderness Medicine society at uni and I ve got aspirations to specialize in expedition medicine when I qualify. I ve got aquatic first aid qualifications and my white-water rescue technician. Logistically I ve planned a couple of paddling trips abroad, and I ve spent a total of 7 months backpacking round Asia. This taught me skills on how not to get robbed/shot/abducted by

3 ladyboys when travelling in the third world. Travelling through Vietnam and Laos on a motorbike gave me a lot of experience negotiating food and accommodation in places a long way off the beaten track. From a media point of view, I d really like to get involved in writing some articles and letters to pull in sponsorship. I ve got experience filming on rivers, with some basic editing. Why Uniyaker? I want to go expedition boating. Meet great people. See beautiful places. This combines my passion for exploring the world and spending time with mates paddling epic rivers. There s some insane potential for unexplored white-water out there and I can t wait to go out and find it. Page 9 of 67

on the Isare River (grade 3) at the age of 15 with no previous experience of white water.

obviously filled my summers with hundreds of Tryweryn sessions.

I primarily chose to go to uni in Aberystwyth so both North and South Wales were on my doorstep ready

What I didn t realise is that I d also just set myself up for living 10 minutes walk away from an

..but enjoy some sick surfing times Why I want to go on the trip: I guess the main reason is because I

4 Joe Rea-Dickins, 27/06/89. International Politics at Aberystwyth Uni (Second Year) Experience: I got into kayaking by being thrown on the Isare River (grade 3) at the age of 15 with no previous experience of white water. From then on I was hooked and spent every possible weekend going to South Wales and Dartmoor, and obviously filled my summers with hundreds of Tryweryn sessions. Since starting I have been to the Alps again, Scotland, Ireland, and Uganda. I primarily chose to go to uni in Aberystwyth so both North and South Wales were on my doorstep ready for me to take my boat out to them. What I didn t realise is that I d also just set myself up for living 10 minutes walk away from an awesome reef which is visible from uni, which has led me to miss way too many lectures and seminars...but enjoy some sick surfing times Why I want to go on the trip: I guess the main reason is because I love kayaking about as much as I love travelling. After school I took a few years off and went travelling and for the most part spend my time sticking my head out of bus/train windows thinking... that goes! Since those awesome years in between education I ve always wanted to go back to India and Pakistan with a boat with me. Page 33 of 67

5 What I can offer: Well I spend most of my time looking at travel guides, maps and river reports so logistics would be something I d be more than happy to be a big part of. I also came into possession of a Cannon 500D and super-sexy-lens ( for the camera nerds out there) recently. I put it to good use in Uganda this summer. Here are just a few of the pictures I took out there: The camera also has the ability to take amazing quality video footage. I m still in the process of waiting for some of the video s I took to be posted to me, but here is a low quality sample video of our trip to the Nile this summer: Page 34 of 67

In the past I have spent a month in North Eastern Turkey, 6 weeks in Northern India, as well as road trips to the Pyrenees, the French and Austrian Alps and Corsica.

7 Robert Moffatt 17/12/1988 Occasionally post online as RobMoffatt imaginative! 4th year, studying Chemistry at Oxford. Experience: I ve been kayaking for about 8 or 9 years, paddling all over the UK as well as further afield. In the past I have spent a month in North Eastern Turkey, 6 weeks in Northern India, as well as road trips to the Pyrenees, the French and Austrian Alps and Corsica. My trips to Turkey and India were a mix of day trips and multi day paddling, including leading a 4 day high water run of the Tsarap one of my favourite river trips. Why: I love meeting new people on the river and sharing stories over a few beers, but nothing beats camping by the side of the river knowing that you are several days walk from the nearest town, and that it s entirely down to you and your mates to get to the bottom. I also love the sense of adventure you get when you paddle a river and realise that there aren t many people that have ever been there before you. The chance to be part of a good team, exploring some of the best whitewater is a chance too good to miss! What I have to offer: I am a keen photographer, and regularly have my DSLR on the river with me, I ve also been involved in shooting paddling on high end video cameras. (Most of my photos can be found on my facebook page). I recently took a 16 hr outdoor first aid course, which was run by a paddler and was aimed at the needs of someone in the middle of nowhere. Alongside this, I have experience of organising trips. Page 52 of 67

I first started paddling at a tender age of 14, at home in Wales. I then really started pushing my white water skills when I moved to Edinburgh for University.

8 Sam Sawday DOB: 26/04/89 University of Edinburgh, 4th year Physics Bsc (I have social skills, honest!) Experience: I first became interested in becoming a male escort in my second year of University ah bugger wrong application Erm, so kayaking yeah! I first started paddling at a tender age of 14, at home in Wales. I then really started pushing my white water skills when I moved to Edinburgh for University. The club is an amazing way to develop and if you are into your white water Scotland isn t too bad either! I have always lived and worked by the river andevery summer of my university holidays I have been on a kayak trip abroad, something which I love! So far on the list I have paddled in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, France, Norway and Uganda. Some of my favourite places have been the steep creeks of Val Sesia, and the chilled out environment of the white Nile, but absolute top of the list is Norway- runs like the Amot gorge, the California section Austbygdåi, and the mighty Raundalselvi will always keep me smiling. Why Uniyaker? And what can I offer? I have known about the Uniyaker expeditions for a while and it is an experience that I have always wanted to be a part of. I love travelling to new destinations, paddling and discovering something new. Previously I have been a part of trips to the usual list of white-water destinations, amazing fun that they were, however the chance to be a part of this trip would be a huge step in a direction that I personally want to go in. An expedition with the possibility of multidays and 1st descents in a completely different place is a trip that I would love to be a part of! Page 53 of 67 As previously mentioned, I have been on a number of foreign trips, all of which I was a major part of helping organise. This year I ran the club Alps trip for 18 people with another club member and also I was the club President last academic year. I regularly organised

9 transport, kit, food, lead groups and rescued, from day trips to weekend trips and the club foreign trip. This experience of organising people and trips and previous travelling adventures, if selected I hope would make me a very useful member of the team. I also love documenting my travels through taking pictures and I do take the occasionally spectacular shot if I may say so! Media coverage: I have not had much media exposure, apart featuring in a few videos on the internet and I follow the main UK paddling forums however do not post. I am however a part of the big blue tree website ( ) a project of Ben McKeown s, documenting and recounting stories of adventures. Page 54 of 67

Sandra Hyslop DOB: 29/07/1990 University: Durham Course: 3rd year BSc Natural Sciences (mainly chemistry) Experience I ve been kayaking for 10 years having started with the rest of my family at

10 Sandra Hyslop DOB: 29/07/1990 University: Durham Course: 3rd year BSc Natural Sciences (mainly chemistry) Experience I ve been kayaking for 10 years having started with the rest of my family at Hexham Canoe Club back in After a few years of general river running and attempting, yet failing, to cartwheel my Inazone 220 (in my opinion the coolest boat at the time) I got into wild water racing at a local event at Prudhoe. Racing then took up most my life through highschool, and I got the opportunity to paddle in some amazing places including America, Bosnia, Italy, Ireland and Austria, and achieved some good results along the way (Junior World and European champion, an individual silver at the Senior Europeans and gold team medals at both the Worlds and Europeans). Whilst I still got out for a bit of plastic boating now and again it wasn t until I started uni in 2008 that I really got back in to river boating. Going on club trips to Scotland, the Alps and the lakes (we tried to go to Wales once but it was completely dry with the Tryweryn the only thing going ) really got me hooked again on the adrenaline and excitement of river running. Although my home run will always be Warden s Gorge on the Tyne, I really love boating in Scotland as it s such a beautiful place and the rivers are first class, my personal favourites include the mad mile on the Braan and the Moriston at Wet West, because the atmosphere s amazing and the river s mint! I joined some friends on a month long adventure in Norway this summer for crystal clear water, amazing rapids and a real opportunity to push my limits. We got done a lot of the classics, of which I think the Brandsetelva would have to be my all-time favourite. I m hoping to save enough money to get out to Uganda this Christmas to improve my playboating skills and to get away from the cold and often dry British winter. I consider myself a competent Gr. 4 paddler, and will inspect and make judgements on running Gr. 5 depending on the rapid (Gr. 5 covers such a large scope it s impossible to say I d be happy running all things graded 5 in a guidebook or whatever, best to make your own decision on the day). Why I want to go Well I think you d be mad not to want to go! First of all I d really like to get to Wales and do some boating that isn t the Tryweryn or the Dee. Then I d love to go exploring and kayaking in some exotic location and get to know a completely different culture whilst paddling some quality rivers. I also love making new friends to go boating with, so the prospect of meeting up with a bunch of like-minded people from all over the UK and sharing an adventure is very exciting. What I ve got to offer I ve got to be completely honest here and say that I haven t got lots of previous expedition/multi-day experience, I haven t got a swanky camera and I don t have any Page 55 of 67

I really enjoy cooking and am not too terrible at it, so can keep people well fed during the trip.

11 desirable medical experience beyond a general 2-day outdoor first aid course. HOWEVER, I can bring a lot of enthusiasm to the trip, a good sense of humour (I even get most guy-jokes) and am always, always keen to go boating. I really enjoy cooking and am not too terrible at it, so can keep people well fed during the trip. I don t mind roughing it, and find I actually sleep better in a tent outdoors than in a bed and a good base of physical fitness means I can handle long days on the river with walk-ins and portages. If selected I will be totally committed to helping with organisation, logistics, promotion, budgeting and anything else that needs to be done to make an awesome expedition run as smoothly as possible. I also have some basic French language skills if we go somewhere Frenchspeaking. Media exposure My claim to fame I was once on the cover of Canoe Focus! Haha. I ve written a few articles for my University and local paper, but nothing I can find a link to online. In a few videos just of trips boating with friends, and of course the billions of photos on facebook that go with them! Photos: I m currently paddling a white boat which is pretty rubbish for photos as you can never see it in the whitewater! 1. Bier Halle in Glasgow-if you buy a 2-pint tankard you get a free hotdog!!!! How could I refuse? 2. The obligatory waterfall shot 3. It happens to the best of us but this one was totally intentional (not my boat by the way, still saving up the cash to buy a playboat). Page 56 of 67

L EauVive. Deb Pinniger

L EauVive. Deb Pinniger L EauVive Deb Pinniger The book you are holding is a visual history of my kayaking adventures over the last five years. It is a collection of my favourite images reflecting the wildness of the places we