The Whitewater of Chile’s Rio Futaleufu

Thank you all for a wonderful season!

Thanks to all who joined us this year. The year started with the best spring we have ever had and continued right through the summer and fall. You can read some of our favorite reviews, or check out some of the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp.  We have compiled some of the best photos we have of this year’s trips on Facebook. If you have any good ones you would like to share you can add them to the Momentum page – we would love to see them! There are also a few short videos from this year on our YouTube channel.

Fall is here and we are starting to close up the warehouse and prepare for our winter trips to Chile and for next season. Below there is info on:
- Chile this winter - For many of us this is our favorite river in the world and now is the time to start getting plane tickets.
- Our 2011 schedule is out and many of our popular spring trips and next summer’s trips on the Rogue are starting to book. We also have an early season discount when booking online.
- Booking group and private trips – our specialty! Now is the time for the best choice of dates.
- Our annual “What is happening on the river(s) you have run” section. It has information on what is going on in each watershed and, if you would like, what you can do to help protect it.

Once again - to all our past and present guests we are deeply thankful for your wonderful personalities and adventurous spirits. We are honored to have you as our guests! And we hope to see you on the river this winter in the lush valleys of Patagonia or on another river in the near future.
Thanks again for another incredible season!

Kind Regards,

Pete and the staff of
Momentum River Expeditions

“Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the River is the soul of the desert. Brave boatmen come, they go, they die, the voyage flows on forever. We are all canyoneers. We are all passengers on this little mossy ship, this delicate dory sailing round the sun that humans call the earth. Joy, shipmates, joy.”
Edward Abbey, The Hidden Canyon — A River Journey

Winter Trips and our 2011 Schedule

the Rio Azul - tributary to the Futaleufu

Chile - Patagonia’s Rio Futaleufu
Winter in the warm summer weather of Patagonia! Join us this February for our annual 9-day luxury wilderness journey into the heart of Patagonia. This is truly one of the earth’s magical places and a trip of a lifetime (and my personal “favorite river in the world”).
The trip includes:
- One of the world’s greatest and most beautiful whitewater rivers.
- Whitewater from high volume class III to some of the biggest class V run in the world (your choice).
- Luxury wilderness camps set among glacier-capped peaks.
- Tons of other activities - hiking, mountain biking, word-class fishing…
You can see a video about the trip at: http://www.momentumriverexpeditions.com/chilevideo.htm.

Now is the time to get the best flight deals and two of our originally scheduled trips are already full. If you are interested or have any questions call or email!
Check out our schedule for this winter.

the Illinois River - lower canyons in early spring. The cover photo of our 2010 brochure.

Our 2011 Oregon and Northern California Rafting Schedule is Out
Check out our 2011 spring and summer rafting schedule.
Some of the most popular trips that are starting to book are:
The California Salmon 2 to 4-Day – Class V
The Illinois 4-Day – Class 4+ (V)
The Owyhee River 4 to 6 -Days – Class III to IV+
Clear Creek / Lower Klamath Inflatable Kayaking 3-Day – Class IV
Rogue River 3 to 4-Day – Class III - IV
We are once again doing a pre season online booking discount for 2011 trips. We are offering a 10% discount for any 2011 domestic trip booked online (or online inquire made) by Dec 30th 2010. Find the trip and date that works best for you – click “book online” on our web site, and when you get to the “pricing” section enter the promotional code ‘fall2010’.

Clear Creek

Custom and Private Rafting trips
You choose the river… You choose your companions… And we make it happen!We love putting together custom trips on our regularly run rivers, on rarely rafted rivers, and on combinations of rivers - it is our passion. Now is the time for the best choice of dates and options. For some rivers a launch date needs to be completely free of other reservations to be available for a private group of friends or family.Give us a call or email!

What Is Happening On The River(s) You Have Run?

“Choosing to save a river is more often an act of passion than of careful calculation. You make the choice because the river has touched your life in an intimate and irreversible way, because you are unwilling to accept its loss.”
David Bolling, How to Save a River: Handbook for Citizen Action

We love the rivers we run and feel that it is critical to preserve their wildness, remoteness, and beauty. As a company we have always supported and been very involved in protecting them and we are lucky to live in an area that has an especially rich array of groups that look for effective, logical, and broadly supported solutions. We would also like to give you the option to either become more educated about the rivers you have visited or to help out. So every fall we include this section in our newsletter and update you on what is going on in each watershed.

We live in a time when nobody seems to agree on anything and when facts, common sense, and a willingness to find common solutions too often lose out to ridiculous inflammatory sound bites and unfocused anger. Because of this we tried to choose campaigns that would be effective and have broad support among local groups and among people of different political leanings. However, we understand that there are many different opinions and in the end we understand that our most important job is to show you these places, give you a break from everyday life, and run the highest quality river trips in the west.
After that it is up to you.

The Rogue River, Illinois River, Lower Klamath River, and Clear Creek

Siskiyou Crest National Monument – We are extremely excited about this.
The visually stunning and ecologically diverse Siskiyou Crest straddles the Oregon/California border and includes the headwater streams of the Applegate, Illinois (major tributaries to the Rogue) and Klamath Rivers (including Clear Creek). The mountain ranges and river valleys that define this region are some of the most spectacular in America, it is a world renowned hub of biological diversity, and a day of walking through the area can feel as if hundreds of miles have passed.

The Siskiyou Crest has garnered attention for years and a campaign was launched in July 2009 to make it America’s next National Monument. The “National Monument” designation is a great way to integrate a wide array of traditional and growing uses, local community and tribal needs while protecting  the headwaters of the Rogue, Illinois, and Klamath rivers (and others) from threats from mining, over grazing, and old growth logging. Also communities bordering protected areas tend to have strong, diverse, sustainable economies - Something that is sorely needed in areas around the proposed monument that have struggled for many years (think Happy Camp - at the moment known as “Unhappy Camp”).

Visit www.siskiyoucrest.org for more information.
Their “myth vs facts” link near the bottom of the home page is an especially great read.
You can also easily send a letter to your senator (it only takes a few minutes!).
This is win-win for both the Environment and the Economy and we are once again very excited about it!

The Lower Rogue River

Save the Wild Rogue:
The Rogue is one of America’s most famous wilderness rivers. A coalition of local and national outdoor industry businesses, rafting and angling companies and conservationists launched a campaign in 2007 to strengthen protections for the Lower Rogue River. The “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign proposes to protect the tributaries of the Zane Grey Roadless Area. For those who have been on the river these tributaries are the beautiful, cool, side streams that we stop at to hang out by and swim in. In June 2009, bills were introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to add 143 miles of Rogue tributaries to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This legislation would safeguard tributaries that provide important cold water to the Rogue River and valuable fish habitat for salmon that migrate upstream from the Pacific.

Recent economic studies by ECONorthwest found that, in 2007, recreation on the river provided $30 million in economic benefits to the state of Oregon through fishing, rafting and hiking. In total, the studies determined that Rogue River salmon runs provide more than $1.5 billion in economic benefits to West Coast Residents each year, including the ‘non-use value’ of these fish. This is essentially the monetary value people place on the existence of a natural resource, the ability to pass it on to future generations, and the option to use it in the future.

The “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign is so close to working. A compromise was made with the timber industry to use a wilderness designation as opposed to a Wild and Scenic designation.  It is a little confusing – the wilderness designation offers even better protection, but it is a precedence issue for the timber industry. Now, there is no organized opposition to the proposed legislation to expand the Wild Rogue Wilderness – this includes the American Forest Resource Council; a timber industry coalition who’s president said “It’s something that makes sense — we won’t oppose this,” It is another win-win situation and the only thing keeping it from happening is that Congress has yet to introduce the legislation.

Check out www.savethewildrogue.org for more info and please send a quick email to your congress person.
Once again this is something where there is no local organized opposition – we are just waiting on Congress – a little push from all of us might be all it takes!

The Owyhee River

Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Area:
Straddling the intersection of southeastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, and northern Nevada, the Owyhee Canyonlands encompasses 3 million acres of public land – twice the size of Yellowstone National Park. This region is the largest expanse of undeveloped and unprotected wildlands left in the United States outside of Alaska. The Owyhee’s vast network of deep basalt river canyons and sagebrush-peppered plateaus provide key habitat for a number of threatened or sensitive species including the world’s largest herd of California bighorn sheep, several species of bats, sage grouse, redband trout, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, pronghorn antelope, elk, longnose snakes, bobcats, and pygmy rabbits.

Over the next year The Oregon Natural Desert Association will be ramping up efforts to work with local agencies, individuals, and communities to create the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Area. ONDA has been very good about understanding the importance of ensuring decisions made about wilderness are beneficial to all the parties involved. This is a very new campaign and up to date information will be found at www.onda.org.

The California Salmon

The Salmon River Restoration Council:
The Salmon River Restoration council is one of the most unique grass roots groups we have seen. Drawing from a diverse and extremely off the beaten path community of less than 200 people the group manages to do an amazing amount of work protecting one of our all time favorite rivers (in fact they are so busy it can be difficult to even get a hold of them!).

The following is from Sarah Hugdahl of the Salmon River Restoration Council:

“The SRRC has many facets to our work in the Salmon Watershed.  Besides maintaining the Watershed Center in Sawyers Bar with its public access to wifi, Salmon River area maps and info, and other amenities, the SRRC’s Watershed Ed Program has been having fun teaching about the many aquatic communities in the classrooms of Forks Elementary and Junction School. We organize an annual Salmon River Cooperative Spring Chinook/Summer Steelhead Population Dive. In the fall we count Fall Chinook spawning redds and then the fish carcasses to add to the data. The SRRC has been working to manage noxious weeds since 1994.  We successfully use manual treatment to controlling and/or eradicating populations of invasive plants on the Salmon River and upslope. We also have a team working on monitoring river temperatures and flows, and replanting native species. We operate a greenhouse to propagate native vegetation, which will be planted in prioritized riparian areas to provide shaded habitat and cover for fish.

This summer SRRC did work improving fish passage at many Salmon River tributaries. Rearranging rocks at the mouths of tributaries created passable fish-ways, increasing the amount of available fish habitat. SRRC manages 2 fuels reduction crews. They remove brush, dead and down and ladder fuels, and small snags and do prescribed burning. We have an online calendar of Klamath Basin related events and try to unite all the shareholders in making the Salmon River as healthy and close to pristine as possible. Adopt-A-Hwy and regular river clean up days are part of what we do as well. We partnered up with Siskiyou County to remove junk cars and tons of junk metal.”

Please visit http://www.srrc.org to learn more – these people are grassroots at its finest!

“And I count myself more fortunate with each passing season to have recourse to these quiet, tree-strewn, untrimmed acres by the water. I would think it a sad commentary on the quality of American life if, with our pecuniary and natural abundance, we could not secure for our generation and those to come the existence of . . . a substantial remnant of a once great endowment of wild and scenic rivers.”
William Anderson, Congressman from Tennessee, Arguing for passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968)

info@MomentumRiverExpeditions.com
www.MomentumRiverExpeditions.com
541 488 2525

Enjoy world class rivers in small groups
with unparalleled personal service, organic
meals, and guides with 8+ years of
experience leading trips around the world.

Want to see more Images and hear what others are saying? Become a fan of Momentum Rafting on Facebook.

The Momentum Newsletter is:
- Sent out 3-4 times a year (we won’t overfill your mailbox)
- Includes seasonal trip specials, features, and great photos
- Completely private; we will NEVER use your info for anything but sending you the newsletter.

Momentum River Expeditions
1257 Siskiyou Blvd #1178, Ashland, OR 97520
www.MomentumRiverExpeditions.com   Call 541 488 2525    info@MomentumRiverExpeditions.com

Thanks for another wonderful season!

The Cal Salmon - the calm before the upper canyon. Click here to see a bunch more 2009 pictures

Want to see more Images and hear what others are saying? Become a fan of Momentum Rafting on Facebook.

The weather is finally changing and we are winding down the 2009 season. We have a lot to talk about in this newsletter - This winters trips to Patagonia, Our 2010 schedule and online booking discount, and a brand new fall newsletter section on protecting the rivers we run. But, as always, we want to start off by thanking all of you for making this past season, once again, the best season yet.

With the economy we realize that many people were making hard choices about what they could and could not do. And as the season went on we realized more acutely how important your support, word of mouth recommendations to friends, and online reviews on places like Yelp and Trip Advisor are to us. For those who had a chance to join us this year we are honored that you chose a trip with us and we are deeply thankful that you chose to share your personalities, interests, and amazing life stories. And for those who were unable to join us this year for whatever reason we hope that you will have a chance again in the future. You all continue to help shape Momentum –Thank You!

Below there is more info on:

- Chile this winter - For many of us this is our favorite river in the world and now is the time to start getting plane tickets.

- Our 2010 schedule is out and many of our popular spring trips and next summer’s trips on the Rogue are starting to book. We are also doing an early booking online discount.

- Our new “What is happening on the river(s) you have run” section. Basically it has information on what is going on in each watershed to protect it and, if you would like, what you can do to help. We are very excited about this and hope to make it a yearly part of the fall newsletter!

We have also compiled some of the best photos we have of this year’s trips on Facebook here. If you have any good ones you would like to share you can add them to the Momentum page – we would love to see them!

For those who are not joining us down south have a great winter and hopefully we will see you next year! Thanks again for another incredible season!

Kind Regards,

Pete and the staff of

Momentum River Expeditions

Winter Trips and our 2010 Schedule –

Chile - Patagonia’s Rio Futaleufu: - Join us for our annual 9-day luxury wilderness journey into the heart of Patagonia. This is truly one of the earth’s magical places and a trip of a lifetime (and my personal “favorite river in the world”).

The trip includes:

- One of the world’s greatest and most beautiful whitewater rivers.

- Whitewater from high volume class III to some of the biggest class V run in the world (your choice).

- Luxury wilderness camps set among glacier-capped peaks.

- Tons of other activities - hiking, mountain biking, word-class fishing…

You can see a video about the trip at: http://www.momentumriverexpeditions.com/chilevideo.htm.

Now is the time to get the best flight deals - If you are interested or have any questions call or email!

Our 2010 Oregon and Northern California Rafting Schedule is Out - Check out our 2010 spring and summer rafting schedule. Many of our popular spring trips and next summer’s trips on the Rogue are starting to book. We are also doing a pre season online booking discount for 2010 trips! We have just finished our first year of our new online booking system and so far it been a huge success! So this fall we are offering a 10% discount for any 2010 domestic trip booked online (or online inquire made) by Dec 30th 2009. Find the trip and date that works best for you – click “book online” on our web site, and when you get to the “pricing” section enter the promotional code. The only catch is you need to check out our Momentum Facebook Page. You don’t have to have a Facebook account to do it, but if you do you should become a fan – we update the page with pictures and news all the time! For those of you who feel like Facebook is about the most annoying thing in the world – we understand – it will only take a second to get the code….

What Is Happening On The River(s) You Have Run?

We love the rivers we run and feel that it is critical to preserve their wildness, remoteness, and beauty. As a company we have always supported and been very involved in protecting them and we are lucky to live in an area that has an especially rich array of groups that look for effective, logical, and broadly supported solutions. Lately we have also been thinking about ways that we could give you the option to either become more educated about the rivers you have visited or to help out. So every fall we are going to include this section in our newsletter and update you on what is going on in each watershed. We are also going to have much more frequent updates from the groups involved posted on the Momentum Facebook Page and on our Blog for those wanting to keep up with things as they happen.

We are in a time when nobody seems to agree on anything and facts, common sense, and a willingness to find common solutions give way to emotion, anger, and a mind set that can be compared to a small child stuffing their fists in their ears and hollering “I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”. Because of this we tried to choose campaigns that would be effective and have broad support. However, we understand that we all have very different opinions and we understand that our most important job is to show you these places, give you a break from everyday life, and run the highest quality river trips in the west.  After that it is up to you.

So this yearly section should be a great way to learn more about the rivers you have visited, and if you are so inclined and find it to be an idea you support, a great way to help keep them in the state you enjoyed them!

The Rogue River, Illinois River, Lower Klamath River, and Clear Creek -

Siskiyou Crest National Monument – We love this possibility!

The visually stunning and ecologically diverse Siskiyou Crest straddles the Oregon/California border and includes the headwater streams of the Applegate, Illinois (major tributaries to the Rogue) and Klamath Rivers (including Clear Creek). The mountain ranges and river valleys that define this region are some of the most spectacular in America, it is a world renowned hub of biological diversity, and a day of walking through the area can feel as if hundreds of miles have passed.

The Siskiyou Crest has garnered attention for years and a campaign was launched in July 2009 to make it America’s next National Monument. The “National Monument” designation is a great way to integrate a wide array of traditional and growing uses, protections, and local community and tribal needs. This effort will likely take years and help is needed for a variety of grassroots tasks, including sending letters to the editor of newspapers in support of the proposal, gaining business endorsements, and organizing or hosting educational events and presentations. This campaign is in its early stages, and we are so excited about the possibilities! For more information, visit www.siskiyoucrest.org (they have a great interactive map).

The Lower Rogue River -

Save the Wild Rogue:

The Rogue is one of America’s most famous wilderness rivers. A coalition of local and national outdoor industry businesses, rafting and angling companies and conservationists launched a campaign in 2007 to strengthen protections for the Lower Rogue River. The “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign proposes to protect the tributaries of the Zane Grey Roadless Area. For those who have been on the river these tributaries are the beautiful, cool, side streams that we stop at to hang out by and swim in. In June 2009, bills were introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to add 143 miles of Rogue tributaries to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This legislation would safeguard tributaries that provide important cold water to the Rogue River and valuable fish habitat for salmon that migrate upstream from the Pacific.

Recent economic studies by ECONorthwest found that, in 2007, recreation on the river provided $30 million in economic benefits to the state of Oregon through fishing, rafting and hiking. In total, the studies determined that Rogue River salmon runs provide more than $1.5 billion in economic benefits to West Coast Residents each year, including the ‘non-use value’ of these fish.

This is essentially the monetary value people place on the existence of a natural resource, the ability to pass it on to future generations, and the option to use it in the future. This effort has very wide ranging support and just needs a final nudge so it can finish its long journey through our government and become law. To help take a few minutes to make two phone calls in support of this effort. Please call Senator Ron Wyden (202-224-5244) and Representative Peter DeFazio (202-225-6416) and 1) thank them both for introducing the Wild Rogue legislation and 2) ask that they work to get this bill through committee and passed into law this year. For more information, visit www.savethewildrogue.org.

The Owyhee River -

Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Area:

Straddling the intersection of southeastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, and northern Nevada, the Owyhee Canyonlands encompasses 3 million acres of public land – twice the size of Yellowstone National Park. This region is the largest expanse of undeveloped and unprotected wildlands left in the United States outside of Alaska. The Owyhee’s vast network of deep basalt river canyons and sagebrush-peppered plateaus provide key habitat for a number of threatened or sensitive species including the world’s largest herd of California bighorn sheep, several species of bats, sage grouse, redband trout, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, pronghorn antelope, elk, longnose snakes, bobcats, and pygmy rabbits.

Over the next year The Oregon Natural Desert Association will be ramping up efforts to work with local agencies, individuals, and communities to create the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Area. ONDA has been very good about understanding the importance of ensuring decisions made about wilderness are beneficial to all the parties involved. This is a very new campaign and up to date information will be found at www.onda.org.

The California Salmon -

The Salmon River Restoration Council:

The Salmon River Restoration council is one of the most unique grass roots groups we have seen. Drawing from a diverse and extremely off the beaten path community of less than 200 people the group manages to do an amazing amount of work protecting one of our all time favorite rivers (in fact they are so busy it can be difficult to even get a hold of them!). Check out their web site at: www.srrc.org.

The Klamath River -

The Klamath Basin is widely recognized as one of the most ecologically important watersheds in the United States. It is also the site of a long simmering conflict over water policy, wetlands, and endangered species. There is a huge need for viable solutions to the basin’s fundamental problems. However, the problems are among the most difficult, confusing, and politicized issues facing any river in the United States. Basically, the river’s water is over allocated, the water is naturally warm and full of nutrients but farming and reservoirs have made the temperatures and nutrient levels bad for indigenous fish, and declining fish runs have damaged the economies and lively hoods of downstream Tribes and Fishing Industries.

There are a host of environmental, Tribal, Fishing, and farming groups involved. Many have different solutions and issue. If you are interested in the challenges facing one of our favorite rivers please email us for more info.