John asked (snip): >Do Paddlewise people feel that the focus on paddling promoted by the >marketers of boats, equipment, training, and travel has a kind of >superficiality? Have people become obsessed with gear and travel to the >detriment of paddling? Do paddlers in general focus too much on the >artifacts of paddling (By artifacts I mean the gear and adventure culture >surrounding paddling) instead of the pure the kind of enjoyment that >Nicks seems to be talking about (let me know if I read you wrong on this >Nick).< I know a number of paddlers that frequent the water on an almost daily basis. Some are gear freaks, some are not. Often the ones that are not, paddle on a limited budget - either forced or simply by choice. The two respective categories of paddlers seem to enjoy the sport equally. The artifacts don't seem to impede any "pure" enjoyment. I do think there is a draw to paddling, just as there is, say, with scuba diving - because of all the cool gear. I think your comments (and question) are intriguing, but of limited relevance, simply because the market will play out as it will, and what seasoned paddlers say and think probably will not influence the sport in any significant way. Having said that, it seems a lot of seasoned paddlers are the ones promoting symposia, etc, which is very much gear and destination-promotion oriented from my observations. So don't know. Certainly your generation, brought forth to the paddling brother/sisterhood in prior years when little high-tech influence or adventure-travel seeking, etc, was evident, are part of a special breed (said respectfully). My generation was a little more influenced by the Gore-Tex culture. Today's new paddlers? A huge mixed bag I imagine, but there's probably a whole lot of superficiality. I will say that people do benefit from paddling. A co-worker's husband was out in the Canadian Gulf Islands this fall on his first kayak outing, finally influenced to go with one of his co-workers who is a loner and kayaker. The guy in question who was invited out van be a womanizing, beer drinking lout (well you know the type - never has a perceivable serious moment). He was blown away by the experience, the beauty, and the naturality of it all. Gear, equipment, skills, etc, never entered the equation. He is now a wilderness advocate, to boot. (BTW, John, remember the east coast of Canada isn't immune from tsunamis). Doug Lloyd Victoria BC *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 08:25 PM 12/29/2004 -0800, Doug Lloyd wrote: > Having said that, it seems a lot of seasoned paddlers are the ones > promoting symposia, etc, which is very much gear and > destination-promotion oriented from my observations. I don't think that is entirely the case with symposiums. The skills symposiums started by Atlantic Kayak Tours and the Sweetwater symposium are very much skills development/training oriented. From what I've read of some of the others classes, off-water instruction, and tours seem to make up a large part of what happens at them as well. John Fereira jaf30_at_cornell.edu Ithaca, NY *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Agreed in principle. However, some of the sub-symposia (smaller-scale, less instruction-oriented events) I've attended certainly fit the context I mentioned. In either case, no moral highground, real or imagined, right or wrongness was implied. (Of course, there's a lot of beer drinking and womanizing at some of the symposiums! :-) ) Doug Lloyd Victoria BC > I don't think that is entirely the case with symposiums. The skills > symposiums started by Atlantic Kayak Tours and the Sweetwater symposium > are very much skills development/training oriented. From what I've read > of some of the others classes, off-water instruction, and tours seem to > make up a large part of what happens at them as well. > > John Fereira > jaf30_at_cornell.edu > Ithaca, NY *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 05:19 PM 12/30/2004 -0800, Doug Lloyd wrote: >Agreed in principle. However, some of the sub-symposia (smaller-scale, >less instruction-oriented events) I've attended certainly fit the context >I mentioned. In either case, no moral highground, real or imagined, right >or wrongness was implied. (Of course, there's a lot of beer drinking and >womanizing at some of the symposiums! :-) ) Really? I haven't noticed the Brits attending the smaller symposia much. :-) The skills symposia that I have attended *do* typically seem to be smaller though. I believe registration was limited to 70 or so people for the AKT symposiums and the Sweetwater symposium I attended was of similar size. Any larger than that and the class sizes would get too large or the coaches would have to teach more classes. On the other hand, two of the larger symposia I'm aware of (the Jersey Paddler festival and the Mountain Man Outdoors festival) are huge and a primarily focused on selling boats and gear. John Fereira jaf30_at_cornell.edu Ithaca, NY *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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