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Rafting in Colorado with Wounded WarriorBLESMA are sending 6 Members to take part in the Wounded Warrior Rafting in Colorado, also known as 'Challenge Aspen'.
This is a great opportunity for British wounded soldiers from Afghanistan, Iraq and other past conflicts to meet with their American counterparts and for limbless veterans from both sides of the Atlantic to share their experiences. The team will meet at the Comfort Inn Hotel, Heathrow, on Friday 13th August 2010 for an overnight stay. Members taking part are Sam Fitzgerald, Nicholas Beighton, Lee Entwhistle, Peter Norton GC, Alexander Swinhoe and Richard Ward. The following day Saturday 14th August 2010 the group will fly from Heathrow (LHR) to Denver, Colorado, leaving LHR at 1545 hrs and arriving in Denver at 1825 hrs. 14th August 2010. On arrival, there is a vehicle BLESMA has for the whole of the period, that will take them to a nearby hotel for an overnight stay. The next morning they will travel up to Aspen to join the other participants. Events are likely to include those activities in the title and some kayaking. Click here for previous rehabilitation for wounded british soldiers. ................................................................................. White Water Rafting 2009Last years trip was led by Charley Streather (Member and BLESMA Area Welfare Officer, Midlands), who reported as follows...Earlier this year I was asked if I would lead out a team of BLESMA Members to run the rapids of the Colorado River with CAMO, Challenge Aspen Military Opportunities. After giving the matter serious thought for about a second, I readily accepted. The team consisted of Jase Evans, Neil Heritage, Lionel O’Connor, Ian Bishop, Gregg Stevenson and myself; three double amputees, one above knee amputee and two flesh wounds (below knee amputees!) Six people with three feet between us, so we called ourselves; the 3 foot 6 expedition. There were many people with different disabilities present, with and without carers, service and ex-service, from different organisations, voluntary helpers, and we introduced ourselves to the group after huge portions of pizza had been guzzled down with a can of root beer! The program (American spelling!) of events was outlined, and because some of our team had fairly recent injuries, the program was modified on the spot to accommodate us. BLESMA Members go Fly FishingOn the first day we were in for a special treat – fly fishing on the Frying Pan River.We were kitted out in dry suits by the staff at Taylor Creek Fly Fishing Company, which was no mean feat considering the amount of limbs missing in the group… Bish and Gregg elected to go in their wheelchairs and not wear legs, so they both had a pair of empty dry suit bottoms flopping about in the wind!
We also had a great bloke from the US Air Cavalry with us called Buddy Mays, also in a wheelchair, who just seemed to naturally fit in with our group, and we headed for the river looking like a mechanised unit from the Dunlop factory! Getting Close to the WaterWe needn't have worried...It was a vague worry in the back of my mind just how we’d manage to get the wheelchair contingent close enough to the water to enable them to fish, but as it happened I needn’t have worried – in they went, and amid all the laughing and banter everyone caught at least one fish, which to me was unbelievable because the competition was absolutely cut-throat and anyone not catching was going to be in the chair that night! American Trout must have very little sense of their surroundings is all I can say, because the racket coming from our lot would have scared normal fish a mile off!
Our thanks have to go to the staff at Taylor Creek for being superb guides and helpers that day; we had a great time and came away with our sides aching from laughing! Jase won the sweepstake with some lovely trout, but we got our revenge by making him buy everyone a drink out of it! Thanks Jase! White WatersThe main event, and quite a long drive to get to the start point of Loma, Colorado.It might sound tedious to say it was stunning scenery all the way, but believe me, it really was. Everywhere you looked was picture postcard perfect until you reached what seemed like saturation point, and then just around the corner something else equally stunning! Anyway, we got to the boats; all sorts, big rafts, small rafts and duckies, which are inflatable two man kayaks. Very thorough safety briefings followed, and the dangers of what we were about to embark upon became apparent and very real. We planned to stay out under the stars for two nights at the side of the river, and good admin was crucial to our wellbeing. The BLESMA team opted to go down the river in Duckies, and we were soon on the water getting the hang of the craft.
The river was sluggish and murky as we went through our drills, and I couldn’t help but feel it was lulling me into a false sense of security. Some of the extended group had shot the rapids before, and they kept winking at us in a disconcerting way, which I didn’t take as a particularly good sign. Having now been through the rapids myself, I understand what they were getting at, but at that point in time I was oblivious to what was about to come! The first day was a blast to say the least; we had a gentle introduction to some very fast moving water, and quickly learned to recognise the distant roaring sound of approaching rapids in time to get what I will laughingly call ‘prepared’ for the adrenaline fuelled mayhem that follows!
Because the river is squeezed very tightly through gorges and canyons in certain places, the volume of water gets very lively and absolutely crashes around the rocks and bends. We were all aware that day two was the ‘real deal’ though, the day when we hit the serious stuff, so we took every chance to acquaint ourselves with procedures and the rafts on day one. To say it was hot wouldn’t convey to the reader the crushing heat that bore down upon us the whole time we were on the river. We reached our designated camp site for the night late in the afternoon; the army of helpers and river guides quickly and efficiently set up camp and got a brew going. The evening meal was soon cooking away, and the BLESMA team turned their Duckies over on the bank to use them as inflatable beds. A latrine was hastily erected downstream which we affectionately named ‘the growler’ for some reason, and spent the night bedazzled by the myriad stars, the open sky, and the reassuring feel of the ground beneath us, full of anticipation for the next days paddling. Day two on the riverWe were ‘invited’ to try a different type of boat, namely a 4 to 7 man raft, which would give much more pulling power in the heavy rapids that were to come.The BLESMA team manfully got in and proceeded to do wheelies in the thing, so much power went into their paddling! River guide Martin and Sarah joined them in the craft, and I hitched a ride on a huge 18 foot oar boat to laughingly try to take some photographic masterpieces! A leisurely six mile paddle to the Westwater Ranger Station followed. We soon found ourselves in a completely different world from the day before, high canyon walls and deafening crashing water were soon on the horizon, and not without some trepidation did we gracefully slide into the maelstrom that was to be our environment for the day! The excitement quickly rose to fever pitch as we ‘navigated’ our way through such quaint sounding death-traps as ‘the Staircase’, ‘Wild Horse Rapid’, ‘Sock-it-to-me Rapid’, ‘Surprise’, ‘Last Chance Rapid’ and the fearful ‘Skull Rapid’ to name but a few! Huge stoppers, magnetic walls, massive rocks and cataracts flashed by in a flurry of paddling, struggling for breath, laughing and screaming, constantly getting buried in unpredictable and savage wave formations.
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Once again, BLESMA is delighted to have been invited to join The Wounded Warrior Project on their annual white water rafting and fishing expedition to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Happy Memories