To all who joined us this year – Thank You!
I want to thank you all for not only a great season but for something far more important. One of the things we are proud of here is having extremely experienced and friendly guides that come back year after year. Well, it turns out that one of the biggest reasons for this is all of you! You may not realize it, but your personalities, interests, amazing life stories, and choices are shaping Momentum. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “I love working here because the guests are so cool”.
So, with your continued support, wonderful personalities, and adventurous spirits we will continue to keep and attract the best guides in the business. We will continue to reshape the way river travel is run and to work towards setting the standard in trip quality and environmental responsibility. And we will continue to run rivers and add adventures that are the best in their class and that are off the beaten path. Beginning and growing Momentum has been full of surprises, but the huge effect of so many good people joining us on trips has been, by far, the best and biggest surprise!
Once again thank you all so much!
Below are some of our favorite testimonials from the 2010 Year.
Kind Regards,
Pete and the Staff of Momentum River Expeditions
Highlights from our 2010 Testimonials:
Many thanks!
‘Dear Pete, Robyn, Jason and Chad, I can only echo Nancy’s comments. Many, many thanks for such a tremendous trip. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and we bring back wonderful memories. The commitment and heart that you brought was fabulous – and shined in every aspect of the trip. You always went the extra mile and anticipated what we would need or want to do long before we knew ourselves. Congratulations on building an organization that brings such joy, fun and laughter to its clients, while executing with the highest professionalism and standards. It is quite an achievement. We’ll check out the photos on Facebook – thanks! Also, Nancy and I were talking about trying to get a recommendation up on Yelp…either we’ll figure it out or we’ll have one of the kids do it! Momentum deserves the highest kudos! I hope you have a great rest of the season. If any of you are in the Bay Area, please let us know. We’d love to see you and can even provide beds! Cheers and hugs to all, Ann ‘
Highly recommended!
‘Pete, I will highly recommend you to anyone that I know is interested in running rivers in your area. I have been down many rivers, with many companies, and I am truly impressed by you and the group that you have assembled. I take great pride in what I do, and always appreciate people who do things the right way. I look forward to seeing you again on another river. Best wishes for a successful season. Kim ‘
The best guided trip I have ever been on!
‘Dear Pete, First of all I have to say that the trip we went on was the absolute best guided trip I have ever been on! Every aspect of the situation was perfect and we (and i have talked to every person on the trip) could not agree more about how amazing it truly was. Aside from the stunning beauty of the State of Jefferson (which Erik and Adam so informatively explained was where we were), the organization of the trip and the guides were absolutely perfect. We could not have asked for better people than Erik, Adam and Neil. They were friendly, knowledgeable, AMAZING chefs, nice guys, and truly handled themselves professionally. Even though the rivers weren’t exactly co-operating with us, we had the most amazing time. Having done some minor guiding (and I mean Class II-III simple canoe trips on the Potomac river, so not close to the stuff you guys do) I can tell you that the way Erik handled the decision to abort the Scott was completely professional. I can say with confidence that if your guides were jerks or not as friendly and cool as the ones we had, that decision could have easily made the group upset. But, we trusted them and I am sure it was the right choice. Even though we all know we could’ve done it no problems!!! Just kidding… 🙂 I am not an elegant writer, but if I were, I would put into more beautiful words how much I enjoyed this trip. Personally it was exactly what I needed during a difficult time in my life. I came to Oregon with many heavy thoughts on my mind and left with a feeling of peace and understanding. I know that the mountains, rivers and nature’s beauty have always worked wonders for me, but I do not think it would’ve gone so well if I hadn’t had such a worry free experience thanks to you all. I truly hope that I will be able to join another trip with you guys on some of the amazing rivers you frequent. And, I will surely be requesting Erik, Adam and Neil again if it comes together another time. Also, I want to be sure that you received all the money you needed to. I checked my bank statement and I think I only saw one charge on there for me? Please let me know if I owe some more. I think this helps prove how satisfied I am with that trip. How many people would write asking to pay more money after the fact??? Anyways, again, the food, the experience, the people, the place… everything was great. I truly appreciate you all being flexible with the situation, from rivers floods to people backing out. Please extend my deepest gratitude to the guides again for such and awesome trip. I will forever speak highly of your company and promote it the best I can! Take care and I hope to see you again sometime, Eric Suissa ‘
Best vacation ever!
‘Dear Pete, Mike and Anthony, First of all, I want to thank you all very much for the amazing trip! Please pretend that this email came the day after the trip, but since we spent the rest of the week in the middle of nowhere in California, we had no computer access. So, that gave me a week to think out what I want to write. Every day after the trip, we only talked about our fun adventures and our amazing guides. We really enjoyed your company, and your fun sense of humor. We still laugh when we retell the funny experiences that happened to us. I truly feel that we are a more coordinated octopus family now… We also learned a very important word from you that has turned to be a regular word in our family’s vocabulary: Sweet! It is such a fun and cute word, that I now use that expression regularly. Maybe I will successfully manage to bring old Oregon slang back to Israel. Of course you could try to bring the Israeli “Sababa” to Oregon too… Speaking about Israel, we really meant you should come and visit. My family and I already talked about all the places you would enjoy to see, and things to do. Our house always have different people coming and going, and we would love for you to be one of them too. You should bring Robin along too… There are so many beautiful sights there, that it is worth a trip over! I can’t believe I almost forgot this one last thing! I was thinking about it all week… At the end of the trip I forgot to give you the bear forms. Where would you like me to send it? To your office, or to the address that is written on the form? I really enjoyed seeing the bears, and the cubs. My whole family thought it was really neat, even though we must’ve asked you so many worried questions about the bears coming to eat us. We will always remember the trip and remember you. (How can I possibly forget?!) So you won’t forget us too, here is the group picture we took all together. It is
Best expedition I’ve been on!
‘Thank you. It was by far the best expedition I’ve been on. Hope to get back up here next spring for some more fun. Thanks again. Andrew ‘
Outstanding
‘Pete, We had the 2 day trip this past Friday and Sat. Just wanted to thank you so much for the service that we received. I know everyone had a great time and your guides were outstanding. I personally had Kelly as my guide and he was great! He hands down was the best guide that I had ever had and I had been whitewater rafting many times! Again, the service that you provided was outstanding and I appreciate everything that your company did and stands for. Thanks again for everything and we will talk to you soon. God Bless. Kevin
Our experience was superlative
‘Hello Pete, Thank you to the whole of Momentum for organizing a splendid river adventure. My son, husband and I returned Sunday from the Rogue Wilderness Lodge trip and it was the highlight of our summer. My son is turning 15 this fall and is athletic and adventurous by nature but had no idea how much fun and challenge he was going to have. He smiled the entire trip, as did Phillip and I. The beauty of the Rogue and the Siskiyou Mountains was a feast for the senses. We saw animal life that we’d hoped to see (bear, mink, fox, otters, orange crayfish, water turtles, bald eagles, osprey) that we just don’t have in Palo Alto, California. The white water was terrific for beginners (quickly turned intermediates) and provided extended excitement and challenge for Phillip and Chris particularly when they learned to surf. Once they slipped into the inflatable’s (first day) they never returned to the raft. The lodges were the perfect choice for us, and we loved both of them for different reasons. If a person can’t love Paradise, then life really is hopeless. The lodge was beautiful and spacious itself but it wasn’t just the comfortable accommodations that made it special – the entire property cradled us in it’s serene and natural beauty and provided a dreamy ending to a dreamy day. Let me gush about your guides for a moment. Alan led the trip and Mike guided our supply boat. They are two of the most wonderful mentors we could have hoped to lead us on the river. Alan’s knowledge is deep and wide; his demeanor matched the serenity of the surroundings which caused us to pay attention to both the wilderness history and the rules he imparted while on his boat. He was not just a guide, he was a wonderful teacher and successfully shared his palpable love of this stretch of the Rogue. I’d even go so far as to say he possessed a little magic about him: twice he got us on hikes up tributaries that ended in these river pools the likes of which you see in National Geographic, and he did so just before other bigger groups arrived. We came upon these pools as if we were the only humans in the region which added a special “just for you” quality to the hikes. Mike could not have been more delightful. He too was profoundly knowledgeable. His ease, grace, humor, and willingness to share his love of rafting captured our imaginations for hours. Chris decided he looked like the movie character, Wolverine, and he was given this moniker for our trip. Your care and attention to our meals was evident and greatly appreciated. Your thoughtful approach to reducing our impact on the wilderness is deeply appreciated and respected. It’s better than nice knowing we may have had little negative impact on the river. Your drivers at the take out were courteous and again, engaging. Oh yes, I realize you cannot predict what groups will get along when paired together for three days – sometimes it works and sometimes not. Well, we loved the Seymour family and all eight of us got on beautifully which of course added to the expansive joy experienced by all. From my initial contact with your company throughout our time with you, my/our experience was superlative. We have been and will continue telling everyone we come into contact with what a special encounter we had and to investigate Momentum. Thank you so very much. fondly, rpm ‘
Fantastic trip down the Klamath
‘Pete, I want to express my thanks for a fantastic trip down the Klamath this last weekend. You and your team truly delivered a first class experience, from the knowledge and skills of the guides, to the food, and the orchestration of the entire event. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! You’ll be seeing us again. All the best, Max Darnell ‘
Did we like the trip……? YES!!!!
‘Adam, Mara, Mike, and Pete, We are home at last from our trip through Eastern Oregon, and have had a lot of time to reflect on the Owyhee trip. We want you to know that the most outstanding aspect of you three was your professionalism as river guides and as group leaders. From the cold, snowy first day, to the take-out along-side the “gang from Caldwell”, you always exhibited the demeanor of people who understand how to deal with difficulty with a successful outcome for all. You were able to blend knowing just- what- needed -to -happen with a smile and some light-hearted banter. We had complete trust in your skills and abilities which built during the experiences of the trip (including pulling me and my hat from the river). On the lighter side, you were awfully nice, interesting, and funny (especially Mike) and tolerated our middle aged/old age conversations and questions without a hint of boredom. Thanks for humoring us. You made us feel like we were a “special group” and in some way unique (which we really weren’t). For Jim and me, you pointed out super camp-sites and engaged us in interesting conversations. Each of you gave us a picture of your background that we found very interesting (since our kids are in their late 20’s). You also displayed a depth of knowledge about the geographic area, geology, knew the flora, fauna, history, and environmental concerns, which in our case, was a big part of the trip. It was nice to share the experience with people who were even more impressed by it that we were. We learned a lot from each of you. You were more than safe guides, you were also resources for a lot of information. AND you are great cooks. The meals were better than home. The care the company takes with the environment, from the carbon off-sets, to the local/organic food, and then compost/waste handling topped off our experience. We are pretty conscientious at home, and so were impressed as well as pleased that you can run an operation with glamour AND keep the “footprint” somewhat smaller. We appreciated the good equipment too…especially those thick pads. So, did we like the trip? YES. We have some friends that we think might also enjoy it, and can’t wait to show them our pictures. Maybe we’ll try Clear Creek, or the Klamath next year. Good luck with your summer, and fall plans, and with the whole enterprise. Caroline and Jim Hickson p.s.: If you have any “snow photos” to share, would you send them along? I’d only have pictures of the first dusting in Rome. It got pretty thick there on the river. Thanks. ‘
Cal-Salmon
‘Hello lovely people! Jack and I loved our adventure and have already told folks your trips are a must, esp living in Ashland. I made the mistake of looking on Youtube at what can go wrong in Class V rapids, and was quite scared on the drive down, but not once – not even one time did I feel scared in the water. We were having so much fun that I couldn’t stop laughing out loud every time we went through a rapid… all thanks to your guides’ emphasis on safety, their skill set and knowledge base. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of you and your experience reading the water. Also, the food was dreamy; healthy, organic energy food made us all happy 🙂 Thank you so much – we will be back! ‘
The Illinois
‘Pete, We appreciate you ordering the perfect weather for this Illi trip. It is a wonderful river that I would absolutely do again. We enjoyed your great skills as a group leader and guide. You run a top notch company and should take great pride in doing things the right way. I have been paddling for over 40 years and can honestly say that I would experience any river anywhere with you. We look forward to enjoying another river with you soon. Thank you for a great time on the Illi. Kim
Top 10 Rivers
‘The Scott ascended into the top 10 rivers that I have had the privilege of experiencing over the last 40 years. I certainly understand why it is one of your favorites. We believe that you are one of the most talented guides we have worked with, and would look forward to enjoying any river with you. We certainly do want to come back for the Cal Salmon soon. Thank you for a great run. Kim ‘
Unrivaled As A Commercial Rafting Company
‘Pete Wallstrom, the owner of Momentum River Expeditions, puts his years of experience and expertise into the management of what just might be the best commercial rafting company in North America. The trips are spectacular beyond description, the guides are the best of the best, the food is incomparable, and the customers are treated like royalty. I especially would like to recommend the Cal Salmon trip and the Illinois River trip. The Illinois is one of the most incredible canyons I have ever seen, let alone rafted on. The combination of lush flora, thundering rapids, and isolation make it nearly indescribable.’
You can read a ton more testimonials here>>
Thank you all so much!
