This page is merely a text mirror of the main site which can be found here.
If you have been directed here by a search engine or link,
please navigate to http://www.uniyaker.co.uk/ to view the proper site.
..:: British Universities Kayaking Expedition ::..
..:: Uniyaker.co.uk ::..
Welcome to uniyaker.co.uk, the home of the British Universities Kayaking Expedition. Following the
success of the first expedition in 2005 it is hoped that a different team of students can undertake
such an expedition every two years.
12th May 2007 - The Four Borders team have been busy. They've managed to get exposure in local papers, recieved backing from the BCU, and of course — been getting out there doing lots of boating. Check out the blog on their site for more details.
29th Mar 2007 - Organisation for the 2007 trip is well underway, flights have been booked, SRT courses completed, sponsorship is being negotiated and the website is looking good. Check out the link below.
12th Jan 2006 - A destination has been decided for the '07 trip. They're off to the Altai's exploring Russia, Mongolia and maybe China and Kazakhstan if there's time. It's going to be a visa nightmare!
27th Nov 2006 - A weekend of some classic welsh boating finally saw a team selected. Many thanks to everyone who helped out on the weekend, and to all who applied for a place on the trip. Finally, a well done and good luck to the new team.
9th Nov 2006 - So that everyone invited on the selection can get to know one another, we've uploaded their applications — see "Selection Invites" if you're interested. We've also set up a "members only" section so that logistics for the weekend can be arranged.
6th Nov 2006 - We've had a hard job narrowing down the field to the final 20 — there's an impressive amount of experience out there — but the deed is done. We're now praying for rain and hoping for 3 days of quality welsh boating at the selection event.
25th Oct 2006 - OK, thats it. We've passed the deadline and so applications are now closed. We've had a great response and thanks to all that applied. We'll get back to you asap with info about the selection event as soon as we've worked out who to invite.
16th Oct 2006 - We're getting a steady stream of applications coming through, and we're nowhere near the deadline (25th Oct) yet. This must be a first for student types! The selection event itself looks like it will take place in North Wales on the 24th/25th/26th Nov '06, so make sure you keep those dates free!
12th Oct 2006 - Word on the street is that Dave Manby has offered to come to the selection to help narrow down the potential destinations. Thanks Dave!
1st Oct 2006 - Selection is now underway for the expedition of 2007. The deadline for applications is 25th October 2006, so get those applications in pronto!
18th Sept 2006 - A plan is underway for a big one in 2007. The selection process kicks off on 1st October 2006, so check back then if you want to be a part of it.
The 2007 Expedition has called themselves the "Four Borders Expedition" as they are heading to the Altai mountains in Siberia, where the four countries of Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan all meet. They're heading out there for July and August 2007, hoping to warm up in Sibera, before crossing the border for some exploratory boating in Mongolia. Their website is fourbordersexpedition.com, and they're keeping a blog up-to-date in the run up to the trip. Enjoy!
The overriding principle of a British Universities Kayaking Expedition is for a team of the UK's
best student kayakers to undertake an exploratory trip in search of some of the worlds finest white
water. Those selected will organise the entire expedition themselves and as a result of doing so, a
solid team will be formed. Thus, once on expedition, everyone will operate as a well oiled team and
as such be ready to tackle some challenging situations, both on and off the river.
The team is expected to seek out funding and sponsorship towards the trip (well — we couldn't expect
cheapskate student kayakers to come up with ALL the money on their own) and publicise the expedition
by writing articles and giving lectures upon their return if the opportunity to do so arises.
The idea for the "British Universities Kayaking Expedition" came about late in 2004 when Phil Carrivick posted on a few of the popular kayaking forums (UKRGB, TWP and Unsponsored) asking for interest in such an expedition. He'd apparantly heard about a previous student run expedition back in the 80's and thought that the concept was a good one.
He recieved a healthy response and in Dec '04, twelve people were invited to a "selection event" in Wales. Stonking water levels were the order of the day and the weekend turned into three days of quality boating with new friends. Each hopeful team member brought along some research into a specific destination and the evenings were spent discussing where to go and what the ethos of the expedition would be. Dave Manby (expedition kayaker extraordinaire) was kind enough come along and helped to whittle down the destination wish list whilst divulging a number of other pearls of kayak expeditioning wisdom.
Before going, lots of work was put into generating interest and obtaining sponsorship. Notable successes being the BCU Expedition Committee, and the respective universities of the team members. Desperate Measures of Nottinham provided a great kit deal combined with help from Sweet and Nike ACG amongst others.
The expedition took place in Kyrgyzstan over 4 weeks in August/September 2005 and by all accounts was a great success. The team paddled a huge variety of grade III-V white-water with both low and high volume runs, multidayers and half hour short steep blasts. They also ticked off a few potential first descents.
Upon their return they recieved a significant amount of publicity, having articles published in 3 different magazines and doing a number of lectures, including the SCA Exhibition, the Tyne Tour and the Gene 17 weekend at the Dart.
Going back to the initial inspiration for the expedition... Though Phil attributed it to a similar
expedition back in the 1980's, it turns out that no such trip took place... That said, it's now a
bit too late to stop the ball rolling and we think that making the expedition a regular fixture in
the British students kayaking calendar can only be a good thing.
The selection will consist of two basic stages.
1) A written profile
2) Selection event — (if you pass stage 1)
The written application is first used to narrow down the field to 20 or so people who will be invited along to the selection event. The profiles of these 20 will then be put up online so that everyone can get to know each other before taking part in the event.
First things first. This is a weekend in which a bunch of paddlers who don’t know each other, can get to know each other, and hopefully enjoy a fantastic weekend of boating. It is hoped that through the process of submitting the profiles, everyone who has been invited to the selection has met the standard which will be required for the trip. As a result, we can all have a few days of stress free boating without feeling scrutinised. The purpose of the “selection weekend” is to knock a few ideas back and forth about possible destinations, and to get to know other people who’ve been invited. After all, it is you that will be doing the majority of the selecting, as you will have to live with those people for a month or so in the middle of absolutely nowhere!
If you are interested and would like to take part in this unique opportunity, click on the "Apply"
button and submit an application. We look forward to hearing from you.
All applicants must:
- be a full-time student in the academic year preceeding the trip, at an institution registered as a
university within the UK.
- have not participated in any previous "British Universities Kayaking Expeditions"
- be over 18 years of age at the time of departure of the expedition.
Any of the above conditions may change/be added to at any point (just incase we forgot anything
obvious).
The deadline for the 2007 trip was the 25th October 2006, so applications are now closed.
Those invited on the selection event will have their application put the uniyaker.co.uk site along with a few photos so that everyone can hopefully get to know each other before the selection event.
This page is merely a text mirror of the main site which can be found here.
If you have been directed here by a search engine or link,
please navigate to http://www.uniyaker.co.uk/ to view the proper site.