River Rhone Challenge Press Release

During the last two weeks of September a team of four canoeists, accompanied by a two man support crew, made a complete descent of the River Rhone, from Lake Geneva in Switzerland to Marseille and the Mediterranean in France. Although a well known European river and wine region, the Rhone is not so well known as a canoeing destination, but is ideally suited to multi-day open canoe touring.
The upper stretches of the river are stunning and remote, offering a real feeling of wilderness expeditioning, while below Lyon the Rhone widens with commercial shipping canals but still allows for canoeists to follow the natural, unspoilt, course of the river as it meanders its way to the Mediterranean. The expedition was part of The Magnificent Seven Challenge, to raise money for the charity Children with Leukaemia.
The challenge started last year with the London Marathon and will culminate in 2012 with an attempt on Everest. The team completed over 400miles in 11days using open canoes and camping by the side of the river. So far this year the team have raised nearly £15,000 for Children with Leukaemia.The team; Ed Crook, Nick Piwowar, Andy Martin, Richard Finch and James Weir would like to thank all those who sponsored them, in particular Whitewater the Canoe Centre, Delta Sportswear, and Philip Crook, without whose superb logistical backup the expedition would have been ten times harder.
To follow the teams future adventures and to pledge your support for Children with Leukaemia please visit www.leukaemia.org