Oregon  Rafting  Team

ORT – VII

What is this thing once described as a “charismatic body of energy” that often stumbles through life in the same manner a river crashes through boulders?  Seven years ago raft racing was generally a one day commitment in which a handful of guides working for the same company threw a crew together and paddled down a local run as fast as they could in an attempt to best a rival outfitter.  Dropping a waterfall in a raft was a rare and downright suspicious occasion as apparently a few yahoos got bored with life.  Coordinating a series of river events may have been done for a season or so by an organization with vested commercial interests.  Creating a pre Facebook and Twitter social media tool such as comprehensive website again was done via extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation.  So what’s the deal?  Why bother?  Create and maintain something, a variety of things that as a whole has never and still has not been done before, for 7 years.

We are what we are not.  ORT has survived through relationships which in one manner may be described as a dependence, alliance, or kinship.  We needed all of these likely as a result of our inability to attain these variables in traditional settings.  An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring.  Fleeting to enduring, that’s ORT.  In 7 years we have had about 28 paddlers come through our ranks.  In nearly each case we still communicate on some level, enduring.  However it is also true that we do not have tight nuclear families, and only in some cases lasting marriages.  Then what’s the glue?  Competition?  In part, a common goal that we can work collaboratively to achieve.  Yet only a few of our paddlers have or had previously participated in organized team sports.  Adrenaline?  We don’t all drop big waterfalls, attempt first descents, and enjoy racing head to head or even against the clock.  Acknowledgement, notoriety?  Possibly.  In our travels nationally and even globally we bump into folks that know us, but that’s not the primary innate force.

River; a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, lake, sea, or another river!  That’s ORT!  An alliance that is both fleeting and enduring.  A wonderfully natural and pure connectedness, an everlasting sense of belonging that doesn’t have issues or expectations.  As Bruce commonly says, “Expectations are predetermined resentments”.  A river is an earthly manifestation of God’s soul that instantaneously replenishes our own.  Water brings so many forms of life.  Whitewater provides the platform for glory and humility.  Life, death, and everything in between.

Of course we need support to sustain our efforts.  Our biggest sponsors share many similar traits, likely the reason the relationship has endured.  Aire, longest warranty in the industry and built in the USA.  Whitewater Designs, products made in Oregon by boaters.  Next Adventure, Deek and Bryan were resilient in starting their store years ago through the concept of sustainability by buying and selling used goods.  Team  Quest, Olympic silver medalist Matt  Lindland and wife Angie have been happily married for 16 years and manage a business training fighters of an obviously volatile nature.  Aquabound Paddles, likely the best bang for the buck in performance paddling equipment.  Immersion Research, John and Kara Weld are boaters for boaters.  More recently Keen from our hometown of Portland Oregon, Tom from Shred Ready, Chris from Kershaw Knives, Revo, Sierra Nevada, and Paul from OS Systems.  All of our sponsors have soul, heart, and a genuine love of our rivers.  Not fleeting but enduring.

ORT shares it’s energy.  Like a paddler picking up another thumbing a ride to the put in we give back.  Our coffers are nearly empty at the end of each season.  Events are run to cover costs, and fundraisers keep our vehicles on the road and make it manageable for our paddlers to participate.  We sell or raffle gear below wholesale, hand out t-shirts and shwag, provide free barbeques and beverages at our events, and do a lot of darn work pulling it all together.  The return is amazing.  Paddlers are independent and self sufficient by nature yet we help lay the platforms to start and maintain relationships.  The river is always the blessed medium.  We hug each other after months and sometimes years of separation.  Our stories make the camp fire glow.  The water returns to the sea and comes back in another form to facilitate yet another adventure.  So will we.  ORT.  Fleeting and enduring.                        Oregonraftingteam.com