White Water Massif Central [Paperback]

A very comprehensive book - especially for families wanting to go to this area for the first time.

WHITE WATER MASSIF CENTRAL

A canoeing guide to the Tarn, Ardèche, Dordogne, Lot, Allier, Hérault, Orb, Vézere and Célé.

First English guide to this popular region.
Over 800km of rivers class 1-3.
20 full page river maps.
A huge variety of runs.
World heritage villages.
Famous gorges and magnificent scenery,

This book is aimed at the family recreational tourist canoeist or kayaker and targets those rivers that have easy white water and assured water levels in the summer months of July and August, when most families have to take their holidays. New dams, reservoirs, and guaranteed water releases means that there is now a lot more paddling on these rivers in the summer months than most people may have imagined.

The Central Massif region of France is popular with British and other European holiday makers but up until now, there has been no paddling guidebook in English that covers the whole region - the most recent was published in 1985 in French so this new book fulfils a real need.

‘Fluffy’ is a character we hope our readers will relate to - he is a fluffy yellow duck who likes sunshine, warm rivers and the thrill of bouncing down easy rapids. In between the rapids he likes floating down in the sun, eating ice cream and is also partial to a glass of good French wine at the take out! He gets very nervous on anything more than class 3 but likes to pose for the camera and so naturally he features in numerous photos in the book.

White Water Massif Central

A new guide book for the family canoeist that targets those rivers with easy white water and assured water levels in the summer months.

First English guide to this popular region.
Over 800km of rivers class 1-3.
20 full page river maps.
A huge variety of runs.
World heritage villages.
Famous gorges and magnificent scenery,
Written for the family canoeist or kayaker.

Peter Knowles first paddled the rivers of the Massif Central with the Canoe Camping Club in 1968 and then for many seasons worked for PGL Adventure as river leader and instructor on the Ardèche

He has always liked canoe camping, and white water added the buzz of excitement, so he persisted in learning to roll - taking some four years - just in time for one of the first kayak trips down the Grand Canyon of the Colorado in 1973. Since then he has led many expeditions and run ‘quite a lot of rivers’ in many different countries and continents, including more than a few first descents. In 1983 he led his first trip to Nepal and since then has been exploring and running the rivers of the Himalaya - he was selected as one of 20 ‘modern explorers’ in an exhibition at Britain's Royal Geographical Society. More recent adventures include trips to Ecuador, Iran; first descents, and filming for American television in Mexico and Bhutan.
He wrote the first edition of White Water Nepal in 1992 and then became a specialist publisher. He now tries to stay warm and dry sitting in front of a word processor, writing about rivers. Friends keep trying to drag him off to some exotic river to get cold, wet and scared yet again - so the research and writing of White Water Massif Central seemed like a perfect excuse!