Media Contact: Don van Hout

Fifteen hours before the launch of a two-month, 1538 kilometre mountaineering, hiking, and canoeing adventure, Connecting the Drops expedition leader Don Van Hout will be in Edmonton to meet with media.  Athabasca Expedition members will start their journey with a mountaineering trip to the glacial source of the river - the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park. After descending from the glacier, the team will hike down the Athabasca headwaters, and then launch a four to five week canoe journey that will conclude at the Peace-Athabasca Delta in late July.
Along the way, the expedition will raise awareness about one of Canada's most historic and significant watersheds - from glaciers and boreal forest threatened by global climate change, past rapidly expanding oil sands developments, and into one of the largest inland freshwater deltas in the world.
 

Who:    Don Van Hout, Expedition Leader
What:   Launch of Athabasca River Expedition: Connecting The Drops
When:   Monday, June 18 at 11:00 a.m. MST
Where:  Louise McKinney Riverfront Park
The park is adjacent to downtown Edmonton, immediately south of the Shaw Conference Centre at 9529 Grierson Hill.
 
Background:  A full itinerary, background, and opportunities for the media to participate and cover the trip, is available at http://www.connectingthedrops.ca/media-release/1473
(Scroll to bottom of the on-line media release for the media opportunities.)
 
If you have any questions contact:

Don Van Hout, Expedition Leader
Cell: 403-390-1220

Danielle Droitsch
Expedition Media Coordinator
Cell: 403-678-7964