pure life adventures (adventure travel) - day tours

I took the Compass Schumpass course with Pure Life Adventures a couple of weeks ago and had such a blast, and expanded my knowledge of outdoor navigational tools. What a great way to get outdoors and try something new! It's especially fun to do the course with a friend or group of friends because it's fun to work your way through some of the navigational activities. Highly recommend this day trip! The lunch provided, and scenic drive into Ladysmith, was also awesome!

I participated in the Compass Schumpass workshop with Pure Life Adventures, May 2013. It was a great one day workshop that covered basic navigation skills like: reading a topographic map, recognizing landscape features on a topographic map, plotting the “best route” on a map, the different parts of a compass, how to set your bearing and use a compass, etc. The day was a good mix of tutorial and hands-on activities. Ray does a great job of explaining the theory and then provides fun challenges for you to test your new knowledge.I’ve loved all my adventures with Pure Life Adventures. Ray is a great instructor – knowledgeable, patient and non-judgemental. He doesn't make you feel bad if it takes you a while to “get it” right away. The Compass Schumpass course is a great intro to navigation and good refresher for those who haven’t actively “navigated” in a couple of years. I would definitely recommend it!

We participated in the full day winter survival course. It was a beautiful drive from Ottawa and Ray, the owner of Pure Life, was an awesome host. 7 other people participated in the course as well and the mood was fun and relaxed.The morning was filled with discussion, coffee and snacks and I learned quite a bit. We then went out for a snow shoe hike and were introduced to properties of the forest. We began building a quinzee, and had lunch while we let the snow set. In the afternoon we completed the quinzee (great photo opportunities here), built a fire on the snow and then went back inside and went over a survival scenario. This was a great way to spend a day outside.Thanks for a great day Ray! Vero and Ben

I had the opportunity to participate in a 2 day whitewater canoe course with Pure Life Adventures this Spring - and it was awesome!The course began with a review of basic paddle strokes (flat water) and an introduction to different whitewater strokes. After a bit of practicing, we paddled over to our base camp which was an island on the beautiful Madawaska River.After setting up camp, Ray, our guide, took us back out on the water...this time to the whitewater. We practiced basic whitewater maneuvers in a small set of rapids for the rest of the afternoon. We tipped a couple (ahem) of times, but the water was warm and it gave us the opportunity to practice canoe-over-canoe rescues!In the evening Ray taught us the different features of whitewater and how to read the river.The next day we began to run rapids! We would put the theory Ray taught us the night before into practice by scouting each set of rapids before we ran them. This was one of the highlights of the course for me! We did not just blindly follow our guide down the river - we learnt how to read the river and weigh the different options for how to run the rapids. It was empowering to learn how to read the river this way. We spent the second day running rapids and practicing different skills, like ferrying and eddying out.Safety was definitely a priority for our guide, Ray. So was proper nourishment! The food was filling and plentiful and Ray did a great job accommodating our various dietary restrictions.This course did a great job of keeping both the adrenaline junkies in the group and those who were more apprehensive about running the rapids, engaged and entertained. I would highly recommend Pure Life Adventures for canoe instruction. You won't be disappointed!

Had plans to visit Ottawa during their Winterlude festival in February and wanted to do some outdoor adventures like we had in Quebec City the year before. Chose Pure Life Adventures after seeing their website online based on a "gut-feeling" from their website, but also the promptness of Ray's (the owner) responses to my e-mail queries. Was well worth the "throwing of the dice" to go with him! We spent the morning in the Ladysmith, QC area on a sleigh ride and the afternoon in the Shawville at what can best be described as a dog-sledding track. Had a blast in both places and definitely would recommend it in a heart-beat. Ray took great care of us and everything went very smoothly and was (more importantly) a blast! Ray actually works with several other groups in the region, organizing lots of outdoor adventures with people who have lots more expertise than he does, as you go dog-sledding, snow-shoeing, etc. It's a great arrangement for everyone involved!!!!