Paddling Maps announced this week its partnerships with paddlesports market leaders Aqua-Bound, Kokatat and Northwest River Supplies (NRS). Paddling Maps is a crowd-sourced paddling location website created by Aquabatics, Rapid Media and Apero Creative Development. These new industry partnerships assists in funding further development of both Paddling Maps desktop site and mobile app.
Aqua-Bound, Kokatat and NRS will be featured on paddlingmaps.com, receiving priority on regional moderation and they be recognized with partner status on all marketing and promotional materials.
Paddling Maps marketing manager, Cristin Plaice, comments: “Aqua-Bound, Kokatat and NRS are leading paddlesports brands. Having these three large and innovative producers of paddling gear and their teams joining Paddling Maps speaks to the project’s potential. This collaboration allows us to further our vision of building and rolling out a route management system for paddlers, clubs, businesses and other organizations.”
Launched in 2018, Paddling Maps is quickly becoming a top resource for paddling communities to engage with local and visiting paddlers. It is a tool for quickly checking local water levels, but also for gaining beta and executing trips in new regions.
“Our industry has desperately needed a tool like this for many years and we’re excited for our customers to leverage this tool and get out on the water more often,” says Aqua-Bound Marketing Manager, Andrew Stern. “The team at Aqua-Bound takes many paddling trips every year and will begin taking advantage of this tool immediately, including adding our own favorite routes to the site.”
Paddling Maps is a pervasive tool in the paddling industry with brands, clubs, retailers and kayak schools all using it in their own ways. Local paddlers keeping their rivers up-to-date for clients, members and friends will ensure PaddlingMaps.com is a resource full of paddling locations drawing travelers all over the world.
NRS Director of Marketing, Mark Deming is excited about the potential of Paddling Maps, “Devices and apps have revolutionized outdoor sports such as hiking, mountain biking and climbing by putting quality information and interactive maps in the pocket of every puffy coat. Platforms like Trailforks and Mountain Project make hiking, mountain biking and climbing in new areas less sketchy and intimidating. Paddling Maps has the potential to do the same for paddlesports. And the more of us who join and contribute, the more useful and comprehensive it will become.”
“At the beginning of this project we hoped to be at around 250 Paddling Maps entries,” says Paddling Maps founder, Simon Coward. “We are well over 300 now and seeing more additions even through the off-season. Industry support and an amazing group of moderators and contributors have made this possible.”
The goal for this time next year will be to get to 500 paddling options from lake paddling through to class V whitewater. As Paddling Maps continues to expand its moderator group, the team is excited to see new paddling zones and areas start to grow on the site.
“Simon Coward is one of the beacons for the new generation of paddlesports retailers,” says Kokatat Sales Manager, Jeff Turner. “Paddlingmaps.com brings the next level of beta to the paddling community. With the contribution from Rapid Media, our team at Kokatat immediately wanted to be involved.”
This collaboration with leading paddlesports brands like Aqua-Bound, NRS and Kokatat allows Paddling Maps to continue improving its desktop user experience.
Additional partnerships will kick off Phase III of development. Phase III is the development of the mobile app which will be usable in offline mode anywhere we paddle. This ensures driving directions, maps, campsites, rapids and all other route information is available to users without cellular network coverage.
Find out about becoming a partner here.
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