Moscow, Idaho and Boulder, Colorado — Northwest River Supplies (NRS), the world’s leading supplier of equipment and apparel for water recreation, safety and rescue, is excited to announce the launch of PaddleWays, the first-ever navigation app built specifically for paddlers. Joining forces with onWater, the most innovative water recreation GPS navigation and mapping app, NRS is excited to serve paddlers with new tools and technology to help improve experiences on the water.
“While other adventure sports have long benefitted from widely used mobile technologies, paddlesports has been left behind, until now,” says NRS chief marketing officer, Mark Deming. “Our vision for PaddleWays is to continue breaking down barriers to the outdoors, delivering the tools that help all paddlers access the information they need to get out on the water.”
Known for their fishing app, onWater provides detailed information on thousands of miles of rivers, creeks and shorelines across the United States. Satellite imagery provides GPS-specific points of interest and public versus private property boundaries along river corridors. Using a mobile device, users can track their current location and movement or calculate distances, in river miles, to any point of interest including access points, boat ramps, campgrounds, river hazards, rapids and more.
A fully integrated photo and journal feature also allows users to use GPS-specific data to record and relive their adventures. PaddleWays harnesses this powerful technology to deliver an all-in-one tool for discovering, planning and navigating experiences on the water.
“It’s about time we brought these tools to the paddling community,” says Alex Maier, onWater chief marketing officer. “We’re proud of our deep bank of data and mapping that gives paddlers all the beta they need—right at their fingertips. And because we’re constantly adding rivers and updating information, the community plays an active role in building this experience as we go.”
The PaddleWays app will serve as a guidebook and GPS navigation technology, with offline capabilities, to help paddlers make informed decisions on and off the water. Additionally, in cooperation with American Whitewater, a river conservation organization, the team aims to utilize the app to promote responsible use and to protect rivers and streams across the country. NRS is donating one percent of its PaddleWays app sales to American Whitewater.
“American Whitewater has been committed to providing easy access to river information in pursuit of creating a safer river going experience for almost 70 years, and we’re excited to partner with NRS and the PaddleWays app to offer new and exciting tools to better inform river runners,” says Evan Stafford, American Whitewater communications director. “We hope PaddleWays app users will take seriously the river safety and responsibility code we’ve helped to include with its purchase, and that as river users we can all work together to help protect, restore and maintain access to our rivers.”
About NRS
100 percent employee-owned, NRS is the world’s leading supplier of equipment and apparel for water recreation, safety and rescue. Founded in 1972 with a vision to create a better kind of company, NRS is dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of its customers, employees and community. For more information on NRS, visit nrs.com, email the company at [email protected] or call 877.677.4327.
About onWater
As an outdoor recreation technology and data provider, onWater is revolutionizing the way water enthusiasts discover, plan, track and experience their best days on the water. The onWater platform has been designed to help distribute recreation, increase safety on the water, and bring awareness to critical conservation, access and stewardship topics across the nation. To learn more about onWater, subscribe and download by visiting onwaterapp.com, email the company at [email protected] or call 720.316.4257.
About American Whitewater
American Whitewater is a national non-profit 501c(3) river conservation organization founded in 1954 with approximately 7,000 members and 85 local-based affiliate clubs, representing whitewater enthusiasts across the nation. American Whitewater’s mission is to protect and restore America’s whitewater rivers and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely. The organization is the primary advocate for the preservation and protection of whitewater rivers throughout the United States, and connects the interests of human-powered recreational river users with ecological and science-based data to achieve the goals within its mission. Learn more at americanwhitewater.org.
