Esprit Whitewater owner selling rafting portion of business to former guides

Esprit Whitewater owner selling rafting portion of business to former guides

The owner of Esprit Whitewater in Davidson is selling off the rafting portion of his business to two former river guides in order to refocus his energies on new challenges.

Jim Coffey has been at the helm of Esprit since 1992 and over the years has added many offerings beyond whitewater rafting, from canoe trips and whitewater rescue training, to guiding trips in Costa Rica and Mexico during the winter months. Now 60, he said that he wanted to focus more on other aspects of the business, like instructor development and expanding their southern operations.

Another goal of his includes the promotion and protection of the Coulonge and Noir Rivers, two tributaries that flow into the Ottawa near Esprit’s site, by expanding their ecotourism activities there.

Coffey said that he was interested in selling to Danny Peled and Ty Smith of Boreal River Adventures because he’s known them both since their early teens, and he thought they would have the skills and knowledge of the region to take the business forward.

Peled explained that they will be taking over Esprit’s properties on l’Ile-du-Grand-Calumet, their lease for a put-in site as well as their rafting equipment. He said that they wanted to focus on multi-day rafting trips with wilderness camping as a way to differentiate themselves from the other outfitters on the river. He said that they would be readying their sites and doing some testing this summer, with the goal of rolling out fully in 2026.