Frequently Asked Questions
We have a huge variety of equipment which can support people of all ages and abilities. We also have the ability to modify equipment for an individual’s comfort and capabilities. We have several styles and types of cycles, trail riders, kayaks, paddle boards, and even canoes. We even have winter equipment. We are a year-round provider of outdoor sport and recreation. You can see some of our equipment HERE!
Below are some of the equipment we commonly use on CRIS programs (not exhaustive):
Adaptive cycling and related
- Single trikes (including e-assist)
- Single step-through bikes
- Single recruitment trikes
- Tandem upright bikes
- Tandem recumbent bikes
- Hand cycles
- All-terrain mountain e-bikes
- All terrain mountain hand cycle (coming soon)
- Front drives attachments for wheelchairs
Adaptive hiking
- TrailRider
- Trekking poles
Adaptive paddling
- Tandem and single kayaks (sit-in and sit-on-top)
- Pontoon outriggers can be added to most any boat
- One-arm rigour devices
- Accessible SUP and canoes
General adaptations that can be employed in variety of outdoor activities
- Supportive seat inserts
- Lateral support devices
- Transfer equipment + lifts
- more!
Please contact the CRIS office if you need any more information. We accommodate any ability and have a trained crew of volunteers to support these trips.
Email [email protected] or call the office 250-979-3941. If you are new to CRIS there will be some paperwork to fill out and sign which includes liability waivers (CRIS Liability Waiver – Summer Activities – CRIS Liability Waiver – Winter Activities) and a health information form as well as some information to complete your annual registration with CRIS. There is a nominal annual registration fee which does change and there are some options so please call the office for more information. This registration fee gets you access to the programs, to discounted rentals and to special events. Once registered, you can sign up for trips for a nominal fee in our pay as you go registration or the all in registration. Call for more details.
There is an annual registration fee for the season (April 1 to March 31 following year) plus trip fees (usually around $35 for individual trips but we also offer package deals and unlimited memberships). If cost is a barrier, there are scholarship funds available. Contact us for more information on these funds or fees in general.
There will always be a trip leader to guide and oversee the outing and safety and volunteers to support, but our goal is to provide you with as much independence as you desire.
Our trip leaders and volunteers will always provide the assistance you need while on a trip. All you need to do is ask and we are happy to help. We do get to know you and in advance of your first trip we do an intake with you to ensure we understand your needs either through your or your caregiver. Our goal is to ensure you feel comfortable and safe.
Due to the safety precautions that we employ at CRIS, we can’t entertain a drop-in approach. If you have registered with CRIS and do not find our programs suitable for you, we will most definitely refund your registration fee. To date, we have never had this happen. The value is most definitely something our clients see right away. The registration process ensures that the trips can be safe and tailored to your needs. CRIS is a registered service provider for residents of the Okanagan, however, we do have a provision for visitors to our region that gives access without the registration fee (registration process is still required) with a visitor access fee structure. Please call the office for these rates.
All Adaptive Adventure trips are scheduled on the calendar HERE.
We offer the majority of programs based on pre-planned offerings though we do make special exceptions and ‘customized’ trips. If you would like to schedule a trip not on the calendar, email or phone us and we will work together to make something happen based on availability of our team members. If you want to rent equipment, www.adaptiverentals.ca has an online booking and payment system.
Yes. Anyone participating on a CRIS trip (participant, volunteer, support staff, friend, family member, etc), needs to sign a liability waiver that corresponds with the activities.
The waivers can be read and signed here:
Booking as soon as possible helps us know if a trip or program can be run but try to have booked at least a week in advance. Please try to book farther ahead especially for our multi-week programs! This allows us to reach out to have our teams assigned. Most of our team members are volunteers so we try to ensure we respect their calendars and availability as well.
Absolutely! Unfortunately due to COVID, numbers in our trip groups have to follow provincial health orders according to the activity, so we might not be able to accommodate these requests in 2021. Please consult with us. However in normal circumstances we love having family and friends along! Just let us know so we can ensure we have accurate numbers for equipment and they will have to sign a waiver.
It depends on the activity and the needs of the individuals within the group. Let us know what you would like to plan, the CRIS clients involved, and we will work to make something work! Unfortunately due to COVID, numbers in our trip groups have to follow provincial health orders according to the activity so we might not be able to accommodate these requests in 2021.
Email or call us! Let us know what you want to do and when you want to do it and we will plan together.
Our mandate at CRIS is to break down barriers. This includes financial barriers. We don’t want anyone to face a challenge to outdoor sport and recreation. We have partnered with local business to create the #getoutside fund. The idea of this fund is that it is a low-barrier way to access funding for individuals. We recognize that many of our clients are on a fixed income of differing degrees, and we don’t want that to be a barrier to improving mental and physical health. All you need to do is let our program coordinator know that you can pay a portion of the trip fee, or none at all and they can connect you with the fund. It is a very confidential program again ensuring your privacy in what can be a delicate matter. All we ask is that if you can afford some of the trip fee or expenses that you do so to ensure we can spread this fund around to the greatest degree possible.
As a charity, our funding model needs to be diverse. CRIS applies for grants from private, community and government programs to assist with the cost of operational and program expenses such as rent, vehicles, insurance utilities and wages, program delivery, and repairing or replacing equipment. We also fundraise and collect individual and corporate donations and work with in kind donations as much as possible to balance things out. With the support of a UBCO student team a few years ago, we completed a project that determined the actual cost of running our programs and the average cost per client/participant was $350-$450 per trip, with all expenses captured right down to the gas and insurance to run a vehicle. This is heavily subsidized by the revenue explained to ensure access is possible for our clients in the communities we serve. We are extremely careful with the dollars we do collect and are very diligent in our stewardship of these funds. We keep costs to a minimum everywhere possible and rely heavily on trained volunteers to help us deliver our programs as part of our delivery strategy which keeps our costs down.
Being a year round service provider of outdoor sport and recreation outings, we rotate through the various municipal parks, regional parks and provincial parks weekly depending on the time of year. We are currently partnered with RDCO (Regional District of the Central Okanagan), City of West Kelowna, City of Kelowna, BC Parks, Telemark Nordic Centre, Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre. We can be found trekking above Peachland, cycling in Lake Country, paddling in Vernon, hiking in Rose Valley and just about anywhere in the region doing any of the things we love to do!
Volunteer – We rely heavily on our volunteers to support CRIS in many ways from running trips, to transporting equipment, to help with general office duties. If you have any skills or certifications that you think could be utilized by CRIS and want to support our mandate of helping people get outside, contact us at [email protected]
Roles in which we need volunteers
- Hiking, cycling, and paddling trip
- Equipment transport
- Equipment and vehicle maintenance
- Photography and videography
- Database entry
Donate – become a donor, being a registered Canadian charity CRIS will supply you with a tax receipt for which you may be eligible for up to 57% of your donation as a tax credit (depending on your tax bracket and province)
-
- The Charitable Donations Tax Credit can be up to 33 percent of the amount you donated at the federal level. You may also be entitled to an additional amount reaching up to 24 percent of your donation depending on your province of residence.)
- We are truly grateful for every dollar of support – you can donate direct or join our monthly giving campaign through Canada Helps. We accept e-transfers through [email protected] (please ensure you supply name and address otherwise we won’t know who it came from) by Visa or Mastercard over the phone or through Canada Helps or we have been known to take cheques too.
- CRIS also accepts gifts of securities through its Legacy program;
- You can become a corporate partner/sponsor of events or equipment, or if you know anyone who works for a company that has a “matching donation” or “employee match” program, let them know about CRIS and how much the support means;
Share the good news – if you are or become a client, tell us your story, write a review, offer to help spread the stories by following CRIS on social media
Adaptive Adventures: AA (as we call it) is our urban based fully guided and supported day programs. These are 2-4 hour duration trips in a variety of disciplines; hiking, cycling, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, SUP, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. We operate year-round. We are an Okanagan supplier of programs, offering fully guided and supported outings utilizing our adaptive equipment and expertise, passion and empathy from Peachland to Vernon (currently)
Adaptive Wilderness Expeditions: (formerly Adaptive Travel) AWE is our wilderness-based programming. Full day or multi day trips in the front country or back country are created and executed by highly trained guides, Search and Rescue personnel, firefighters and fire service staff along with passionate outdoor enthusiasts. These trips happen all over British Columbia and even outside the Province and can be just about any activity our clients can dream up. We have gone trekking on glaciers, paddling on the ocean, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, camping, and rock climbing. These trips are often once in a lifetime or even end of life wish list items and our job to make the experience unforgettable.
Adaptive Rentals: AR is a new program for CRIS. Our other programs promote independence in a guided and supported environment while AR promotes full independence by making adaptive equipment available to renters for their own independent experience. Like a traditional rental program that makes equipment available to those that want to access equipment they cannot afford on their own, wish to get out and do an activity to try it out before they buy or even those that just want a one off outing as part of a staycation or vacation, AR provides an inclusive option.