RRFW Riverwire – GRAND CANYON LOTTERY HAPPENING NOW!

[Tom Martin]

RRFW Riverwire – GRAND CANYON LOTTERY HAPPENING NOW!
October 3, 2006

Grand Canyon National Park has initiated its first ever online lottery for river trips to raft the Colorado River in the park.

The online “Weighted Lottery” has two steps, a registration component and a lottery application component. Completion of the registration process allows entry to the lottery but does not require it. Registration is free and collects trip leader information.

River Runners for Wilderness urges anyone interested in a trip, now or in the future, to register. The park says registrants will be notified of ongoing lottery details via email.

Once registered, the second step is to submit an online lottery application. The application costs $25, and allows hopeful rafters to choose up to five dates from an online calendar.

River runners will need to decide the size of their group, as the available launch dates shown on the calendar change based on trip size. The two choices for trip size include a small trip size of 8 people or less, and a standard group size of 16 people or less.

Although the online calendar is divided into motorized and motor-free seasons, none of the 48 small trips are available in the motor-free season.

For standard sized trips, 90 launches are listed in the motor-free winter months of October through March, while 60 launches are in the motorized summer season of April through September.

The online lottery applications will be closing October 21, 2006. Permits will be awarded shortly after the lottery is held October 23, 2006. Be advised that winners will be immediately charged a substantial portion of the trip fees upon winning a date.

The on-line lottery registration and application can be found at

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisi...tedlottery.htm
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[rhm]

i consolidated with other people and now have a date in 2010. if i enter the lottery and get a trip next year will that disqualify me from going in 2010? or since i have a trip in 2010 am i allowed to apply for the lottery?

[Tom Martin]

Hi rhm, you are good to go in 2010, and you can still apply for every year till then. All the best of luck to you! Yours, Tom

[rhm]

is there any limit to how many trips i can go on between now and my trip in 2010. i know a lot of people who are entering the lottery and may be invited on their trips also.

[Tom Martin]

Hi rhm, ahhhh, the catch 22's....

You can only go on one trip a year. Only one, or any part of one. Only. This applies to all concessions passengers and all non-commercial river runners.

Yours, t

[rhm]

so i can go on one trip each year and still have my trip in 2010 corect? with the old waiting list you got kicked off if you went on too many trips before your name came up.

[Tom Martin]

Hi rhm, you are very correct! We did win some small changes from the NPS...yours, tom

[Tom Martin]

Hi rhs, on secind thought, it's not much of a trade off. In the Waiting List, you could go on one other noncommercial trip while you wiated. Now, to be a permit holder, you are going to have to wait at least 5 years away from the river to get 5 points, and have a hope at all of winning a summer date. So it's not much of a change...same wait, just a different mechanism. yours, t

[rhm]

i already have the extra 5 points, because i have never been on the canyon yet. as a future permit holder, am i not supposed to get the 5 points. you are kind of confusing me about this whole thing. i also would not want a summer date. i can't stand the smell and sound of outboard motors and i hate when the outside temp gets above 75 degrees. fall non motorized season for me. i think that river trips should be a wilderness experience. especially in a place like the grand canyon. outboards suck.

[poudreraft]

If I get a date through the lottery how long do I to get the $400 to the NPS in order to claim my spot? Also are the trips of varying length depending on which date you get? Thanks