Before breaking his back in 1997, Adrian was an enthusiastic climber and canoeist. He was a student in Bangor, studying Marine Biology, spending time on the rivers, hills and crags of North Wales. Holiday work included outdoor work in the USA and White-water Raft Guiding in Austria. After completing his degree he worked with Outward Bound in the Lake District but then went back to Bangor to do a teacher training prior to work in more centres and teaching in Scotland, which gave him free weekends to become addicted to winter climbing and teaching holidays to spend on mountains in the Alps and South America. The call of Outdoor Education was strong, so Adi went back to work for O.B in Fort William. Not long afterwards he broke his back. Since then he has been teaching at Atlantic College in South Wales. He has maintained a strong enthusiasm for kayaking which has led him to the surf beaches of Pembroke, to the rivers of Oregon and as a co-leader of a Sea Kayak trip in Norway.

Suresh is an award-winning designer and researcher specialising in the development of outdoor and sports equipment for disabled people. He has gathered a range of outdoor and expedition experience and qualifications over the last 16 years. He is the founder of the Adventure Designs Project and Brunel University's not-for-profit Design for Life Centre. He has recently moved to Scotland to join Karen and has established a new design consultancy, Equal Adventure Developments..."people-led design, design-led social change", with equity and creation of an accessible environment core to his work. Suresh is a keen open-boater, with a love for Arctic climes and expeditions.

Karen was a keen runner and mountaineer before becoming paralysed in a rock-climbing accident and has since pursued alternative ways to access the outdoors - canoeing, skiing, and hand-cycling. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship which she used to ski/hand-crank/kayak the length of the Japanese archipelago and has pedalled in various other places including Central Asia over the Himalayas, New Zealand, Turkey and smaller European tours. Karen founded the Scottish Hand-Cycling Club and Integrate Paddling, and competes for Britain as a member of the Trail Orienteering Team. Karen's background is as a geologist, and after a PhD at Aberdeen University, she joined Shell, where she now works in Learning & Development role, with a part-time secondment to the Royal Geographical Society on Inclusive Fieldwork & Expeditions.

Alan is a very experienced sea kayaker and has done instructional work at outdoor and sea kayaking centres in Scotland and Norway. In addition to sea kayaking he is a keen telemark skier, and when not on the water, he can often be found guiding and leading groups on Scotland's mountains and cliffs. He is currently teaching outdoor pursuits at Aberdeen College.

Ian was introduced to kayaking on the Thames estuary when he was 8 years old. He is now 35 and probably hasn't been fully dried out since. Ian loves a challenge especially when it involves endurance and water. His infectious enthusiasm and skills in big water have resulted in him being invited to join a range of adventures. In kayaking, he has finished in the top ten in 3 Devizes to Westminster kayak races and holds records for the fastest circumnavigation of Northern Scotland (Roof of Britain Kayak Expedition), Britain-Ireland crossing and English Channel crossing. He has competed in the Western Isles Challenge and was part of the winning team in 2000. Still on the water, he has competed in numerous Round Britain and Ireland and Fastnet Yacht Races. For rest, Ian enjoys mountaineering, hill walking, mountain biking and on recently moving to Aberdeen he has discovered hill running. His sporting achievements are of particular note given that his doctors advised him to quit sport following serous injuries in a car accident 15 years ago.

Tony has been kayaking for about 10 years - sea, whitewater and surf. He organised and paddled extended expeditions to Norway and UK islands and coastlines, and has paddled whitewater extensively in Europe. He recently travelled to Nepal for a month to paddle, trek and help run the PeakUK Himalayan WhiteWater Challenge to promote Kayaking in Nepal.Out of a boat Tony is into any and all adventure activities that involve getting out with folk and enjoying the outdoors . After a stint in the Royal Marine Reserve, Tony now works as a traffic management engineer for Derbyshire County Council.

Fran has been working as Access Officer for the Scottish Canoe Association for the past four years but is currently "resting between jobs" which gives her an ideal opportunity to say 'yes' to unexpected expedition offers. A keen sea kayaker, she started sea paddling ten years ago and is often found in the summer months exploring rocky beaches and coves of the west and north coasts of Scotland. She is also an active climber, mountaineer and skier; loves travelling to new places and in quieter moments is hoping to do some sketching when away on this trip. Her background is in social work but in the last ten years, she has worked in outdoor education, mountain safety, access and land reform.

Pete initially trained as an engineer after leaving school where he started kayaking as a teenager. His passion for canoe sport has continued through many career changes that have included youthwork, sports development, community education, social work and outdoor education. Most recently Pete lectured in the Outdoor Education Department of Edinburgh University but has now established himself as a freelance outdoor activity instructor based in Strathspey. Pete has paddled extensively both at home and abroad but still confesses that a good day off the west coast is as good as it gets. Pete sees himself as a bit of an all-rounder and professes to be as content half way up an ice climb as he is ski-ing the powder or watching sunsets in faraway places. Pete's interest in sea kayaking along Canada's Inside Passage was sparked off by a paddling trip to Canada's Gulf Islands two years ago. Pete has many aspirations for the 1000 mile journey from Vancouver to Juneau, not the least of which includes not being lunched by a bear!

When not working as a Subsea Support Engineer, Mark is paddling on White-water and around the Scottish coastline. He started paddling through the Scout Association in 1977, became an instructor and ran a small business coaching the sport whilst at college. He has expedition experience in Sweden, Australia & the Alps. He intends to feedback his experiences of the North Pacific Paddle into the Local Community through organisations such as Local Canoe Clubs, and the Aberdeen Sea Cadets, where he is an Instructor.

As secretary of Integrate Paddling Canoe Club in Aberdeen, Susi has been paddling on many sea trips around Scotland including Cape Wrath, Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye. She competes in K2 Marathon races and takes part in white-water trips as well. She is an Offshore Yachtmaster and holds the latest VHF Marine radio Licence.