Carmen E. Kuntz

Freelance Writer and Photographer

Ontario, Canada

Sharing my passion for environmental conservation and self-propelled exploration in honour of the wild people and places that make everyday an adventure.

Carmen E. Kuntz

Freelance Writer and Photographer

Ontario, Canada

Sharing my passion for environmental conservation and self-propelled exploration in honour of the wild people and places that make everyday an adventure.

Hell or High Water
It’s spring thaw in eastern Ontario. Rivers are high, fueled by snowmelt and seasonal rain. It’s an overcast Saturday in May and a crowd of people gather at the edge of a raging rapid overlooking a massive crashing wave-hole called Lovers. At erratic intervals, rafts, kayaks and canoes plunge through the rapid, with varying levels of success and style.
Duct Tape Diaries - NRS
Balkan Rivers Tour 2 – Part 3, Morača Action
From high alpine boulder gardens to the beaches of the Adriatic Sea, the Balkan River Tour team paddled into the surf in Montenegro on April 30th, completing their second source-to-sea descent of the month. Paddling for eight days straight the team descended from the alpine source of the Morača River, running continuous class V whitewater for a day and a half.
Kayak Session Magazine
Balkan Rivers Tour 2 – Slovenia, Greece, Albania, Montenegro
Massive marble trout dart underneath the flotilla of creek boats as they drift through the emerald water of the Soča River in western Slovenia. The Balkan Rivers Tour 2 has just commenced, and mood on the water is an organic combination of paddling, partying and river conservation. One by one, each boat drops into the playful boulder gardens of the upper Soča River, a free flowing section of whitewater that sees thousands of kayakers and rafters each year.
Kayak Session Magazine
DINARIC ALPS EXPEDITION – ALBANIA RECAP
Sometimes, it’s easier to look on the bright side – to focus on beauty and clear water, wild rapids and wildlife – than it is to stare straight at a garbage-clogged tributary, or concrete filled river. In Greece, we were exposed to remote and absolutely breathtaking canyons. But as we traveled north, this kind of untouched wilderness was harder to find, as the people of Albania struggle to carve out a life in a developing country.
Balkan Rivers Tour Blog
DINARIC ALPS EXPEDITION – GREECE RECAP
After one week in Greece, it feels like we have seen only a fraction of the snow and whitewater that the Pindus Mountains have to offer. Full days were spent exploring and ski touring in the Lakmos and Smolikas Mountains. We found tons of late season snow and a combination of stunning/challenging terrain and mellow turns.
Balkan Rivers Tour Blog
Guardians of Rivers: Wildwater in Greece
(PUBLISHED IN SLOVENIAN) While drifting by in the deep turquoise water of the Arahtos River , I lean back and look up. The sun is setting over the canyon walls and electric colour of fresh leaves lights up on the background of orange, black and gray vertical limestone walls. This is one of those exceptional moments when you think you're dreaming and you can not believe that somewhere so beautiful exists.
Delo Newspaper - Slovenia
Balkan Rivers Tour 2 Dispatches: Part 1
The sun is just peaking out over the Julian Alps, in western Slovenia. A lone skier starts down the mountain, making sharp turns on the crisp snow as a paraglider comes whipping overhead, skis dangling in the air. These are the starting minutes of Balkan Rivers Tour 2, a river conservation movement that has been gaining momentum since it’s start this time last year.
Rapid Magazine
Maniflowba
Damp brush crackles in the fire, hissing with moisture as last night’s embers ignite. The first rays of muted, golden sunlight cut through the smoke as it climbs into the cloudless autumn sky. Fall has arrived on the Nelson River in northern Canada. The morning is completely calm. Except for the thunder of whitewater.
Sidetracked Magazine
Huntsville, Muskoka: Winter’s Outdoor Adventure HQ
Muskoka’s biggest town is a beacon for those who embrace the snowy season and all things outdoors. The list of things to do in Huntsville this winter is longer than a luge run – but this should come as no surprise. Outdoor adventure is practically the town’s middle name in all four seasons, and the colder months are no exception.
MORAČA – SKADAR LAKE – BOJANA ACTION RECAP
There is a special connection formed, between a paddler and a river, when it’s paddled from source to sea. Seeing the changes of the rock formation and vegetation. From alpine shrubs and rock gardens, to stark canyon walls with dancing grasses and fig trees, the changes are visible but also tangible.
Balkan Rivers Tour Blog
Torrance Barrens Dark Skies Preserve
Discover the adventure in darkness in Ontario's Torrance Barrens Dark Skies Preserve.
MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2016
Sweden's Untouched Whitewater
Windblown snowdrifts dappled by the soft light of the midnight sun make the winding, wilderness roads of rural northern Sweden look like a painting from the front of a Christmas card. Instead of a tree tied to the roof, this car carries bright green and red kayaks. Tyler Curtis slams the brakes as a reindeer wanders out of the forest and into the road.
Rapid Magazine
Ontario's Sisterhood of the Wake
Erika Langman on the new tricks and big air of the province's women of wake.
Mountain Life Magazine
Before the Drop
Ontario-born pro whitewater kayakers Kalob Grady and Ben Marr talk about waterfall drops and how media tells less than half the story.
Mountain Life Magazine
The 5 S's of Healing
Recovering from adventure sport injuries doesn’t get easier with practice. Over the years I’ve developed long list of injuries and a short list of tools that help keep mind and body, both fit and happy.
Mountain Life Magazine
Rapid Magazine
Two committed kayakers are on a cold-water recon mission to put northern Sweden's scenic, vast and varied world of whitewater on the map.
Rapid Magazine

About

Carmen E. Kuntz

Freelance Writing

Photography

Web Content

Social Media

Editing

I’m a dreamer, a day-light skinny dipper and a cinnamon bun connoisseur.
I’m a bike riding, flip-flop wearing, whiskey drinker. I’m a sushi chief, a chance taker and mistake maker,
a professional dirt magnet and compassion giver.
I’m an inconsistent yogi and student of meditation,
an accident prone adventurer and an artist of tan lines.
I have a masters in laughter and am happiest floating in whitewater.
I’m an avid listener, a loud talker and an energy giver,
a water worshiper and I’ve got good friends and bad habits.
I’m a big sister, a little sister and a best friend,
I make mistakes, I fall hard and occasionally light things on fire.

A more formal introduction:
I'm a regular contributor at Rapid Magazine and Mountain Life Magazine where I write about my two passions; the environment and adventure sports. My Geography degree is highlighted by my interest in human and large carnivore interactions in the backcountry. I’m passionate about river conservation and protecting Canadian wetlands.

I aspire to share my passion for environmental conservation and self propelled exploration in honour of the wild people and places that make everyday an adventure.

-Carmen