AdvenChair, Wanderlust Tours team up for AdvenTours, accessible guided outings in special Central Oregon places

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The first AdvenTour will be offered the morning of Saturday, July 13 at Smith Rock State Park.
image courtesy of SmithRock.com

What do you get when you combine AdvenChair, developer of the world’s most durable all-terrain wheelchair, with Wanderlust Tours, Central Oregon’s leader in naturalist-guided adventures? You get AdvenTours, a variety of accessible outings that allow people with mobility challenges to explore Central Oregon’s most iconic wild places with expert guidance. 

Thanks to a grant from Visit Central Oregon’s Future Fund, a program that supports local tourism projects benefiting both visitors and residents, AdvenChair is making two new chairs available to Wanderlust Tours and kicking off a season of both publicly offered and private accessible tours – AdvenTours, if you will. 

As Oregon makes strides in providing access to the outdoors across the state, locals and visitors alike will be able to take advantage of this new partnership. For people with mobility challenges looking to take in Central Oregon’s most spectacular natural sights, or even a wobbly grandparent who wants to join a family outing, one of these guided adventures could be just the ticket. 

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the AdvenChair team to facilitate accessible tours in the Bend area,” said Courtney Braun, Owner of Wanderlust Tours. “For more than 30 years, Wanderlust has led folks into Central Oregon’s great outdoors to let Mother Nature do her magic. And now, those with mobility challenges can join us for adventures in these beautiful areas to come away inspired, educated and with great stories to tell.”

The first AdvenTour will be offered the morning of Saturday, July 13 at Smith Rock State Park. Adventurers will have more than two hours to take in views from the rim of the canyon, as well as explore trails along the Crooked River, where they can get close-up glimpses at climbers challenging the walls. 

Video: ‘Dreams are coming true’: ‘DREAM BOLDLY The Grand AdvenChair’ film, featuring inventor Geoff Babb, to debut at COCC

KTVZ interviews Babb and Outback Film Director Marcia Volk a few days prior to the event.

"DREAM BOLDLY: The Grand AdvenChair" is a documentary film that's making its debut Friday evening at Central Oregon Community College.

The 48-minute documentary features the story of Bend adventurer, entrepreneur and disability advocate Geoff Babb and the effort that led to the creation of the AdvenChair.

Babb suffered a near-fatal brain stem stroke that left him in a wheelchair and with only limited use of one hand. While the stroke forever changed his ability to move, Babb created a different way to enjoy the outdoors.

"His incredible and infectious will to dream boldly made me want to do the same," film director Marcia Volk said of Babb. "It was always my dream to create a documentary, and now we’ve both realized huge dreams.”

The AdvenChair, Babb's invention, is an all-terrain human-powered wheelchair that lets people with disabilities get off the beaten path.

"We built this chair from the ground up," Babb said Wednesday. "We used mountain bike parts, mountain bike wheels, brakes and a seat from a sit-ski." Babb said.

In the film, he takes the wheelchair on a rigorous four-day expedition down and back out of the Grand Canyon. 

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"After a stroke or some injury or illness, things will be different. But it doesn't mean you can't do things. You just have to find a different way to do them." Babb said. "Until you're really there, it's hard to imagine what it was like. I'm really excited to share that."

The documentary is currently in review by film festivals from coast to coast, and even the famous festival in Cannes, France.

"Thanks to Geoff, both of our dreams are coming true." Volk said.

The debut event takes place on Friday from 5-7 p.m. at Wille Hall on COCC’s Bend campus and will feature a presentation and Q&A with the filmmakers and expedition team following the film.  Tickets are free, but donations are encouraged to support the film.

The Oregon Outdoor Alliance and Stroke Awareness Oregon also will be attending, to share information about their organizations’ important work in Central Oregon.

Video: Annual Christmas Bird Count returns to Sunriver

This year, once again, the resort and Sunriver Nature Center are hosting the 2023 Christmas Bird Count, a nationwide Audubon Society tradition dating back 124 years. The birding event is a citizen science activity where participants count as many of the birds as they can find in a local 15-mile diameter circle. Geoff Babb joined the tradition with his AdvenChair.

Video: Central Oregon Makers: The AdvenChair

Thank you Visit Central Oregon for including AdvenChair in the Central Oregon Makers series. We are proud to help make the beauty of the region accessible to those with mobility challenges.

Geoff Babb is a former BLM fire ecologist and avid outdoorsman in Bend, Oregon. In 2005, a near-fatal brain stem stroke left him in a wheelchair with only the use of one hand. However, Geoff was determined to get back outside and found that his biggest obstacle to experiencing the great outdoors again was his inflexible wheelchair. With the help of his team, Geoff designed the AdvenChair 1.0 and then AdvenChair 2.0- an all-terrain wheelchair designed from mountain bike parts featuring an adjustable sit-ski seat, adjustable handlebars, larger 27.5-inch mountain bike wheels and high-grade aluminum mountain bike components throughout.

White Salmon native hikes Grand Canyon in wheelchair

By Alana Lackner: Columbia Gorge News

Geoff Babb and his team of “mules” made the 20-mile round trip down the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, nearly six years after their last attempt. All photos courtesy of Ethan Mentzer for AdvenChair

Growing up in White Salmon, Geoff Babb had always been a huge lover of nature and spending time outside. Between his work as a fire ecologist and his love for outdoor activities like skiing and backpacking, his active lifestyle had always been really important to him.

Then, in November 2005, he had a stroke that changed everything.

It could’ve killed him, and it almost did. It left him in a wheelchair, with only limited use of one of his hands. However, Babb wasn’t ready to give up the outdoors and all of the things he loved, despite the limitations of his chair.

Geoff Babb in hiking wheelchair AdvenChair on the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon

“Being outside was really important to me,” Babb said. “But I found out right away that the standard wheelchair wasn’t going to allow me to be outside the way I would like to be. So I started experimenting and modifying a standard chair.”

Babb and his friend Dave Neubauer, a helicopter mechanic, were able to modify his wheelchair, increasing the size of the tires, adding a detachable front wheel and handbrakes, and a harness that could let a small team guide him up and down steep terrain.

After a bunch of trials in the new all-terrain wheelchair, which they had dubbed the AdvenChair, they were ready to take on Babb’s dream: The Grand Canyon.

Geoff Babb supported by his team of “mules” on the Bright Angel Trail in his hiking wheelchair, the AdvenChair.

In 2016, they tried to take it into the Grand Canyon, but after about two miles, the frame broke. They had to get assistance from the Park Service to get back out.

Despite the disappointment at the time, Babb said that, in the long run, he was grateful the chair had failed then.

“That was actually a very good thing,” he said. “Because it caused them to redesign the chair from the ground up, literally.”

However, in 2017, as they were working on developing AdvenChair 2.0, Babb had another stroke, 12 years to the day after his first one. He found himself having to recover all over again, having to relearn how to eat and use his right hand again.

Geoff Babb and his AdvenChair team with his hiking wheelchair on an exposed trail in the Grand Canyon

Even another stroke couldn’t stop Babb, though. He was still determined to make his new AdvenChair  a reality, and to make it down the Grand Canyon, for real this time. By late 2019, AdvenChair 2.0 was a reality, and then in June 2021, AdvenChair 3.0 followed.

Then, finally, in May 2022, Babb and his team would take on the canyon again. And this time, they would succeed.

They set off down the Bright Angel Trail, the same as last time, but this time they would make it down and back: Over 20 miles, 10 times the distance they achieved in 2016.

The Bright Angel Trail is not a gentle one, either. It goes down 4,800 feet, with water bars, rock obstacles, and stretches of mud and sand. It was a four day trip, with the team taking on five miles of intense terrain a day. But even so, the chair held.

Of course, Babb didn’t do it alone. The AdvenChair takes a team of people, and he had a group of 10 people to help push, pull, and lift him on his way.

“I’m just really grateful for all my friends and family that helped make things happen,” he said.

The all-terrain wheelchair AdvenChair doesn't need trails to be accessible.

Though Babb currently lives in Bend and has for many years, he said White Salmon still influences his love for nature and the outdoors.

“It’s hard to not have a love for the outdoors when you look out the window and see Mount  Hood, as we did in the Gorge,” he said. “And to be able to go play in a creek and then getting older and being able to climb on Mount Hood and Mount Adams … Being able to be immersed and being in a wheelchair really caused me to have to think about how I can continue that relationship to the outdoors. It’s been a big driving force in my life. Not only to get myself out, but to allow others to be outside.”

This desire to help others in wheelchairs who, like him, may miss their connection to the outdoors, is why Babb sells and rents AdvenChairs.