Who Is Lastdescents?
This is a list of our dedicated team.In addition to the names below, Last Descent’s growing list of advisors include individuals from top environmental and social organizations in China, including Green Watershed; Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity; The Nature Conservancy; UNESCO; and Conservation International. It also includes individuals from successful commercial rafting companies in the United States and abroad. Our core crew of guides is experienced, passionate, education-oriented, safe, and most important, willing to learn.
 Na Ming Hui: General Manager
Na Ming Hui, age 42, worked in the Business Registration Bureau and for Save the Children before starting ‘Paul’s Shop,’ Kunming’s first western foods store, in 1994. In 1996 and 1998 he participated in two of Yunnan’s earlier river expeditions and in 2003 and 2004 he coordinated and participated in two multi-month river expeditions on the Mekong with a team of Japanese explorers. He is experienced with negotiating Chinese bureaucracy, however his motivation for founding LD stems from a belief that obtaining rafting permits for operating Chinese river trips should be determined by a fairly negotiable legal system.
 Travis Winn: General Manager, Guide
Travis, age 22, has been participating in river trips in China since the age of 16 and leading river trips in China since the age of 19. He has spent nearly three years in China, lead seven major expeditions and participated in four others, and spent much of the past three years researching how to give Chinese the opportunity to see their rivers. Studying Asian Studies at the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College, he realized that for the time being he could learn more about development in western China by organizing education-oriented river trips there than he could in school. He speaks proficient Chinese. In the past he has professionally guided in Grand Canyon and he grew up running rivers over the American Southwest.
 Kristen McDonald: Guide, Outreach Coordinator
Kristen is working on a PhD at University of California, Berkeley on local water management and water use in the Salween valley. A Yale graduate, in the past she has worked for American Rivers, a Washington DC based non-profit dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy natural rivers and the variety of life they sustain for people, fish, and wildlife. She has also worked as a professional river guide. She has participated in two major rafting expeditions in China, and was involved in coordinating both of them. She speaks fluent Chinese.
 Adam Elliott: Guide, Webmaster
Adam is on the Board of Directors for Grand Canyon Discovery, one of the Grand Canyon’s largest and most progressive rafting companies. He has participated in one major expedition in China. He graduated from the University of Oregon’s architecture program and for his thesis created plans for a School of Sustainable Architecture in Kunming. He grew up running rivers in the American Southwest and has worked as professional river guide in Grand Canyon for eight years.
Pete Winn: Guide, Advisor, and Online Marketing
Pete Winn, age 57, first traveled to China in 1985 and has been running exploratory river trips there since 1994. He is the Director of Earth Science Expeditions, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization devoted to researching and exploring rivers in China as well as its subsidiary company, Shangri-La River Expeditions. He manages www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com, the most comprehensive resource on river running in China. A geologist by training, his original motivation for river running in China was to conduct geological reconnaissance in roadless areas. In the late 1960s and 1970s he was extensively involved in the development of commercial river running in Grand Canyon National Park and served as one of the National Park Service’s first river rangers.
Pete Winn: Guide, Advisor, and Online Marketing
Pete Winn, age 57, first traveled to China in 1985 and has been running exploratory river trips there since 1994. He is the Director of Earth Science Expeditions, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization devoted to researching and exploring rivers in China as well as its subsidiary company, Shangri-La River Expeditions. He manages www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com, the most comprehensive resource on river running in China. A geologist by training, his original motivation for river running in China was to conduct geological reconnaissance in roadless areas. In the late 1960s and 1970s he was extensively involved in the development of commercial river running in Grand Canyon National Park and served as one of the National Park Service’s first river rangers.
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