Why Upper Valley Financial Consulting?

Class 1: Very small rough areas, might require slight maneuvering. (Skill level: Very basic)
Class 2 Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require some maneuvering. (Skill level: Basic paddling skill)
Class 3 Small waves, maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering. (Skill level: Some experience in rafting)
Class 4 Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed.(Skill level: Exceptional rafting experience)
Class 5: Whitewater, large waves, large volume, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering. (Skill level: Full mastery of rafting)

In August of 1997, friends and I went white-water rafting on the New River in West Virginia.   There were about 15 of us that went. I remember the weekend exactly.  Why?  We went over the weekend of Labor Day and on the drive back we stopped for breakfast (since it was before newspapers went out of style) we grabbed a copy to read over the meal.  I know it was the last weekend of August. We took the paper out and on the cover it said Princess Dianna was in car crash.  That is why I remember the date.  The weekend, which we went back a few years later, was one of the most memorable trips I ever went on.  In the movies they say sequels are never as good as the original, I remember we went but don’t remember as the original trip.

The bridge over the gorge is featured in many movies and sports since many people either base jump off of it or bungee jump off of it since it is almost 900 feet high. We did not, but the trip down the river white-water rafting was the most exhilarating day I had.

So why was the trip so exhilarating?  Eight of us where in a raft, and you have a paddle and you need it to brace your leg into the raft.  The trip down was calm followed by class-3 rapids followed by calm followed by class-4 rapids.  Mix a few more class 2, 3, 4, and 5s to keep it interesting.  A few other memorable parts and one of them I will discuss in a later blog.

That trip is the basis for this name.  I will be talking about how that trip is played out on the professional side with ERP and software selection and business in general. I will also talk about how this played out in my life life also.

I called us Upper Valley as we all have the different classes of river in our journey down the river. That trip I took twenty years ago summarizes the excitement, the stress, the exhilaration of the unknown.  You do not know the river and how it is going to be on the trip.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafting#Classes_of_white_water
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_(Kanawha_River_tributary)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_Gorge_Bridge