About Vertical Descents Cornwall

1998 Vertical Descents was born, deep in the wild and stunning Celtic highlands of Scotland. Vertical Descents soon developed as a family business to the far southern shores of Celtic Cornwall (Kernow) coast.

Our team of outdoor adventure personalities are dedicated to giving you a safe and memorable trip. These outdoor enthusiasts lead an extreme hedonistic lifestyle, all of them specialising in their own discipline, whether it’s surfing barrels in Indonesia or expedition white water kayaking in Nepal, they have been there and done it.

Brothers Ben Starkie and Sam Starkie are pioneers in Canyoning and Coasteering respectively, in 2001 Mel Starkie came on board with wealth of knowledge in Adventure sports industry. The Starkie family are proud to be leading the way in training and development of these outdoor adventure sports and are widely respected in the outdoor community.

Whether your a beginner or instructor, looking to take your skills or lack of, to the next level. We are on hand to help you achieve your goals and objectives.

We are inspected regularly and are AALA licensed to take under 18’s on adventurous activities.

We have public liability insurance for all that we do.

It is reccommend you have your own insurance to cover what ever your plans are.

Safety and professionalism is paramount to us, at Vertical Descents Cornwall.

We maintain regular C.P.D and ensure our teams qualifications and training up to date and current.

Sam Starkie, Founder and Director of Vertical Descents Cornwall. Sam is Hands on and when he is not busy running sessions will be training and assessing Guides and Instructors. He is an all round active outdoor adventurer. Sam was brought up on the coast and in the mountains of The Lake District. His family all keen outdoors people and heavily involved in the local Mountain Rescue, Mountaineering and being in the rivers was in his blood. His love for the ocean brought him to Cornwall and the development of Vertical Descents Cornwall was born. Sam has honed his skills and passion for all things outdoors and moved Vertical Descents from being the original Coasteering company in Cornwall to offering a range of activities and courses. He is a trainer and assessor for Coasteering, Lifeguarding and Paddle boarding and run a number of Instructor and guide courses throughout each year, passing on his knowledge and skills to the new generations of outdoor enthusiasts and Water people.

Sam

Director & Head Trainer/ Assessor

Mel Starkie, Co founder, director and all things technical. Mel can put her hand to anything. She has developed all of the booking system so that life is made easy for when you want to book and she has her finger on the pulse when it comes to anything new. Mel Specializes in teaching Paddleboarding and Kite sports and loves to be outdoors. When she isn't outdoors running activities or keeping the wheels on the smooth running of the centre, she will be found in our marketing department ensuring we are keeping our presence felt on and off line, so you guys can find us and we can take you on some amazing adventures.

Mel

Director & Instructor

Patrick Kendrew, Instructor and Guide. Pat has been working for us for the past 4 years where he has become a proficient Coasteering Guide trained and assessed to the National Coasteering Charter Award scheme. His knowledge and enthusiasm for the natural world is infectious. Born and Bred in North Devon Pat has a deep knowledge of the Ocean and natural history. He studied Pat is also a proficient and qualified Paddleboarder and Kayak Instructor. So when he isn't running Coasteering trips he will be guiding you along the coastline showing you all the Flora and fauna on top of the water. He is a keen surfer and Vanlife dweller.

Patrick

Guide and Instructor

Scott Brady has worked with us for several years

Scott Brady

Guide and TA

Why Us and What We Do.

We are a mobile adventure centre which enables us to use some of the best locations around Cornwall for our Activities. This also means that we can take the hassle out of travelling for you, by coming to you.

We use the best equipment we can get and if we can’t get the right equipment we develop it with the best companies. This enables you to have the best time, being warm and comfortable during an Adventure is key to enjoyment.

We have the best Guides and Instructors. Being able to train and assess to a high level enables us to ensure our staff team are more than capable of giving you the best time.

We have worked in the industry for over 20 years which has changed and evolved into where we are now. This has enabled us to understand the ever changing needs and requirements of our customers, which is why we are as flexible as possible and offer many options when it comes to our activities, timing, pricing and locations.