More than 14,000 people are expected to flock next weekend to Chicago’s increasingly popular International Adventure Travel & Outdoor Show at the Rosemont Convention Center. Now in its sixth year, this one-of-a-kind extravaganza features 290 exhibitors hawking trips of a lifetime. Show official Sue Wildman said current adventure hot spots are in Costa Rica, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. “About 70 percent of the market involves `soft adventure,’ like day hikes and guided tours,” she said. “But the rest remains hard stuff, like scuba and kayaking trips.” The show will feature hands-on ropes course, climbing wall, and tank for scuba, snorkel and kayak tryouts (bring your own swimsuit and towel), along with a hang-gliding simulator. Outfitters will conduct 47 seminars on travel destinations. Show hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 18. Call 847-295-4444.
– Friends of the Chicago River is seeking corporations, fishing clubs, scout groups or other entities to volunteer at least five individuals to run specific sites for its June 2 Chicago River Rescue Day. Last year 420 volunteers removed 8 tons of trash from 13 sites. “I really hope to double the number of sites this year,” said Bill Koenig of the Illinois Paddling Council. Call 312-939-0490.
– This ‘n’ that: DuPage County’s popular “Family Team Challenge” takes place at 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at Fullersburg Forest Preserve’s Environmental Education Center in Oak Brook. Challenges include crossing a stream using wits and a pair of 8-foot boards. . . . Registration ends March 15 for a six-week Introduction to Horsemanship class beginning April 13 at DuPage County’s Danada Equestrian Center near Wheaton. Call 708-942-6075. DuPage County also hosts an Introduction to Birds of Prey seminar at 10 a.m. Saturday at Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. . . . A Boy Scout troop in Downstate Alton has established what may be the first Urban Fisheries merit badge. . . . The upcoming Midwest Boat Show at Rosemont Convention Center features a display of 400 powerboats along with Twiggy, the waterskiing squirrel, and 24-foot Sunrider, the smallest boat to circumnavigate the globe. The show runs March 7-10. Call 312-751-5531.
– Book beat: Gear mongers will slather over these three volumes: “The Backpacker’s Handbook,” by Hugh McManners (Dorling Kinderssley, $14.95, 212-213-4800), perhaps the most comprehensively illustrated guide to gear, techniques, pitfalls and arcane tips on hiking and camping; “The Camper’s and Backpacker’s Bible,” by Tom Huggler (Doubleday, $12.95), perhaps most valuable for 26 pages of manufacturer and agency addresses and phone numbers; and “The Essential Outdoor Gear Manual,” by Annie Getchell (Ragged Mountain Press, $18.95,) which tells how to maintain and repair everything from boots, stoves, tents and kayaks to snowshoes, crampons, binoculars and cameras.
