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Whitewater
Guide School 2008
The “no-whining-or-complain-about-the-cold-water, I’ll-eat-anything, I-just-wanna-be-a-raft-guide” Guide School.
It is a well-known fact the experience makes up 90% of good river-running skills. All the theory and lectures in the world will only get you so far. With that in mind, in the spring of 2008 WWC will be holding a Guide School with the goal of producing guides that will be able to commercially work on rivers professionally and safely, while having the time of their lives.
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The school will be lead by one of the most experienced guides in the industry. Peter “Pops” Pierce has been working as a guide for the past 18 years and has seen many river miles in some of the most challenging rivers in the world. There will be an emphasis on using features in rivers to navigate a raft, reading water, proper and efficient use of paddle crews, safety skills, gear management, work ethic, and cooking.
Classes begin on Monday morning and will last 5 days, but we encourage all students to check in on Sunday. Based out of our camp in Coloma, we will do daily runs on the river and spend lots of time covering the entire gamete of running a safe and professional river trip.
Some of the skills covered will be:
• Introductory water-reading skills
• Using ropes (knots, safety, rescues)
• Equipment maintenance and use (raft repairs)
• Safely swimming in rivers
• On-shore safety
• Safety talks and orientation
• Rescue scenarios
As the title above implies, this will be a challenging week, filled with long days on the water and in camp. You will learn more in that week than you might in a whole semester at college. It will be intense and, at times, intimidating.
But it will be more fun and more rewarding than you imagine.
WWC will provide all transportation and meals during the school. We will provide river gear as well (wet-suits will be mandatory). We rent tents and sleeping pads for the week, if you need one. Completion of the WWC Guide School will not guarantee employment with WWC.
After the school has finished, a “training” period will begin in which participants that are invited to continue their training with WWC will be an active part of trips, learning from other guides and from experiences during trips.
Please contact don@whitewaterconnection.com with questions and watch this space for updates. |
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