Raft Guide Training

[Thomas]

Recommendations Anyone? Any information will be helpful. Thanks
TR

[Roger]

NOC if you're talking paddle raft.

If you're talking about oaring as a guide there's one out in Oregon but I can't recall the name. Crane, you reading this?

[Shep]

Get a job then go for the training. Zoar Outdoor is a great place to train, but it's in MA, and the training weekends are in March, so hard to make the commute for training. If you work in Maine, you'll have guaranteed water Class II-V 7 days a week when you aren't working.
</shameless east coast plug)

[mgood]

Don't ever pay for raft guide training. It's a waste of money. Huge waste of money.

Get a job at an outfitter, let them know what experience you have, and they'll train you up good. Took me two weeks or so to check out as a raft guide, but they knew I had paddled for years. Some kids took near the whole summer to check out.

I've already decided that if any kid over 18 comes to me asking for advice about anything in life, I'm going to tell him to become a raft guide for at least one summer. Best 3 months of my life- you can't beat living on a river and paddling every day for a whole summer. It took my kayaking to a whole 'nother level.

[Crane]

For rowing, OARS has a week-long class in March in Oregon on the Rogue. There's also one in New Mexico that you can ask Dave Reid about. The class I took in Oregon no longer is offered... but, it was a really fun vacation and I learned enough to row a raft down the Middle Fork of the Salmon about a month later!! I know you can learn on your own and there are folks around Arkansas who might be willing to teach you. But, having a chance to spend a week with a group of truly seasoned oarsmen and women who are tasked to tell you all their knowledge and secrets... it's a great way to get into the sport.
I think Mike & Susan Beebe are planning on doing the OARS class and Catherine Tolson is leaning towards it, so you might not be alone! As far as cost, it's about what you'd pay for a week at the beach and they provide food, tents and rafts and transportation from their place in Oregon. If Pat could have gotten off, we'd have done it next spring together... I recommend doing it as a learning-vacation:)

For paddle-rafting, the NOC has a five-day class that is also fun and interesting and will teach you what they want you to know about being a guide. If you prove yourself, they give some priority to hiring from the folks who take their class. I took it and learned enough to run a paddle-raft on the MFS safely for several trips before turning to rowing... The NOC class is also a great vacation for paddlers who want to ease into paddle-rafting:)

Crane

[Eric Esche]

I would suggest that if you want a job as a raft guide, that you write the companies you are interested in possibly working for and ask them what they want to see in a guide and where they suggest you receive your training. Some (most today) have in-house training programs. Most today require you to pay for that training out of your own pocket, Plus have CPR and First Aid Training of some specific level. A few will give you a partial refund if they hire you. Some offer the CPR and first aid in house, others do not. Make sure you know in advance. Having these in advance as well as swift water rescue training is good, and could give you a foot up over another guide candidate if they are swamped with candidates when deciding. Almost all raft companies have more guide applications than they do guide opennings. Most raft comapnies want to see a minimum of 2 years paddleing/river running experience. Being a world class playboater may not get you an advantage unless they also want someone to teach playboating and you have ACA instructor certificates. Being a great playboater or racer does not automatically mean you will make a good raft guide. It's been my observation that open boaters have tended to have a higher proportion of being really great guides, head guides, and company owners than they do in the general paddling population.

Almost all big raft guide companies these days have folks who also do gear maintenance, vehicle maintenance, drive shuttle vehicles, cook, and instruct in paddleing or other of river sports. If you have skills or certificates in any of these areas, such as a commercial drivers license in that state, ACA qualifications, red cross or CPR instructor, AND you do not mind doing other things in addition to raft guiding, say so in your letter to them. Multi talented people tend to get a preference in hiring when they have a surplus of guides to hire from as the folks who do these other jobs need days off and having talent in reserve protects the company. Some companies also want folks who can play stringed instruments around a campfire, teach ropes courses, teach climbing or backpacking and they all are real big on people skills. Someone who does not get a long with the clients or who offends them will soon be gone.

Try to learn the "lines" for a raft for each river you run at all levels, vs where or how you might take a canoe or kayak. IF they have a camera/video service tied into their company, learn how to set the raft and your crew up for good shots while safely running the rapids being shot. Having good photos or videos of their trip makes the client's memories of the trip that much better, and leads to repeat business. Having folks ask for you year after year gets noticed and helps you to get rehired in following years. If you want an example, come by my house and I will show you a few hundred slides of the Chattooga river at all levels.

I'd suggest you get as many runs down the rivers you are interested in as you can, BEFORE showing up to train, to have an idea of what you will be training on. This lets you learn faster while being trained. Situational awareness lets you think and plan ahead, and raft guides who can tell their clients what is comng up next and how far everything is and describe it, make better guides. My raft crews seemed to like that I could explain why I took the strokes that I did, and why I asked them to do things I asked for. They don't need to hear about every stroke, just the ones that matter. On big rapids, I would also tell them what would happen if they did not participate as requested and how to react if things changed, and always how to be safe. Keeping your crew safe is always your biggest priority and you are responsible for them even when walking around on land.

If you are doing this for your own raft ownership, I would recommend going where there is enough water to paddle, and on water that is as challenging or more than you plan to paddle. Out west for oars, east for paddle raft.

Got some books you might want to read, but this is something you mostly learn on the water. Drop me a PM if you are interested in the books and I will send you a list of titles or even loan them to you. Most of what you will learn at a raft company is about how to handle logistics and the public. The real handling of the raft comes through experience on many rivers at many levels, and low water can be more challenging than high water.

I loved being a raft guide. Did 2000+ trips in 7 years full time and 7 years part time on the Chattooga and Gaulley and got to do some rowing rigs out west. And yes, your paddleing skills and river reading skills will get better, paticularly if you get to run some on your off days or as a safety kayak.

Eric Esche

[A Savage spanke]

mgood is right, you are not making any money. I would not reccomend NOC at all, they charge a lot of money for training, make you come out there on spring break, and then ship you to the river they want. I'd say just try to find a river you want to work on, google that river, and then call the outposts that pop up. The ones highest on google will get the most business, also check out trip adviser. I trained at OAR in TN not OARS out West, and it was free. That company is slipping bad though, still a great place to have fun. Try talking to Noel about Lost Paddle, thats the best place I've worked hands down, and I know they did a training session this last year. It's a great way to spend a summer, thats for sure

[gma06001-]

If you'd like to learn how to row, Dinosaur River Expeditions out in Vernal, UT is an amazing outfit to work for. They run Canyon of Lodore and Yampa Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument. That area out there is definitely some of the more remote rivers I've been on with awesome big water. It's pool/drop like most desert rivers are. I met the owner, Tyler Callantine, while working as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Tyler basically ran Hatch River Expeditions (Now OARS) for many years and tried to buy it when it went up for sale. He couldn't compete with the money OARS could throw down and was out of luck on owning his own company. He ended up rowing rafts with us federalies for many years before buying Dinosaur River Expeditions. The dude is one of the wisest river runners I've ever met and bar none the most fun to be on the river with. His company isn't a big nationwide company with ridiculous rules, they are just down and dirty river runners at heart, and they know how to party as well. He taught me more than any of the other river guides that we were around, and if they hired you, all the training is included. There are some day trips on a class II section of water, but most of there trips are 3-5 days in the canyons. Call 'em up and talk to them if you want to learn to row a raft! Jen is his wife's name that's probably who will answer.

http://www.dinoadv.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-Mitch