Intro to Raft Guiding

OVERVIEW

THIS TRIP IS DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO LEARN HOW TO GUIDE A RAFT AND ARE INTERESTED IN LEADING RAFTING TRIPS IN THE FUTURE, NOT PEOPLE WHO WANT TO JUST COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE. I’m planning to do more of these intro to raft guiding adventures during the semester but due to the amount of people who want to go rafting being larger than the amount of people who I can teach, THIS TRIP IS ONLY FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN LEADING RAFTING TRIPS.

It’s occurred to me that Outdoors Club has some rafts but probably no one (anyone out there??) who knows how to guide them. So let’s fix that!!!

I’ll be one-on-one teaching the basics of raft guiding such as guide strokes, how to read water, and whatever else I feel like throwing in there. I’ve guided for two seasons on the New River so I’ll be passing on what I know. You do not need any prior whitewater experience in order to do this adventure but YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO SWIM. We’ll be on the James River, which isn’t big whitewater in a raft but since you’ll all be learning, swimming is a possibility 😉 . Additionally, you don’t need to be a trip leader already but you must be interested in leading a rafting trip. The trip will be capped at 5 people including myself because that’s how many one raft will hold. I’ll need one driver besides myself.

THE PLAN:
Leave Charlottesville from Echols brick wall at 9:30 in the AM. Get to Richmond and do two runs down the lower James and be back to Charlottesville by 4 PM. Doing two runs rather than one will make for a long day but I think it’ll be worth it for you all to be able to see the river features twice and have more stick time.

CLUB PROVIDES:
– Raft
– Paddles
– PFD’s
– Helmets
– Gas $$$ + 50% tip for drivers

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
– Two water bottles (the kind with a built-in loop are ideal as I’ll be bringing a couple carabineers that we can hook them onto)
– Non-cotton clothing
– Shoes: chacos are best, and if you don’t have chacos any kind of water sandal or sneakers that don’t come off easily work great
– A change of clothing INCLUDING DRY SHOES
– Any medications that you may need while on the river
– A dry bag if you have it
– Food (anything sealed like granola bars are great on the river, or not-sealed food for off of the river)
– Sunscreen
– If applicable, something to prevent your glasses from falling off
– Can-do attitude

Disclaimer: don’t bring anything on the river that you aren’t ok with losing