Guide Training

May 9-11, 2008 (First Session)
May 16-18, 2008 (Second Session)

Rock Your Boat
During guide training, we recommend you “rock your boat.” You’ll be flipping rafts, saving swimmers, swimming rapids, giving commands and captaining your own boat over an intensive and very fun six day course.  The course meets Friday, Saturday and Sunday during two consecutive weekends (May 9-11 & May 16-18).

Why two weekends?
There’s a lot to cover, and we want you to get as much time behind the “stick” as possible.  In order to meet the minimum Washington State Guiding standards of fifty hours, the course runs for six days to give you full exposure to all aspects of river guiding.

Where?
The course will be conducted on the Clark Fork River in Montana, about 45 minutes west of Missoula and about 2.5 hours east of Spokane along I-90.  The access and opportunity on the Clark Fork River for guide trainees is unmatched anywhere else in our area.  We will meet each morning between 8:30 and 9:00 am and be done around 6:00 or 7:00 pm.

The Rafting Continues…
After these two weekends, you’ll be on your way to becoming a great guide.  But real skill only comes from years of practice.  So, after the course, we invite you to borrow our rafts during the summer and follow our commercial trips down the river.  We love rafting, and we want you to have as much opportunity to learn to raft as you can, which means we want you to get in our boats after the class and keep on rafting!

Cost
Space is limited, so call David Lawrence, the owner of Pangaea River Rafting, now to reserve your spot during guide training… 406.239.2392.
Both weekends include lunch, and camping if you wish to stay the night at our ranch in Montana.  Wetsuits, river booties and life jackets and all river gear is free!
Six Day Guide Training Course and Certificate of Completion $350

RCW Standards (Where the Rubber meets the Water!)
We follow Washington’s strict guide training standards which you can review at this link: RCW 79A.60.430(2)

The course will cover the following
· fifty hours on a whitewater river
· equipment preparation and boat rigging,
· reading river characteristics including currents, eddies, rapids, and hazards
· methods of scouting and running rapids
· river rescue techniques, including emergency procedures and equipment recovery
· communicating with clients, including paddling and safety instruction.
· paddling strokes and techniques
· rowing strokes and technique
· boat design and boat/river interaction
· swimming rapids
· rescuing swimmers
· risk management
 

Trips often fill up. Don’t be disappointed, call or email right now to make sure you don’t “miss the boat.”

"Your FUN is 100% Guaranteed or we’ll refund your money and give you a free Tee shirt!”

SAVE BIG!!! $35 to $115 depending on the size of your group if you call soon! 1-877-239-2392

If you plan on captaining your own raft
or working as a "professional" raft guide, you need to take Pangaea's formal Guide Training Course. Whether you decide to ever raft professionally or not, eventually you will take others down the river. When you do, you will be that trip's "GUIDE." You will be responsible for everyone's safety, which means you will not only need to know how to read the river, but also how to handle never ever's on the river and how to save yourself and your passengers if anything should go wrong.

Pangaea River Rafting will teach you everything you need to get started rafting safely.
We say "get started" because true ability comes only with experience. We will help you get that experience and show you how to continue acquiring the necessary experience - proper river selection, gear selection, translating river flows, river hydrology and scouting.

Pangaea's Guide Training and River Safety Class exceeds Washington State's Whitewater Guide Requirements.
After completing our full 50 hour guide training class, you will receive a certificate of completion and an evaluation that will serve as your legal verification of meeting strict guide training standards!

Your 50 hour Guide Training Course with Pangaea River Rafting will exceed these requirements and prepare you for a life time of fun on the river!

Itinerary

Day 1

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day One Curriculum
  
• Meet Your Guides
  
• Meet Your Gear
  
• Learn Paddle Strokes
  
• Raft the Clark Fork River
  
• Scouting Rapids 101
  • Secure boat Rescue Gear Upriver/downriver safety
  • Understanding shoreline dangers
    
• Risk Management Practices 101
• gear inspection crew education/training
• know your skill level
  
• Paddle Captaining 101
• paddle commands body position
• crew management

Day 2

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day Two Curriculum
  
• .

  Prepare rafts and gear for the day
  
  

• Written Test (paddle strokes, boat parts, what to be aware of when scouting a rapid)  
  
• Review Paddle Strokes
  
• Elements of a Safety Talk 
  
• River Hydrology 101
  
  • identifying river features
    
• Raft the Clark Fork River Scouting Rapids 101 cont.
  
  • Route finding Identifying River Features
  • Best case/worse case
    
• Risk Management Practices 101 cont.
  
  • Saving Swimmers
  • Aggressive Swimming Techniques
    
• Paddle Captaining 101 cont
  
  • practice guide strokes reading water
  • using crew effectively

Day 3

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day Three Curriculum
  
  • Prepare rafts and gear for the day
    
  • Written Test (paddle strokes, boat parts, what to be aware of when scouting a rapid, river hydrology, safety talk elements, gear inspection)
      
  • Review Paddle Strokes
    
  • Participants give Safety Talk
     
  • .
  River Hydrology 101
  
  
  • Review River Features
    
  • Hydrology Consequences
    
  • Raft the Clark Fork River Scouting Rapids 101 cont.
    
    • Route finding Identifying River Features
    • Best case/worse case
      
  • Risk Management Practices 101 cont.
    
    • Flipping rafts
    • Swimming rapids
      
  • Paddle Captaining 101 cont
    
    • practice guide strokes reading water
    • using crew effectively

Day 4

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day Four Curriculum
  
  • Prepare rafts and gear for the day
    
  • Written Test (paddle strokes, boat parts, what to be aware of when scouting a rapid, river hydrology, safety talk elements, gear inspection, personal gear) 
    
  • Review Paddle Stroke
    
  • Throw bag practice
    
  • Participants give Safety Talk
    
  • Raft the Clark Fork River
    
    • Review from last week
      
  • Flipping rafts
    
  • Swimming rapids
    
  • Crossing moving water
    
  • Paddle Captaining 101 cont
    
    • practice guide strokes
    • reading water
    • using crew effectively

Day 5

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day Five Curriculum
  
  • Prepare rafts and gear for the day
    
  • Written Test (paddle strokes, boat parts, what to be aware of when scouting a rapid, river hydrology, safety talk elements, gear inspection, personal gear)
    
  • Review Paddle Stroke
    
  • Throw bag practice
    
  • Participants give Safety Talk
    
  • Raft the Clark Fork River
    
  • Raft games
    
  • Emergency/evacuation procedures
    
  • Paddle Captaining 101 cont
    
    • practice guide strokes
    • reading water
    • guiding without crew

Day 6

• Meet Time
  9:00 am (Mountain Time)
  
• Day Six Curriculum
  
  • Prepare rafts and gear for the day
    
  • Written Test (paddle strokes, boat parts, what to be aware of when scouting a rapid, river hydrology, safety talk elements, gear inspection, personal gear
    
  • Participants give Safety Talk
    
  • Raft the Clark Fork River
    
  • Participants lead trip
    
  • Debrief
    
  • Certification of completion