This fall I had the opportunity to travel to the East Coast to participate in ACA Instructor certification workshops with some awesome people in some amazing places. Not only was this an opportunity to explore new rivers but also to see some of the incredible recreation zones and local river cultures. Starting with my L4 Swiftwater Rescue Instructor in Western Massachusetts and finishing off my trip with two weeks on the Gauley in West Virginia, this was an awesome trip with tons of epic whitewater and skills development.
Week one I flew into Albany, New York, then drove east into Charlemont, Massachusetts to Zoar Outdoor and their home river, the Deerfield, to begin my training with Mike Mather from Mather Rescue with the hopes of becoming a Swiftwater Rescue Instructor. I was greeted and welcomed by an awesome community of locals who are not only a part of a tight-knit community of paddlers but also incredibly stoked to share the amazing place they call home. The first three days consisted of refining our physical rescue skills as well as honing our teaching styles. My class of Instructor Candidates brought a wealth of knowledge from different backgrounds to contribute to supportive and challenging learning environments, allowing each of us to improve on our risk management, teaching style, and lesson planning, and of course, diving into plenty of rabbit holes about the specifics of specialized equipment and techniques we employ in the swiftwater world. The last two days of the course involved putting into practice the things we learned during the first few. During this time we were tasked with individually teaching lessons to the group, testing our lesson planning, time management, and risk management, and once our lessons were completed, it was time for our final debrief with Mather our Instructor Trainer. Once debriefs were completed, I was treated to a lap on the local Class IV run, known as the Dryway, by my peers from the course. I can happily report I had an awesome lap through the beautiful fall colors on the Dryway and have returned to Oregon with my L4 Swiftwater Rescue Instructor certification from the ACA.
With the first leg of my journey complete, it was time to drive back to Albany to catch my flight down to West Virginia. Upon arrival in Charleston, WV, I made my way to the property of Ace Adventure Resorts, one of the largest rafting companies in the New River Gorge area. Time to begin the L4 Raft Guide Instructor training taught by Ace’s Kevin Terelle and Canyon River Institute’s Elisha McArthur. Much like the swiftwater course I just completed, our first four days focused on skill refinement and teaching skill development on portions of the Middle and Lower Gauley River. Due to the recent hurricane that struck the South East, the New River was over 30ft (It was at 1.5ft when I visited last October), and far too high to explore while I was in town this year. However more water made for awesome conditions on the Gauley, with opportunities to study hydrology, practice boat handling, and flip drills, as well as improve our downriver coaching while on the river. Since the Upper Gauley, a class V section, only releases with enough water on the weekends, we were granted Saturday and Sunday off to go enjoy one of the most famous whitewater runs in the US. I was able to jump in a 10 foot raft on Sunday for a beautiful 80-degree day on the water with my Instructor Trainers. Back in class on Monday and Tuesday, it was time for evaluations again, this time centered around guiding rather than rescue. I can again proudly report I have been certified as an L4 Guide Instructor for both Paddle and Oar guiding, and will be offering both public courses and private instruction this Spring!
Join me on the water for any of your spring training whether it be Swiftwater Rescue, Paddle raft guiding, or oaring a raft / boat handling down the river! I can’t wait to bring what I learned to the river to share with our guides and clients alike!
