Zoller's River School
Sign up now for the 2010 Zoller’s Whitewater Raft Guide School. This 6-day (3-weekends in a row) course is for river enthusiasts who wish to take their whitewater rafting experience to the next level and guide private or commercial whitewater trips.
Class Dates: 6-day (3-weekends) April 10th–11th, 17th–18th & 24th-25th
Cost per person: $450
General Synopsis: Instruction will be highly visual and hands on. Your “Whitewater Coach” will explain demonstrate and assist you in learning not only the basics of guiding your own raft, but how preparation, contingency planning, and progressive learning will make you a competent whitewater enthusiast. The methods we employ for this course were derived from our decades of training the best river personnel in the industry.
Course Work: Reading whitewater. Use of eddy lines and other hydraulics. Mental and physical use of your rafting crew. Mid stream & shoreline rescue techniques. Rigging and care of your whitewater craft. Instruction and orientation of your rafting crew. “Out of raft” experiences including swimming whitewater, raft righting and “throw, row & go” techniques. River rafting social skills.
Who should enroll? This whitewater rafting guide course is specifically designed for folks who want to do more than just paddle and hang on while rafting. If you’ve have been desiring to try your hand at being the creator of adventure rather than just the recipient, then this whitewater course is for you. Sign up as an individual, parent-child duo, husband wife team or even a group of friends. Whoever wants to learn the sport of whitewater rafting needs to get signed up now.
More than just a Whitewater Raft Guide Course: This is a great way to step foot into the social circle of whitewater rafting. Once the course is over, your fun has really just begun. The Zoller’s whitewater coaches and staff will still be here for you to lean on for advice on gear and equipment purchases, great rivers to practice your skills, and possible employment opportunities.
What this course is NOT: This course in not employment training for Zoller’s Outdoor Odysseys. Yes, it happens, but that is not the purpose as it is for almost every whitewater rafting course we have ever seen. It is very difficult to break into the Zoller’s whitewater rafting team line-up. Please take a look at our “Meet The Guides” page and read the guide bios. You will be amazed at their years of experience and dedication to the Zoller team. This course is not filled with wasted down time waiting for something to happen and students waiting for their turn at experience. We train long and hard each day and provide ample time for each student to be in command of the raft.
Location: White Salmon River, Klickitat River and other nearby bodies of whitewater as weather and water flow dictate.
Housing: Students have access to the Zoller’s “raft guides shack” for cooking, showering, and restrooms. Camping will be permitted on the guide shack property.
Meals: Lunch will be provided each day.
Clothing: Your best choice is a dry suit in good repair. Wet suits work fine if properly fitted and layered. Neoprene gloves and socks. PFD & helmet. There are many regional retailers that can provide all of these needs. See Andy & Bax in Portland, Oregon or Northwest River Supply in Idaho (good on-line store). Dive shops often rent great 3-mil wet suits. A complete packing list will be provided upon registration.
Because we want to keep our trainer to trainee ratio very high we will only be allowing 12 individuals to participate with this year’s whitewater guide river school.
Please contact Mark Zoller to discuss details of this school at length. 509-493-2641 MarkZ@ZooRaft.com