Whitewater Guide Schools
Learn To Guide With The Experts

The Guide School - Course Outcomes and Overview

Whitewater Voyages Guide School students receive complimentary copies of following publications:

• The Guide's Guide Augmented
  Reflections on Guiding Professional River Trips
• The Class V Briefing
• and The Whitewater Voyages Guide School Handbook

These publications provide a true mother lode of invaluable information about guiding smooth, safe, professional, and entertaining river trips. When conditions permit, we take along "suicide" boats, in which students can raft on their own, free for a time of the gentle but distinct pressure of having an instructor in the same boat. When balanced with periods of careful instruction, these solo sessions can be quite valuable in helping the novice put concepts into practice.

Our 2½ and 5 day Guide School programs train you in the fundamental skills of:

• Reading whitewater and maneuvering boats
• Knot tying
• Raft rigging
• River signals
• Safety put-in talks
• Class V safety techniques
• Equipment maintenance and repair
• Wilderness cookery & menu planning
• River conservation

In addition, a full range of state-of-the-art whitewater emergency and rescue procedures are covered, including:

• Unwrapping rafts
• Flipped-raft drills
• Use of flip lines and toss bags
• Swimming holes and rapids and in and out of eddies
• Foot-entrapment rescue
• Swiftwater crossings
• Line-crossing options
• Tyrolean rescue systems
• Telfer-lower rescues
• Z-pulley and piggyback tensioning systems
• Helicopter rescue
• Hypothermia prevention & treatment
• Use of a complete first aid kit with emphasis on river-related injuries and problems
• Guiding and supporting people in stressful situations.

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White Water Guide School - Courses Offered This Year

Whitewater Voyage's 2½ and 5½ day Guide Schools
focus on both paddle captaining and rowing.

COURSES

KINGS RIVER MINI SCHOOL - May 9-11, 2008 2½ day introduction to guiding on the Kings River Paddle Captaining $299 - Rowing $399 From 6:00pm Friday May 9th to 6:00pm Sunday May 11th

KERN RIVER MINI GUIDE SCHOOL - NO CURRENTLY SCHEDULED SESSIONS

AMERICAN GUIDE SCHOOL - June 22-27, 2008 This 5½ day takes place entirely on the South Fork American Paddle Captaing $599 - Rowing $799

*Note: Students are cordially invited to work off part or all of this cost prior to their school. Contact us for details. All trip prices are subject to an additional 3-7% land and government river use fee depending on the river.

CALL US TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT 800-400-RAFT (7238)

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Guide School Preparation

Due to vicissitudes of flow and other variables, the rivers on which we teach are subject to change. We recommend that prior to these schools, participants take courses in first aid and CPR and also that they read everything they can find pertaining to river running.

Wetsuits are essential for our May Schools.

All schools begin with an after-dinner orientation meeting starting at 6:00pm. Although light snacks are provided during the meeting, the school meals begin with breakfast the following morning. So please plan to eat dinner on your own before our meeting!

All school meals from breakfast on day 1 to lunch on the last day are included.

" I recently went to Whitewater Voyages' Guide School on the American River. What a life-changing experience! Bill McGinnis is a brilliant teacher and a kind soul. I wish everyone I know could get a chance to talk with him. His staff of instructors are knowledgable and supportive. They work their tails off to help everyone learn as much as they can. One great week in my life! "
- Mo
Sacramento, California

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