Rowing and Paddle Raft Guide School

Overview

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8 Days April

• Ages: 18+

• Difficulty: No prior experience needed; Just good health and a positive attitude

• Includes: All meals and group camping gear during the multi-day section

Download Trip Guide

Includes trip overview, packing list, and travel logistics

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Itinerary

General Guide School Itinerary

The course structure is two weekends of paddle rafting, followed by a 4-day overnight trip. We boat on some of the most beautiful rivers in the Columbia Gorge, such as the White Salmon River and the Hood River, and get to experience the stunning canyons of eastern Oregon on the Owyhee River multi-day trip. You’ll spend time rowing and paddle rafting in various boats (paddle rafts, paddle-assisted stern mounts, center mount gear boats). Exact topics, camp locations, and daily river mileage will vary with water levels and river conditions.

Objectives

• To gain an introduction to raft guiding on Class III whitewater, focusing on rowing and paddle raft guiding.
• To begin developing solid judgment and good decision-making in the whitewater river environment.
• To develop the skills needed to plan and implement a multi-day rafting trip.
• To achieve a positive and rewarding introduction and immersion into the world of whitewater raft guiding and the community we live, work, and play in.

Course Curriculum

• Fundamentals of hydrology, river terminology, and water reading
• Technical skills required to maneuver rafts on a whitewater river
• River safety and communication
• River etiquette
• Basic self-rescue training, including rapid swimming, raft flipping, and throw ropes
• Guest service, logistics, and dynamics of a commercial (or private) river trip
• Equipment and gear care and maintenance
• Risk management
• Planning, organizing, and packing for a multi-day river trip
• Multi-day river trip group kitchen scene
• Plenty of hands-on practice rowing and guiding rafts!

Rivers We Use for Training

Please note: All rivers are water-level dependent

• White Salmon River
• Klickitat River
• Hood River
• Wind River (optional additional day)
• Owyhee River

Dates & Pricing

The course is a total of 8 days: 2 weekends followed by a 4-day multi-day trip! 

Pricing

Price: $1,695, including a 4-day multi-day raft trip on Oregon’s Owyhee River, all instruction and course materials, lunch each day (plus all meals on the multi-day trip), any river gear and equipment needed, and all group gear for the multi-day trip. Note: students will be responsible for personal camping gear on the multi-day trip and travel to and from the river.

What’s Provided

• All meals on the river, from breakfast on the first day to lunch on the last day
• Rafts and instructors
• River equipment, if needed: personal floatation devices (PFDs), helmets, and paddles
• All camping gear not listed in the personal packing list: group gear, kitchen equipment, and camp chairs
• Dry bags for your personal belongings (1 large bag and 1 small bag)
• Beverages including water, OJ, lemonade/Gatorade, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, hot cider (you can BYOB, too!)

What You’re Responsible For

• Lodging in White Salmon for the weekend portions of your course
• Transportation to Rome, OR, before the multi-day trip and from Birch Creek, OR, after your trip
• Personal clothing and miscellaneous gear (see the Packing List for suggestions)
• Personal beverages: On the multi-day trip, feel free to bring canned versions of your favorite beverages, no bottles, please. If you would like to bring wine, please ensure it is in a box or bag. Liquor can be transferred into plastic bottles for safe transport.

Food Allergies

Beyond our standard menu, we can provide options for medically necessary allergy-restricted diets for a supplemental menu fee of $100/person. However, we cannot always offer the same diversity or sophistication for restricted diets as our regular menu. Similarly, certain allergen-free snack foods are difficult or impossible to source in rural locations, so feel free to bring your favorite snacks to supplement our provisions. Due to the constraints of cooking for a large group in a wilderness setting, the availability of ingredients or specialty items in remote locations, and limited packing space, we are unable to cater to dietary preferences (likes or dislikes). Please keep in mind that by selecting a restricted diet, you are committing to eating specially-made meals for the duration of the trip. We only bring enough of our standard meals for those without restricted diets, so changing diets mid-trip will not be accommodated.

We cannot guarantee that cross-contamination from allergens will not occur during meal prep. If this is a consideration, please get in touch with us to discuss the potential for a medical emergency caused by a severe food allergy.

Available to Rent

Travel Insurance

Sometimes stuff happens. We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance to guard against life’s surprises (unexpected late cancellations, travel delays, medical emergencies, etc.).

Past Wet Planet guests have reported good experiences using Travel Guard and Travel Insurance Services (select.travelinsure.com).

Logistics

White Salmon, Washington — Places to Stay and Camp

The first two weekends of your course are based at our Wet Planet Headquarters. Check out our lodging partners and suggested campgrounds for places to stay nearby.

The Owyhee River – Getting There and Back Home

Our Owyhee River trip will meet in the morning of our launch day at the Rome Launch Site/Put-In, which is roughly 32 miles west of Jordan Valley, OR.

The trip will take out (ending) at Birch Creek Ranch. All personal and rental vehicles will be at the take-out with all of your personal items so you can get on the road from the take-out instead of having to be shuttled back to Rome.

Vehicle Shuttle

While you are on the river, you will need to have your vehicle shuttled to the take-out point by our shuttle service. This convenient service allows you to arrive at the take-out with your vehicle and personal items waiting, saving you many hours of out-of-the-way travel to return to the launch site. The shuttle fee is approximately $200 per vehicle. You will pay the shuttle fee directly to the shuttle service at the start of the trip, but we will take care of facilitating and arranging the service.

It’s common to make friends during the first two weekends of guide school who you can carpool with to the Owyhee River!

*Please provide us with the make, model, color, and license plate information on the second weekend of Guide School.

Getting There

The Rome Launch Site/Put-In, which is roughly 32 miles west of Jordan Valley, OR. The launch site is on the Owyhee River, where Hwy 95 crosses the river at Rome; there is not much else around, so it is not difficult to find.

Here is the Google Maps location for the put-in.

Getting Back Home

Our Owyhee trip will be taking out at Birch Creek Ranch. All personal and rental vehicles will be at the take-out with all of your personal items so you can get on the road from the take-out instead of having to be shuttled back to Rome.

Here is the Google Maps location for the Birch Creek take-out.

Packing Guide

What to Bring on Guide School

While we provide all group camping equipment and meals, you will need to provide clothing and personal gear for off the river and at camp. Below is a suggested packing list to use for your river expedition.

Always be prepared for changing weather! Appropriate clothing on a multi-day river trip is important for both comfort and risk management. While on the river, we could experience warm sunny days, cold rainy days, or anything in between. We need to be prepared for all possibilities. When planning for your trip, try to use the “layering system.” By bringing clothing that can be worn under or on top of others, in layers, you will have the flexibility to adjust to a variety of weather conditions. Make sure that you have warm layers made of synthetic materials (not cotton), such as polypropylene, Capilene, or wool. Cotton does not keep you warm when it is wet!

For river travel, use the same gear you have already been using on your course. Make sure you have enough to stay warm! If you were using Wet Planet gear, we can make this available for the multi-day trip as well.

While we provide all group camping equipment, chairs, dry bags, and meals, you will need to provide clothing and gear for off the river and at camp in addition to your river gear. Below is a suggested packing list to use for your river expedition. Feel free to contact us at any time with packing questions. Always be prepared for changing weather!

You can also download our Guide School Multi-Day Packing List for a printable version.

Beverages

Wet Planet will have coffee and tea ready for you every morning. Water and lemonade/punch/Gatorade will be available throughout the day. At dinner, hot drinks will be available (hot cocoa, hot cider, tea), and a bottle of wine for the group.

If you would like additional personal beverages at camp, such as soda, beer, wine, liquor, etc., you’re welcome to bring your own. We will have a cooler with us to put beverages in. No glass bottles; broken glass and rafts don’t mix! Wine should be in bags/boxes, and other adult beverages can be transferred from glass bottles to plastic or aluminum containers before taking them on the river. Personal drinks can be purchased in Salmon before the trip if needed.

Gratuities

Your guide team will work hard to ensure your river experience exceeds your expectations. If you had a fantastic trip and feel your guides did an incredible job, post-trip gratuities are an appreciated way of saying “thank you.” Tips commonly range from 5 to 15 percent of the trip cost but should always be based on your satisfaction, financial comfort, and personal attitudes about gratuities. It is common to leave gratuities with the lead guide at the end of the trip, and they will distribute them among the team.

School Specials

River Rescue Certification (RRC/RRC-Pro)

Acquiring the skills necessary to perform rescues in a whitewater environment is essential for anyone who spends time on rivers. Wet Planet offers two-day River Rescue Courses designed to help students develop the ability to choose appropriate actions when a river rescue becomes necessary. The courses mix classroom instruction with hands-on practice in the river environment, focusing on quick and efficient techniques to respond to rescue situations that may occur in the whitewater environment. These courses will complement the introduction to river rescue that you receive in Guide School. Typical course topics include rescue gear and preparation, rescue organization, practice with rescue ropes, whitewater swimming, strong swimmer rescues, shallow water diving and wading, victim stabilization, boat retrieval, ropes systems, mechanical advantage systems, and strainer management.

• Guide School Special: 10% off a River Rescue Course in the same season in which you complete Guide School

Main Salmon River Multi-Day Trips

The Main Salmon is a stunningly beautiful river flowing through Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return wilderness area, the largest tract of a protected wild landscape in the lower 48 states. It features fun, big-volume Class II-III whitewater in an unmatchable wilderness setting, with nights camping on white, sandy beaches underneath the stars. Although Guide School will arm you with the skills necessary to plan your own multi-day trip, it’s notoriously tough to draw private permits on the Salmon River. If you’d like to get out on another multi-day trip and spend more time with your favorite guides, join us on the Main Salmon.

• Guide School Special: $100 off a trip on Idaho’s Salmon River in the same year or the following year from which you complete Guide School.

Employment in the River Industry

At Wet Planet, the bulk of our guiding occurs on the White Salmon River. This technical Class III-IV river isn’t the best place for raft guides to start their careers, so we hire guides with prior commercial raft guide experience on Class III-IV rivers. Thus, our Guide School should not be considered as Wet Planet job training.

For those wishing to work in the whitewater industry after the course, we will help you determine appropriate rivers. Please realize that developing the skills needed to guide a raft commercially takes lots of practice, even after completing guide school. While the Wet Planet Guide School will help provide the skills you need to apply to guide in the whitewater industry, each company you might work for will have its own training process to ensure you learn that particular company’s practices and rivers.