About Wet Planet

Wet Planet was created by whitewater professionals who believed in rising above current industry standards to provide a higher level of guest service and risk management.

Wet Planet continues to set the bar higher for the Pacific Northwest’s commercial whitewater industry. From our staff training to our equipment choices, the following are all areas in which Wet Planet sets the standard:

Our Staff

The core of the Wet Planet experience is our staff. From the folks making your espresso to our river guides and instructors, we have the region’s most experienced and highly trained staff.

We can’t even begin to summarize our staff’s incredible experiences on rivers throughout the world. We had to devote a whole section of our site just to describe our fantastic team members. Check out Our Staff page and their immeasurable whitewater experience.

Our Headquarters

The Wet Planet Headquarters and the Wet Planet Café are changing the face of Northwest commercial whitewater. We believe that your experience with us begins the moment you arrive at our headquarters and continues until you head back home.

We are the only headquarters in the region to provide all of the following:

  • A full-service espresso bar with sandwiches, snacks, and pastries
  • Private parking
  • Changing rooms
  • Retail shop with T-shirts, souvenirs, and any last-minute items, such as sunscreen or sunglasses, that you might have forgotten
  • On-site photo viewing room where you can enjoy pictures of your trip
  • Picnic and BBQ areas
  • Plenty of space to relax alongside the river

For more on our headquarters, check out our headquarters page.

Our Commitment to Our Environment

Part of the ethic behind Wet Planet includes operating our company in an environmentally responsible manner. We hope to inspire others to do the same through education and setting a positive example.

In 2010 Wet Planet became the first tour operator in the Columbia River Gorge to receive an Eco-Certification through Sustainable Travel International.

This certification helps our clients differentiate us from other “green” businesses. STI holds its Eco-Certified business accountable in areas such as energy consumption, waste management, community involvement, and impact on the local economy. To learn more, check out Our Planet page.

We are also partners with Leave No Trace, Inc. and, where possible, use organic cotton and environmentally friendly dyes in our T-shirts, serve espresso from organically grown coffee, and follow the principles of minimal impact wilderness travel.

Our Commitment to Risk Management

We are committed to providing the highest level of risk management. We promise that we will never compromise this commitment for financial reasons. We follow through with this commitment by maintaining the following standards:

Organization on the River

At Wet Planet, we emphasize organized river travel. Our guides and instructors are trained in river etiquette to ensure our trips run smoothly. The most notable result is that our trips are, in river terms, tight. This means that all of the rafts in a trip stay within sight and communication distance of each other.

For our guests, this means that you are close to your friends in other rafts, and your experience on the river flows smoothly. For our guides, it means that every guide is in position and ready to respond to any raft needing assistance. Our guides remain in contact with each other through paddle signals and routine check-in points. This ensures that each guide is aware of situations within the group.

Our effective organization also minimizes our impact on other river users and maintains a respectful relationship with the broader river community.

Part of executing a well-organized trip is maintaining a suitable maximum trip size. We have trip size limits for each of our rivers based on the number of rafts we can effectively manage while providing a pleasant experience in each river corridor. At Wet Planet, we will not indefinitely add people to a trip to increase our pocketbook. This only makes your experience worse, as well as the experience of other river users.

Communication and organization during river travel are also topics covered in our whitewater kayak courses.

RESCUE GEAR

Our guides and instructors carry complete rescue kits on our guided raft trips and kayak instruction courses. We bring fully-stocked First Aid Kits that receive regular inspections, repair kits (pumps and patches for rafts, parts for kayaks, etc.), and pin kits consisting of ropes, slings, carabiners, prusiks, and pulleys. This equipment allows us to perform advanced rescues or recover pinned boats. While most of this equipment is hopefully standard at all whitewater companies, Wet Planet raises the standard with our modern communication equipment. See below for more information.

COMMUNICATION DEVICES

During any river emergency, it is essential that we can quickly and efficiently communicate with outside sources. At Wet Planet, we take advantage of modern technology. We carry cell phones on river trips with cell phone coverage or quick road access. On all other trips, we carry a satellite phone. At Wet Planet, we use the Iridium satellite phone system. This ensures that no matter where we are in the world – from the Klickitat wilderness to Peruvian canyons – we can quickly contact and communicate with outside resources in an emergency.

KAYAK SUPPORT BOATERS

On our smaller raft trips with only one raft, a kayak support boater paddles along with the trip. A kayak support boater is a kayaker that travels with the raft, maintaining a close position to help with any problems. If a person falls out of the raft, the support boater can quickly get to that person and assist them back to the raft on the back of the kayak. This is the case on all of our one-raft trips, regardless of the difficulty of the water.

Having two guides in separate boats prepares us better for any possibility while on the river.

We also raise the industry standard by having two kayak support boaters paddle along on all of our Class V whitewater trips (the Wind and Hood), regardless of the number of rafts.

Our kayak support boaters are not just raft guides with a day off. They are professional kayakers capable of providing support and rescue during challenging whitewater trips. Like our Class V guides, they possess extensive First Aid and Swiftwater Rescue training. With two support boaters on the water, Wet Planet is committed to minimizing the risk of challenging whitewater.

NUMBER OF GUESTS PER RAFT

Although most of our rafts are capable of holding a seventh guest in the rear compartment next to the guide, we limit our rafts to six guests at any time we are running Class IV or higher whitewater. While many companies attempt to fill the seventh spot or place smaller children in the center of the raft to fit more people on a trip, Wet Planet believes that properly loaded rafts play a vital role in the positive experience our guests expect from us. None of our guides would want to be in that stern compartment next to someone else while careening over Husum Falls, so you shouldn’t have to do it either.

If more than six people are on a trip with Class IV whitewater, we take more rafts. If you have a group of seven, we can split you into two smaller rafts (using various raft sizes is another area where we set the standard. Feel free to read more below), providing a positive experience for everyone.

OUR EQUIPMENT

Maintaining professional equipment is part of managing the risks and providing an outstanding experience on any whitewater trip. At Wet Planet, we use high-quality equipment that is replaced on a regular, rotating basis in all aspects of our operation.

THE RAFTS

We are setting standards in the industry by utilizing a wide range of rafts for our guided rafting trips. We believe that the number of guests on a trip, any special needs they may have, and the type of whitewater being run should determine the size and style of the raft rather than the other way around. We have a fleet of rafts that can handle almost any possibility:

12-foot Sotar Elite: This high-performance raft is like a sports car for those smaller trips (2 to four people).
13-foot Aire 130D: With a tapered bow and stern, smaller tubes, and lots of rocker, this is a very maneuverable raft that will hold up to six people. Great when facing challenging whitewater where you need a raft that can move quickly or for providing an exciting ride on easier whitewater.
14-foot Custom Sotar: Slightly larger rafts custom-built with larger than normal tubes. These rafts are great when we have high water days and want the most stability possible or when guests are looking for a dry ride.
16-foot Aire Stern Mount Paddle Raft: Paddle rafts are fun on multi-day river trips. However, having a guide with oars to do the work in the flat sections is nice.
18-foot Aire Gear Boats: Multi-day trips require a lot of gear. We use these boats to carry everything from your deluxe sleeping pad to cast iron Dutch Ovens.

THE KAYAKS

We use a range of kayaks with modern designs in all of our kayak instruction courses. With various sizes and designs, we have kayaks that will meet all our students’ needs. Our instruction fleet includes kayaks from Jackson, Pyranha, Dagger, and more.

PERSONAL GEAR

At Wet Planet, we provide all the gear you need for your whitewater rafting trip or kayak instruction. Whitewater paddling can sometimes be a chilly experience, so we provide the equipment you need to stay warm. All of the gear is included in the cost of our trips and courses, so you won’t ever hear, “Yeah, we have booties for your feet, but you’ll have to rent them.” We provide the following personal gear for your trips:

  • Personal flotation device (PFD)
  • Helmet
  • Paddle
  • Wetsuit
  • Booties for your feet
  • Paddle jacket
  • Fleece sweater