Women On the River - Bridging the Gender Gap in the River Industry

Please allow us to preface; celebrating the women of Wet Planet does not discount or take away from the many amazing men of Wet Planet, but rather a choice to highlight the additional hurtles these women have stepped over to bring their incredible skill and grace to the river industry. In an era where current politics are being compared to “The Handmaid’s Tale” we think about our role as adventure sports enthusiasts, small business owners, and responsible citizens in society and how we can promote and encourage a brighter future for everyone. In 2019 Outside Magazine wrote an impactful article “Women Are Not Treated Equally in the Outdoor Industry” that got a lot of attention and highlighted that many women have greater hurtles into enjoying and working in the outdoor industry. Wet Planet is co-owned by Jaco Klinkenberg who hails originally from the Netherlands. This strong, confident, and driven woman brings her Dutch roots into her Washington-run business by reminding us that even in the year 2024, it’s important to make a conscious effort to bring equality into our hiring practices, particularly in this male-dominated industry. With that in mind, please join us in celebrating and learning more about the exceptional, talented, and unique women who share river adventures daily at Wet Planet. They are strong and confident, and highlight the finesse and grace that women bring to our river adventures.

Alexis Foster

Growing up in Colorado with a family that prioritized exploring Colorado’s vast outdoors, it is unsurprising Alexis’ path has led her to guiding whitewater. Initially hooked on the river through fly fishing, it was multi-day trips and more intense whitewater that helped Alexis discover her true passion for rivers.

Alexis started her guiding career in 2021 on Colorado’s Arkansas River where she fell in love with not only the guiding, but also the incredible people and scenery she found herself immersed in. For Alexis, the best part of guiding is giving people the exhilarating experience of going down the river together and finishing the day with a sense of accomplishment and stoke for the river.

When Alexis is not rafting, she enjoys spending time in the mountains backpacking, climbing, and skiing. A recent graduate from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Alexis is excited to exchange her graduation cap for a helmet and embark on her Wet Planet journey.

Expect to see Alexis navigating through the narrow gorges of the White Salmon, and pushing smiling guests through the deep blue waters of the Main Salmon in Idaho.

Amy Trembly

Amy brings her passion for whitewater, joining our talented kayak instruction team at Wet Planet.

Hailing from southern Maryland, Amy’s journey into whitewater began unexpectedly one summer while attending college in Western Maryland. On a whim, she decided to become a whitewater raft guide in Ohiopyle, PA despite never having experienced it before. Her first day on whitewater was a thrill that ignited her love for the sport. With a natural affinity for water, Amy quickly transitioned to whitewater kayaking during her downtime, honing her skills on rivers like the Lower Yough and the challenging Upper Yough, a Class IV river.

Over the next four years, Amy explored the whitewater landscapes of the East Coast, conquering iconic rivers such as the Upper Gauley in West Virginia, the Russell Fork in Kentucky, and navigating the challenging Green Narrows in North Carolina. Now, she’s excited to bring her expertise and passion for kayaking to the West Coast and share it with our guests at Wet Planet!

Cora Meyers

Cora started her raft-guiding career in 2021 on Montana’s gorgeous Yellowstone River. The river’s power, the landscape’s beauty, and the welcoming river community inspired Cora to go beyond just a fun summer on the water. She worked the following season on the Deschutes while jumping at every opportunity to boat on the abundance of rivers out west. The Lochsa, Main Salmon, Owyhee, Colorado, and the Grand Canyon anchor a list that will continue to grow.

The choice to pack up and head west to Montana from her hometown of Riverdale, Iowa could certainly be considered an unexpected turn for her. After graduating from the University of Iowa, where she played for the Division 1 soccer program, Cora saw an advertisement for whitewater rafting and was immediately motivated for a new challenge. Hooked from the start, Cora dived in head first, taking on the rigors of both raft guiding and whitewater kayaking. Cora’s athletic abilities helped her adapt quickly to the physical demands of guiding. Her experience contributing to high-level teams has helped her become a popular and important member of every river community she has entered. Cora plans on taking on more and more challenges to become the type of well-rounded guide who can work on any river in the world.

Cora’s favorite part of guiding is bringing new groups down exciting stretches of whitewater like the White Salmon River. Thriving in dynamic river environments with paddlers who start as strangers and finish as friends makes each day on the water extremely rewarding. A trip down the river with Cora will surely be one of the highlights of your summer!

Grace Keppley

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Grace discovered her affinity for the outdoors at her family’s cabin, where she enjoyed hiking, fishing, skiing, canoeing, and biking. However, it wasn’t until she was hired as a raft guide during college that she found her true calling in whitewater. Guiding on a beginner-friendly river in Tennessee, Grace was immediately captivated by the thrill of whitewater and bought her own kayak by the end of the season.

After graduating from Appalachian State University, Grace remained in the Southeast, where she began her whitewater journey. Guiding rafts on the Chattooga River in Georgia and South Carolina, and video kayaking on the Gauley River in West Virginia, Grace immersed herself in the region’s rich whitewater culture. Some of her favorite paddling experiences include navigating the Tallulah River in Georgia, the Watauga and West Fork Tuckasegee in North Carolina, and Johns Creek in Virginia.

A visit to the White Salmon area solidified Grace’s desire to live in the Pacific Northwest, prompting her move to Washington in the winter of 2023. For Grace, the most rewarding aspect of whitewater is the camaraderie and shared experiences among friends. As both a raft guide and kayak instructor, she finds joy in introducing others to the thrill and connection of whitewater, making each adventure on the river unforgettable for everyone involved.

Grace joins the Wet Planet team in 2024 as both a raft guide and kayak instructor. She is excited to bring her love for the outdoors and passion for whitewater to the Pacific Northwest!

Julianna Cantrell

Growing up in Potomac, Maryland, Julianna had access to some great rivers like the Potomac, Shenandoah, and Youghiogheny. These special places served not only as an introduction to the sport, but as a place to progress, hone her skills, and fall in love with kayaking. While enrolling as a full-time student at Indiana University made kayaking a bit more difficult, Julianna loves nothing more than a good challenge. During the summers she would travel, work, and teach kayaking to share her love for the river.

During the 2023 season Julianna worked at Zoar Outdoors in Massachusetts as a full-time instructor. She also paddled some of New England’s best whitewater like the Moose, Dead, and New Haven Ledges.

We are very excited that Julianna is making the pilgrimage to the Columbia River Gorge to teach kayaking at Wet Planet. For Julianna, kayaking is all about finding the flow state and connecting with the surrounding environment. Whitewater has played an important role in her life and she loves spreading that feeling to others through teaching.

Kale Anthon

Originally from Salt Lake City, Kale’s childhood was immersed in the beauty of snowy mountains and red desert landscapes, fostering her deep appreciation for nature. Her journey into the world of whitewater began with a transformative rafting trip on the Lochsa River in Idaho. That river adventure sparked a passion for adventure and exploration that continues to drive her today.

Guiding on the Flathead River in Glacier National Park provided Kale with a sense of fulfillment as she witnessed the grandeur of rivers and their surrounding landscapes. Whitewater, for Kale, embodies adventure, play, and wonder – qualities she delights in sharing with others through her raft guiding.

Away from the river, Kale pursued her studies in Global Communications at Utah State University, while also fostering outdoor community through leadership roles in Backcountry Squatters. This club empowers women and non-binary individuals in outdoor activities, reflecting Kale’s commitment to creating inclusive outdoor spaces.

Join Kale on the river for an unforgettable adventure, where her passion for nature and love of whitewater shine through in every trip.

Kess Landon

Hailing from the breathtaking town of Highland, Utah, Kess discovered her passion for rafting and kayaking as a teenager during her first rafting trip to Dinosaur National Monument. After her adventure, she told her mom she wanted to be a river guide, a feeling that only grew each time she found herself on the water. The transition into whitewater kayaking came naturally when she started guiding on the majestic Yellowstone River. Since then, Kess has commercially guided on the Yellowstone River, pre and post-flood, and the Gallatin River. She has also explored the iconic Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, the Green River in Cataract Canyon, the Pacuare River in Costa Rica, and the Snake River in Hells Canyon. 2023 will be Kess’s first season at Wet Planet!

Some of Kess’s fondest travel memories stem from twenty magical days rafting on the Grand Canyon, swimming amidst bioluminescence, surfing alongside a whale in Oregon, and the awe-inspiring encounters with bison while skiing in Yellowstone National Park. When she’s off the water, Kess finds solace and joy in a myriad of outdoor activities. From climbing towering rock faces, mountain biking through rugged trails, backpacking across stunning landscapes, to skiing steep slopes, Kess feels most at home in nature. Yet, she also appreciates the mellower side of life while she practices yoga, reads a new book, creates art, and plays the guitar. Kess has dreams of learning all the ways to roll a kayak and becoming a river ranger, and she has completed her goal of publishing a coloring book! You can find Animals, Mushrooms, Mandalas, Moons, and More on Amazon.

Kess finds inspiration when recounting her discovery and nourishment for her love of the outdoors and how it transformed her into a happier and better person. This drives her to further immerse herself in the outdoor industry and share nature’s joy with others in the hopes that she can instill a sense of stewardship and nurture for the natural world. Kess also finds immense joy when she sees people’s nerves turn into excitement during their first rapid and witnessing numerous memories created for friends and family while in such beautiful places.

Marin Keefe

Marin Keefe joins the Wet Planet team as a kayak instructor and raft guide from Bridgewater, Connecticut. She’s always loved being around and on the water but didn’t discover her passion for whitewater until she became a first-year raft guide on the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, Montana. That summer spent outdoors, enjoying the community of paddlers and the thrill of the rapids, was life-changing.

Marin took up kayaking in 2020 and quickly became obsessed. Early on she’d find herself driving anywhere from two to ten hours each weekend to go and explore new rivers and that winter she was invited to spend a few months living and paddling in Futaleufu, Chile. So far the Futaleufu has been her favorite river to kayak thanks to its huge waves, beautiful turquoise water, and the tall peaks and glaciers that surround it. She spent two more winter seasons paddling the Futaleufu and surrounding Patagonian rivers. Along with the Futaleufu, Marin has raft guided on the South Fork of the American River in Coloma, CA, has video kayaked the Gauley in West Virginia, and has kayaked and rafted recreationally all over the US, most recently completing a 27-day trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

Noelle Blackford

Noelle went to Bowdoin College in Maine, where she discovered her passion for whitewater during her summers as a student. She guided on the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers for 3 seasons while she completed her degree in psychology. After taking a summer off of whitewater to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail with her dog, Noelle moved to the Pacific Northwest to guide on the White Salmon River.

During the off-season, Noelle is an assistant teacher at Little Oak Montessori School in White Salmon. She loves sharing her love of nature and outdoor adventure with her elementary students. When she’s not teaching or guiding, Noelle loves to enjoy all the Pacific Northwest has to offer with her dog and friends!

Sydney Lynch

Sydney grew up in Arizona, training horses all her life. She graduated with a degree from Northern Arizona University in Recreation Management in 2014. After working in equine occupational therapy for a while, she wanted a change of scenery and turned to the river for a new challenge. She began raft guiding in the summer of 2017 and hasn’t looked back! Now, Sydney spends her time snowboarding and split boarding in the winter, and rafting in the summer. She fell in love with Colorado and all the seasonal sports that come with it (mostly rafting and snowboarding). Sydney headed to White Salmon in the summer of 2021 for a new adventure and the pursuit of year-round whitewater!

Valerie Urban

Valerie’s introduction to whitewater was as a guest during a college spring break trip in the Smoky Mountains in 2016. Before the trip finished, she asked her guide about the job experience and was convinced to someday guide on a river too.

As a Northern Michigan native, outdoor recreation like camping, swimming, and kayaking were a regular part of her upbringing along the freshwater coast. Whitewater, though, was a completely foreign concept to her and much of the Midwest. Due to her lifelong goal of working in the zoological field, Valerie attended Northern Michigan University to pursue a biology degree. For a healthy work-life balance, Valerie found herself spending her free time taking weekend SCUBA diving courses, hiking and exploring the beautiful Upper Peninsula, and trying to catch waves surfing on Lake Superior when the autumn gale winds visited. As she’s said on more than one occasion, she needs to be by the water.

Valerie’s guiding career started in 2020 at the exact same company she first rafted with as a guest. Over the past four years, Valerie has spent her summers rafting in the Smoky Mountains, Montana, and Northern California. In the off-seasons she has worked as a zipline and ATV guide, fisheries technician monitoring endangered salmon, and odd jobs to fund her travels all while fitting in some time to raft and boulder with her fellow “dirtbag” friends that are scattered around the nation. She’s worn many hats and helmets over the years and continues to collect more as she loves learning new skills.

As a nomadic person with a goal of visiting every state and national park, Val is thrilled to finally experience the White Salmon River with Wet Planet! During the summer, you can find her working as a day trip guide, sharing her abundance of enthusiasm for rafting and all the people she meets along the way. After work expect to see Val honing her kayaking skills with all the amazing kayakers who call Wet Planet home.

Whitney MacIntyre

Growing up in Quincy, California, Whitney was lucky to have friends who brought her family rafting and eventually taught them how to kayak. Rumor is, that you could find her crying on the side of the river when she wasn’t allowed to run a “big one.” After a couple of years of half-heartedly learning to kayak, she became truly hooked during her junior year of college and has not stopped progressing since. Whitney began guiding and support kayaking on Idaho’s Payette River in 2022 while taking a break before grad school. Whitney’s kayaking highlights include the Pine Creek section of the Arkansas River and Bailey Creek in Colorado, The New and Gauley Rivers in West Virginia, and the North Fork Payette in Idaho. The North Fork of the Feather and its tributary Spanish Creek in California also hold sentimental significance for her.

A recent graduate from Portland State with a degree in speech pathology, Whitney spends the winter just barely squeaking by, occasionally making time for a cold lap on one of the many rivers in the Columbia Gorge. One of the cold days of kayaking on the Hood River led to a chance meeting, the gift of a brownie, and a subsequent job offer to join Wet Planet! While she excels in the classroom, Whitney feels most inspired and at home in the mountains with people who share her quiet enthusiasm for wild places. Whitney thru-hiked an impressive 800 miles on the Arizona Trail in the Spring of 2022 and is also an excellent baker!

We are excited to have Whitney as a part of our talented group of kayak instructors. Her ability to teach and welcome people into the local paddling community that has been so welcoming to her will surely leave our students eager to make kayaking and Wet Planet a big part of their summer.

Katie Abercrombie

Katie loves nature. Whether hiking mountains, floating down rivers, snowboarding the slopes with her husband John, laying in the sunshine, or swimming in the ocean, she feels at home doing it all. Katie has worked as a river guide since 2009, when she started guiding in the Southeast on the Chattooga River. She quickly fell in love with the river and the sense of presence and focus it gave her. After a couple of seasons rafting in the south, working various rivers in the area, Katie took to international guiding. She worked her first river season abroad in Norway guiding on the great Numedalslågen.

Soon after, Katie made her way to the Northwest to explore the rivers and countryside of Washington and Oregon; then, on to Nepal to guide several rivers running off of the massive Himalayan Mountains. She made her way through 297 miles of beauty over 28 days rafting on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. She has floated the brisk rivers of southern Alaska and has guided sea kayaking in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean in Hawai’i. When she’s not on the water, you can find her teaching barre classes, riding her snowboard and laughing the whole way down the hill, practicing yoga, working on an art project, or soaking up the sun wherever she can find it.

Hannah Tay

Hannah grew up in New York and was inspired, as a child and forever more, by her parents’ love of travel, exploration, and discovery. Her affinity for the outdoors sprouted from a young age as she spent time camping and at the beach with her family.

After studying French Language and Literature and Studio Art in college, Hannah migrated to Colorado, which is where she grew her love of rivers and guiding. Her enthusiasm for travel and new experiences has led her to play and work on rivers in varying parts of the United States, Costa Rica, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Norway, Europe, and New Zealand. Hannah has spent her winters snowboarding in Colorado or chasing summer in the Southern Hemisphere. When not on the river, you can find Hannah playing somewhere outside, whether it be mountain biking, backpacking, hiking, trying to surf, doing some yoga, or generally just monkeying around!

Naomi Elyard-Jaeger

Naomi is an avid kayaker with a love for the outdoors. She has lived in the Columbia River Gorge her whole life. Naomi became part of the Wet Planet team in 2016, when she was just 14 years old. She has worked a variety of jobs at the Café, eventually transitioning into a kayak instructor. Naomi is eager to share her love of whitewater with everyone and anyone. Wet Planet is where her love of whitewater was created, and it has led her to many wild places. In 2019, she had the privilege of attending World Class Kayak Academy. World Class Kayak Academy is a fully accredited high school that uses athletics as a platform to travel the world and pursue the sport of whitewater kayaking. During her time at the school, Naomi traveled to both Quebec, Canada, and Costa Rica. This opportunity allowed her to further develop her skills for kayaking and was an everyday reminder of why the sport is her passion. She graduated high school in June 2020 after which attended Western Washington University, where she intends to become a first-grade teacher. Kayaking, kids, laughter, and smiles are her favorite things.

Conclusion

We also don’t want to forget about the adventure-loving women who make our trips possible: Kali Bennett who runs our office & spearheads our sustainability efforts. Petra Rainbolt, who drives our buses. Danika Cuchetto, who runs our base operations. Arwen Rhodes, who does a phenomenal job feeding everyone on our multi-day trips. And Madalyne Staab and Lisa Conway who help spread the word and get more people out on river adventures through social media, local partnerships and general marketing efforts.
And of course a big thank you to Jaco, for keeping her ideals and passions in place, allowing this to positively impact her business. The 2024 season marks a beautiful step with our river staff close to being 50:50 male/female for the first time ever! We are so proud of all of our river guides and the amazing adventures they get to share with our guests.

Women On the River – Bridging the Gender Gap in the River Industry