ABOUT ME
Hailing from the mountains of northern New York, Sean grew up ski racing. Then, about 12 years ago, his mom signed him up for whitewater kayaking through a local outing club thinking it was a flat water kayaking program. It was all down river from there! He loves northern New York; however, the short whitewater kayaking season in New York wasn’t enough to satisfy his thirst for whitewater. So, his last two years of high school he attended World Class Academy, a private traveling high school that travels the world introducing students to international kayaking, kiteboarding, climbing, travel, and cultural immersion. World Class Academy kayaking students paddle daily, while also working on a rigorous classroom curriculum. This program enabled Sean to travel all over the world to kayak: Nepal, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Quebec, British Columbia, and all over the Pacific Northwest. After graduating, he knew that the PNW was where he wanted to call home, so he decided to begin his career as a guide on the Wenatchee River in Leavenworth, Washington. After a couple of seasons, he moved to White Salmon for better access to more varied and consistent whitewater.
A few years ago, Sean took a short hiatus from guiding and kayaking to try doing some “real work” but found he was missing his time on the river. These days, he couldn’t be happier than he is while teaching kayaking and guiding on the White Salmon River. There’s nothing better to Sean than instructing and guiding all summer and traveling to Ecuador to kayak and explore new rivers all winter. If he’s not in Ecuador, chances are he’s in the mountains skiing.
Sean is a guide and trip leader on the White Salmon, Klickitat, and Tieton rivers, as well as an ACA certified whitewater kayak instructor for all Wet Planet courses. His personal favorites to teach are boofing and creeking clinics and our overnight/multi-day Main Salmon River raft-supported kayaking adventure.
What Guests Say About Sean
“We did the half day White Salmon River trip and it was AMAZING. Our guide, Sean keep us prepared for each part of the river. He told us ahead of time what to expect and what we would be doing, Sean was engaging, this is more than just a job for him, he really enjoys what he is doing and is great at it. We are both in our 60’s and would highly recommend this trip. This was my first rafting experience and I am looking forward to many more adventures. Thank you again Sean for making our trip something Scott and I will be talking about for years to come. Janet.” – Janet P. (Tripadvisor, 8/8/22)
“We absolutely loved this it was the best part of our trip. We will send all our friends back to hang with Sean he made our trip better than we ever expected.” – Jay S. (Tripadvisor, 7/31/21)
“We took the full day white water rafting trip down the white salmon river and it was wonderful! Our boat had so much fun with our guide Sean. He was fabulous and very knowledgeable about the area. Would definitely do it again! The staff were fantastic.” –Heather H. (Tripadvisor, 7/30/23)
Interested in becoming part of the Wet Planet Team? Check out our Employment Opportunities.
