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White Water Guide Training
The journey to become a White Water rafting Guide is going to be one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences you will have in your life. The thrill of guiding our clients down the river is one that will always stay with you. If becoming a White Water Rafting Guide is something you are interesting in, check out what a typical trainee goes through while preparing to be a guide at White Water Adventurers.
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Your first day of training
Training to become a guide begins the first Saturday in April. Come expecting to get wet as we hit the water the first day. As anyone familiar with western Pennsylvania can tell you, the weather in early April is very unpredictable, so come prepared for anything.
The first thing you'll do upon arriving at White Water Adventurers is be introduced to your trainers. The Guide Trainers are senior guides at White Water Adventurers who have proved themselves to be exceptional guides. They have a lot of knowledge to share with you, so make sure you pay close attention to what they say. The trainers here at White Water are also Trip Leaders who you will be working under throughout the entire summer. Therefore, it is important to show them that you are willing to work hard and succeed.
Our Trainers
B.J.
Tim
What to bring the first day of training
- Your Driver's License
- Warm Clothes - Anything Wool Or Polypro. Do not wear any cotton clothing down the river.
- Change of Clothes.
- Current C.P.R. and First Aid Certifications. (if You have them)
C.P.R. and First Aid
Every White Water Rafting Guide is required by Pennsylvania Law to be certified in C.P.R. and First Aid. If you are already certified and have your cards, great ! Bring them with you the first day of training. If you are not currently certified in C.P.R. and First Aid, we will set up a class for to you become certified.
What do we do in training?
Your training to become a white water rafting guide will consist of both classroom time and time on the river learning skills. Which are you going to do your first day? Well, it depends on whether it snows or not. Hope for sunshine!
Paddling Skills
Paddling skills are going to be one of the most important, if not the most important skill you will learn during training. Every day you will be in a boat, so you need to know how to control it. Your trainers will go over the different paddle strokes you will be using while working. This can take a lot of practice so don't get discouraged.
You'll learn how to paddle the rafts, turn them and maneuver them through the rapids. Not only will you learn how to paddle a raft all by yourself, a skill called R1'ing, but you'll also learn how to use a crew to help you paddle. This will come in hand as many times you will be in a raft with customers and it is vital that you know how to get your crew to do what needs to be done.
Rope Training
Throwing a rope will become an essential skill as you become a white water rafting guide. We use rope as a tool to help procure the safety of our guests.
Throughout a typical trip, you will be asked by your Trip Leader to throw ropes at different rapids. It is important that you be able to accurately throw the rope and pull in our guest who may have fallen into the water.
To train for this, you will take turns swimming different rapids and throwing ropes to each other.
Swimming Rapids
What would you do if you saw someone jump into the middle of a class four rapid and swim through it..just to see them walk up the shore line and do it again ?!? Well, part of your training to become a guide involves becoming comfortable with swimming through the whitewater.
During the course of working, your Trip Leader may ask you to swim to certain parts of the rapids and we need to know you are not afraid to do it. And sometimes you will find yourself swimming through a rapid because you made a mistake with your boat handling skills, (hopefully not too often) and we need to know you'll get back to your boat and take care of business.
In Conclusion
Now that you have a little peek into what it takes to become a white water rafting guide you can decided whether or not it would be for you. If you do decide to train with us, be prepared for the most action packed summer you have ever had. You'll have fun, learn new skills, and become part of our white water family, and get paid for it...can you think of a better way to spend your summer?
If you want to see more pictures of our training class, visit our Guide Training Pictures Page.