Chances are that this is your first real experience with negotiating moving water in a kayak. The focus of this course is to teach all the necessary skills required to safely get you down a river. The techniques that you will learn during the 2-day course will be your first steps in the path to become a solid White Water Kayaker
This is a 2-day intensive course that will be held on a class II river, and on each day you will spend between 6-8 hours on the water.
To be able to “read” the waters in front of us s an essential component for a kayaker. We will start observing the water flows and their dynamics, trying to understand what happens on the surface and under it. We will learn how to identify and name all the different features that we can find in a river environment, and we will start reasoning on how those features will have an impact on our kayak descent. River reading is a learning process that will take a lifetime; in this course we will put down the foundations.
Kayaking is a relatively safe sport, but while in the river many things can happen, and we need to know what to do. You will learn how to rescue yourself and how to rescue others, according to the most efficient rescue techniques hat are preferred in the river. We will teach you how to swim a rapid in the safest way, how to use a throw bag, how to take a boat to the shore, but most of all how to decide what to do in case of an emergency on the river.
After revising our basic skills we will start bringing them into the current, learning the basic moves of river kayaking, like catching an eddy, peeling out, and ferrying. We will work hard to make sure that our paddling strokes are effective when we need them, to move in the river keeping control of our boat, while following a line, avoiding obstacles, stopping at our will. This will keep us busy and will fill us every second with the unique sensation which is to flow down with the river…
Step it up to and get ready to run real white-water
Running a river is an awesome experience. In order to do that we require a large amount of different skills , from the moment we start planning a trip at home, till the time we tie up the boats on the car after a great day on the river. This course was meant to provide you with all those skills, building a solid preparation to kayak rivers.
This is a 2-day intensive course that will be held on a class II+-III river, and on each day you will spend between 6-8 hours on the water.
Students must have successfully completed the LTR-intro course or achieved similar skills while kayaking.
Swimming ability is a must, the possibility of swimming in white water during this course is high.
Must not suffer from any medical or physical condition that prohibits the participant from partaking in strenuous physical exercise.
The more we progress in river running the more is crucial to take fast decision while choosing a line or when placing our blade into the water. To do that is essential to comprehend the flow of the water, in every aspect, and to anticipate the features of the river. This is river reading. This is what we will practice on this course, from the shore, while scouting, and form the boat, while paddling.
Kayaking is a relatively safe sport, but while in the river many things can happen, and we need to know what to do. You will learn how to rescue yourself and how to rescue others, according to the most efficient rescue techniques hat are preferred in the river. We will teach you how how to decide what to do in case of an emergency on the river. You will swim rapids, learn how to use a throw bag, how to help other kayakers form the shore, and much more.
How do we run the river? What should we know before putting in? How do we organize our group? What is the plan of action? How we will communicate while paddling? What do we do in case of an emergency? In this course we will spend time reasoning on how we make sure we enter the river as a group that is aware and self sufficient, proactive and ready for the challenges ahead.
It’s time to style our moves on the river! While catching an eddy, peeling out, or ferrying, now we need to feel confident and clear. We will try to introduce new effective strokes while doing that, aiming to gain precision while paddling down the river. In this course we will focus on how to cross obstacles like waves and holes, how to make sure we can follow our line, and how to change our line when things do not go according to our plan. Back ferries, power strokes, duffecks, braces, S-turns and more… You will be busy applying in the river all of these techniques, and much more!
