This course is a two week river expedition on the Green or Yampa rivers in Utah. Students experience a progression of whitewater skills as they move from rafts into smaller craft like sit-on-top kayaks. This course is appropriate for a broad range of motivated challenge-seekers.

Course Area
Whether you start on the Green River courses via the Gates of Lodore (red sandstone escarpments rising 2,000' ) or the Yampa River is with sandstone land forms and pictographs, all courses end up descending Desolation and Gray Canyons on the Green River. See spectacular rock formations and ancient Indian ruins as you make your way down river.

Course Description
During the initial phase, your instructor introduces you to the routines and skills of the river lifestyle: environmental ethics, outdoor cooking, shelters, paddle rafting and captaining, key safety principles, whitewater rescue and first-aid. Spend most days paddling through magnificent canyons, scenic flatwater sections and maneuvering the boat between obstacles in the many moderate rapids. Almost daily, you explore side canyons, and hike to see fascinating archeological, geologic and historic sites. In places, the rims rise thousands of feet above, enclosing you in a remote world of rushing water, delicate ecosystems and unbelievable beauty.

After the rafting section, switch to our small craft fleet, a combination of sit-on-top hard-shell kayaks and rafts. Sit-on-top kayaks combine stability with maneuverability, and provide day after day of fun in the 85 miles of Desolation and Gray Canyons. You learn the new skills specific to kayaking: eddy turns, bracing, surfing, and self-rescue. Each rapid run brings a new level of confidence and great sense of accomplishment.

NOTE: While rafting itself -riding down a rapid- is not as physically challenging an activity as backpacking, you do need to be adequately fit to paddle aggressively and to enter and exit the raft (you should be able to get out of a swimming pool without using a ladder). You should also know that hiking is an almost daily element of the course.