ROW Course - Oar Boat Skills (Including: Float Fishing)


 
4 days . Lower Gunnison River . Day Clinic
Learn to Row/Oar Rivers in Rafts & Drift Boats - OPEN to non-guides!
Learn how to successfully row/navigate an oar boat successfully down the river on your own!  Gain valuable skills, safety, rescue and recovery techniques. This 4-Day Intensive, provides you a better understanding of rivers dynamics including: hydrology, reading the water, environmental considerations and the hazards associated with recreational & commercial river rafting/drift boating. The focus of this course is to educate future Oarsmen.

Itinerary

Lower Gunnison River - Drift Boat & Inflatable Introduction
We start with a 10 mile section of the Lower Gunnison River.  Introduction to basic rowing concepts and maneuvering. Participants will get the opportunity to immediately get a feel for running the oars, as we set the foundation for solid fundamentals and boat handling techniques.

Lower Gunnison River - Drift Boat & Inflatables Continued
Continue to develop our skills on the mellow waters of the Lower Gunnison River - perfect for learning. Continue with "reading the water" and repetitive exercises designed to instill an intuitive nature to rowing in moving water (essential for success!)

San Miguel River - Inflatables Continued
Depending on class progression, we will start to incorporate more challenging "read and run" sections of river to test our skills.
The San Miguel River will give students the opportunity to test techniques, developed over the previous days, in more advanced whitewater setting.  Continued development of essential skills to build a foundation of understanding for more technical whitewater.

14 mile section: Gunnison Gorge Nation Conservation Area.
On our final day, we'll turn you lose on chosen sections of the Gunnison Gorge with expert oversight.  On this day, we'll have detailed instruction/practice on how to successfully navigate technical whitewater, designed for experienced boaters, and spend significant time scouting rapids and discussing our potential approach.

Note: this course is designed to be a thorough "introduction" and by now means will qualify you to run technical whitewater on your own.  For that, it will require additional practice, starting with less technical whitewater and slowly progressing your way to more advances sections - safety first!

Important Travel Information

Is This Trip For You?
This course is designed to set you up with a solid foundation and introduction to rowing boats on your own on, in western rivers.  It is NOT intended to be a Guide Certification Course and offers no standardized certification.  However, these training hours can apply to any State of Colorado Guide Certification Course requirements; as Qualified Trip Leaders will be your Instructors, with the necessary qualifications to train Certified River Guides in Colorado.

*If you are interested in becoming a "Certified River Guide" in the state of Colorado, please link to: Complete certification course: Colorado State River Guide Certification Course and become a guide!  Employment opportunities exist.  NOTE: if you do register for the complete guide training course, a $100 discount will be applied to this course.  Please inquire.

Recommended Gear List

WHAT TO BRING: River Gear.Dress to get wet in some very cold waters and be exposed to the outdoors forthe entire day. Dry top/bottoms or Paddle top/bottoms, wetsuit (ifavailable), Warm fleece or wool layering (2 sets), sturdy river sandals or neoprene booties, gloves and hat, dry bag, notebook, pen/pencil.

BE PREPARED for each day’s activities!  *Please Pack a Lunch for eachday, break time will be limited and more often than not, lunch will beeaten on the water. We will issue a Dry Bag/Backpack for theGunnison River Sections.


Meeting/Departures Location

RIGS Fly Shop Headquarters
565 Sherman #2
mailing: PO Box 2086
Ridgway CO 81432
USA
See Location on a Google Map

Cancellation Information

In the event of a cancellation within 48 hours of your trip departure 100% of the balance will be charged and is considered non-refundable, (90 days out for Gunnison River trips.) * The cancellation of any reservation up to 48 hours will forfeit a standard cancellation penalty of: $15 per-person. (*Cancellation of any Gunnison River trip outside of the 90 days will forfeit a per-person cancellation penalty of: $200 per-person.)

RIGS is not responsible for any cancellations or modifications of tours due to weather condition, road hazards, vehicle breakdowns, or other unforeseen conditions that may hinder the ability for the tour to take place as scheduled. We reserve the right to cancel or modify any trip due to circumstances beyond our control. Clients will have the option to reschedule during the current season based on trip availability. However, trip insurance is always recommended, please contact your local travel agent to acquire trip insurance appropriate for this type of trip.

Adventure Snapshot

Duration: 4 days
Skill Level: Beginner
Category: Paddling
Destination: Lower Gunnison River
Theme: Day Clinic

Provider

Operator: RIGS Adventure CO

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