January Whitewater Clinics from the Kayak School

Advanced River Running Skills Clinic
This clinic is designed for class 2 paddlers who wish to refine and add to the skills they learned as beginner paddlers. Students will improve stroke efficiency so they can execute eddy-turns, peel-outs and ferries with greater precision. Advanced strokes, like the Duffek & C-Stroke, will also be taught, as well as their application. We'll discuss basic safety and river-running strategies so students will become more comfortable as leaders on the water.

A reliable roll is not required for this class, though working knowledge of the roll is highly recommended. Drysuits are strongly recommended. The student to instructor ratio is 4:1, with a maximum of 6 students.

Basic Creeking Skills Clinic
Get your introduction to creeking the best way possible. In this clinic, students will learn to manage steeper, tighter and more technical whitewater. Students will be taught to utilize advanced strokes to catch and exit smaller and smaller eddies, develop cross-current momentum and the fundamentals of boat scouting. Creeking-specific group management and safety considerations will be included in the clinic. Strategies for the successful running of slides, holes and ledges will be taught and practiced where available.

The ideal students for this clinic will be comfortable on class 3 runs like Fish-Bob's on the Clack and the Middle White Salmon, and ready to aggressively challenge themselves in preparation for class 4 creeks. A strongly reliable roll is recommended for this class. Creekboats and drysuits are strongly recommended. The student to instructor ratio is 4:1, with a maximum of 6 students.

Roll Improvement Clinic
Can't quite master the roll? Swimming more than you want to? Does it seem like you are doing everything right but your roll isn't strong enough? This is the class you need. We break the roll down into extremely simple steps, teach you all the tricks we know as instructors, demystify everything you've learned about rolling and give you a game plan to improve your roll right now. The student to instructor ratio is 4:1, with a maximum of 8 students.

Waterfalls Skills Clinic
Kayaking waterfalls is probably the most fun part of whitewater kayaking. It can also be intimidating and difficult.  Being able to skillfully negotiate waterfalls opens up new and challenging rapids and rivers. This clinic will teach students to run waterfalls with confidence, style and success. Our professional instructors teach simple and straightforward techniques, emphasizing body position, solid strokes, scouting and safety. We have a huge success rate and students will crush boofs of their choice after the clinic. These days are by far the most fun we have on the water.

The ideal students for this clinic will be comfortable on class 4 runs like the Lower Wind, East Fork of the Lewis and  the Brietenbush and ready to kayak waterfalls multiple times in one day. You do not need to have run a waterfall prior to this class but a large portion of our students have. Student's rolls should be very dependable. Creekboats and drysuits are strongly recommended. The student to instructor ratio is 4:1, with a maximum of 6 students.