Trip Report: Wind River

--When, Where, Conditions--
When: Friday, August 15, 2014
Location: Wind River
Conditions: The water is still cold this time of year, but with the sunshine we barely noticed. The water is getting a little low, but the waterfalls are still a ton of fun.
Duration: We were on the river for about three to four hours and the shuttle was a little over half an hour. Its about a four mile section of river, but we took our time working on creeking skills.

--Helpful Info--
Difficulty: This was an Intermediate Creeking Skills class so it was an advanced class.
Kid Friendly? 14 and over.
Pet Friendly? No
Useful Links: Intermediate Creeking Class

The Report: A couple weeks ago Dave Hoffman, the old Kayak School manager, stopped in the shop and I was able to talk him into helping out with a Intermediate Creeking Class. The water level on the Lower Wind was a little low, but the waterfalls become very forgiving at the lower levels so we decided to have the class there.

It was a nice and sunny day on the river. We made it through the first rapid, High Bridge, without any incidence, and then we worked on skills on the way down to the Flume. When we got to the Flume we talked about scouting a rapid and the lines to take. Most of the people portaged the rapid but everyone who ran it made it through cleanly. When we got to Beyond Limits everyone was happy to fire it up and everyone ran it successfully! Shepherds falls is by far my favorite part of this run. Shepherd falls is a series of four drops with pools in between. The first drop is a fun 10 to 12 foot waterfall and the second drop is a 15 footer followed by scary looking but fun slide finishing off with an 8 foot waterfall.

When we got there we did video editing so everyone could see what they were doing well and the skills that needed to work on. Doing video editing is one of the ways that I was really able to improve on my river running and basic skills. With video editing you can slow down and replay what you are doing so you can see what you are actually doing. I believe that this is really helpful in the learning process because when you first start running more advanced rapids everything seems to happen very quickly, so after watching a video the student is able to focus on a few skills and work on those important techniques to help improve when they run the rapid again.

The class was a success and everyone did great and went home with some new or improved skills and in the near future an awesome video of them running waterfalls. If you're interested in registering for our Intermediate Creeking Class, follow the link below for more information. Happy paddling everyone!