Who is private instruction for?
Our private instruction is most effective for one person who wants to work on a specific aspect of whitewater rafting. If you’re looking for a broad education we suggest starting with our online rowing course and/or our Class III Rowing School.
Can more than one person take part in private instruction?
Yes, but this is much more effective as one-on-one instruction. If there are two of you interested in doing private instruction, we suggest hiring two instructors with two separate boats.
For larger groups, we can come up with a custom proposal based on the size of your group and your specific learning goals.
How long is each day?
We typically begin each day at 9am and go until 4-5pm. Don’t forget to pack a lunch, snacks, and water.
How do I schedule a date?
This is the tricky part as we don’t always have instructors available if they are teaching other courses or guiding one of our trips. It somewhat depends on the type of instruction you’re looking for, and here are some generalizations:
- For Class III-IV instruction we suggest booking in February and March in Hood River, Oregon.
- For Class II-III instruction we suggest booking during the summer months on the Rogue River near Grants Pass, Oregon.
- We can offer private instruction in September through January in Hood River, Oregon but river flows can be low and inconsistent.
Should I take the Class III School, Class IV School, or Private Instruction?
The Class III Rowing School is perfect for any one wanting to work in their individual rowing skills. The Rogue River offers up challenges for brand new rowers to seasons river runners. This is also a really great class for those wanting to start doing multi-day trips with their families. You will get a glimpse into what gear and skills a multi-day river trip requires.
The Class IV Rowing School is great if you’re looking to improve your team safety skills. The focus of this course is more about group safety and less about improving your individual rowing technique. Put-ins and take-outs are often up and down steep, muddy slopes requiring everyone to be physically fit just to get on the river. You should expect to flip your raft and swim some rapids in this course.
Private Instruction is best suited for some one-on-on learning. While we cover a wide range of topics it is best for those looking to work on some specific whitewater skills.
What rivers will the instruction be on?
We commonly do instruction on the Hood River, Lower White Salmon River, Klickitat River, and/or the Washougal River.
In the summer months we do instruction on various sections of the Rogue River near Grants Pass, Oregon.
What are the rivers like?
The rivers in the Hood River area are all different.
The Klickitat River is a medium volume and continuous river. This is a great place for people to learn to read water because it is always moving, forcing you to pay attention, and use your oars to maneuver your boat.
The Hood River is a big step up form the Klickitat River. Similarly continuous but steeper with lots of rock obstacles and large hydraulics.
The Lower White Salmon has a nice mix of challenging rapids, scenery, and a change to work on your portaging skills. About halfway down the river is Steelhead Falls. It has a very large hydraulic often walked around by all boaters. Here we will get a change to work on lining boats around difficult rapids.
The Washougal is filled with a bunch of fun class III rapids and one class IV. This is a great place to learn about scouting rapids as you can get a really good view of the entire rapid from the road.
The Rogue has a few opportunities for working on your rowing skills. There is a great day stretch and an endless amount of eddies and ferries to challenge your skills.