Advanced Whitewater Rafting Guide School - The Kaweah River, Three Rivers California
THIS CLASS IS NOT BEING OFFERED IN 2023
This course is designed for individuals with prior experience guiding rafts in at least class II/III whitewater. It is preferable that you have had some experience paddling (but not necessarily guiding) class 4/5 rivers but this is negotiable. We have had a wide range of students come through this course, from 2nd year guides to guides who already work guiding class IV rivers, and they have all benefited greatly from the experience.
If you do not have any prior whitewater experience but you are interested in learning to guide, check out our entry level guide school.
Arrive: It will be best for you to arrive on Sunday evening. Monday is a big day with a lot of introductions and theory in the morning before we hit the river. Please be fed and dressed (in street clothes) and ready to meet the instructors at 8:30 am on Monday morning. Time will be allocated after introductions for you to get river ready. If you do plan on getting in on Monday morning please arrive early so you can get yourself situated and be ready by 8:30am.
Depart: Class will finish around 3pm on Friday
Cost: $500
Cost includes - Camping Fees Sunday-Thursday nights, Tuition, River Fees, and all shuttles to and from the river.
Cost DOES NOT include - Meals, Cooking Equipment, Personal rafting gear.
What river gear you need:
At minimum you need to have a wet suit available, we can help you rent one if you do not own one.
Any other boating layers that you own. It can be hot and it can be cold.
If you have an appropriate PFD bring it. We will have them available for you if you don’t.
Any safety equipment that you typically wear on your person and know how to use. You will not be permitted to bring any dry bags or gear into the raft that is not connected to your body. If you have medication, epipens or any other medical items please advise us.
Schedule: The schedule can really depend on the group dynamic. It will be somewhat fluid but please plan on being busy from the morning to evening. There are often morning and evening sessions.
Where: Three Rivers Hideaway 43365 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers, CA 93271
Interested in this workshop? Fill out the following application and we will get back to you:
About the Instructors
John Kosakowsky
John Kosakowsky started rafting 20 years ago and never looked back. Being on the river became his career, passion and lifestyle. After his first couple of seasons on the South Fork of the American River, John ventured off to Costa Rica to become a guide on the class IV Pacuare River, only to find out that he knew a lot less than he thought he did! It was this experience that set him on a determined course to approach whitewater rafting as an art form that requires consistent and focused practice. Since then John has rafted privately and commercially around the US and the world, from class II backyard creeks to epic class V runs. John has a wealth of knowledge and he loves to share it. He has taught many students who have gone on to become successful and competent river guides and boaters at large.
Daniel Jenkins
Hello, I have been guiding on the American river for over 15 years now but my history with it goes further back than that. At a young age I learned to swim in this river. After spending many years exploring the side creeks and swimming the river, I finally got into a raft. Since my beginnings on the American River, I went on to explore and work on rivers across America and the globe.
Like the salmon that go out to sea and return years later to the same river bed, I keep returning. When it comes to the South Fork American River, I have rafted it all: from the headwaters sliding down steep granite faces where the change from creek to river happens to the lost river bed under Folsom Lake. I see the river as my back yard and I am always looking to share it with others.
On the river I like to channel the muse of the Rodeo Clown. You will see me dressed up in all sorts of styles and colors playing around having a jolly time. Just as the clown puts on a show in the pen with a Raging Bull, the dangers of the river are always on the top of my mind. People might say rafting is in my blood, my 3 brothers and 3 sisters have worked on the river, at some point over the years for River Runners.
Welcome, catch you on the... upright side.
Travis Cobb
Travis Cobb started rafting and kayaking with his best friends in jr. high school and has done his best to make it a regular habit. His professional rafting career began in 2001 on the Shenandoah River in West Virginia. Since then he has worked and played on whitewater of all classifications in at least 15 states and 5 countries, teaching both guiding and Swiftwater Rescue. He is known for teaching techniques based in hands on, practical application rather than a scenario dependent curriculum from a "by the book" checklist. Though he is not part of the every day staff at River Runners he has been a close friends with John K and Daniel J (he affectionately calls the Kozo Clan) for the last 12 years. He had this to say about the River Runners guide school:
"River Runners' guide schools are among the most successful whitewater programs I have ever participated in. John and Sarah provide a structured program with clear goals and excellent resources are provided for their students. Where River Runners stand apart from other schools is that they cultivate an experience that feels like we are all, both instructors and students, out on a play trip. I come away from every class feeling lucky to have been involved."
The Curriculum
What will be covered: This workshop will cover the more advanced elements of whitewater navigation. Instruction will be primarily in the medium of paddle guiding a raft. Students will be encouraged to develop the ability to read chaotic river currents and a dynamic approach to navigation.
Many skills will be demonstrated and practiced, including:
The dark art of using rocks instead of avoiding them
The troubling art of planning for the best and expecting the plan not to work
The fine art of thinking of every paddle stroke as unique
Planning out and successfully executing unconventional lines within rapids
Navigating a river uncontrolled by dams and being comfortable with daily and yearly changes in flow and obstacle placement
Intentional and unintentional rock slipping and pivoting
Controlled and uncontrolled raft surfing
Catching microeddies in a larger craft (it’s not just for kayakers)
Pinballing and shaboinging
Lowsiding (and highsiding)
Running rapids without the luxury of calling a get-down
Intentional and unintentional swimming of rapids
Avoiding man-made obstacles, like bridges and pipes
Negotiating strainers and foliage-choked passages
Intentional and unintentional scenarios involving rafts pinned on rocks and rafts being surfed in holes
Treating a river trip as an expedition
Rescue on the Run
Downstream safety
River safety triage
The joy of R2ing