Students practice live bate rescues
Student safety is always our number one concern. Our instructors will do everything in their power to ensure student safety. We choose sections of the river to practice that we can monitor well with spotters and safety boaters to work in. We maintain a low student to instructor ratio to ensure that there is adequate supervision for students at all times. Also, at higher flows we employ a safety boater to work as downstream safety.
However, it is important for students to understand that these courses do involve an amount of risk. In order to practice river rescue techniques, we will be working in the river. That being said, the river is a very dynamic place and there is always a possibility that an injury could occur.
We have a fair amount of environmental elements that make the river a more hazardous place. For instance, some issues we deal with are: the water temperature is typically cold, the terrain around the river is very slick, and depending on the flow rate the water can be very swift. We manage these elements and others as much as possible, but it is important for the student to be aware that safety is also their responsibility when they attend a class.