River Guide Training Course
6 Day Course
Learn to safely navigate a paddle raft down the class II whitewater of the Weber River!
Do you want to work as a professional river guide this summer?
Do you want to learn to river guide for personal reasons like taking your friends and family out on the river?
You can learn the skills and gain experience to build confidence in navigating and carrying passengers safely down the river in a paddle raft. The successful completion of our river guide training program will meet the requirements of the Utah DNR Division of Outdoor Recreation to be able to be employed to carry passengers for hire on the Weber River.
River guiding on half-day and full-day trips on the Weber River in Echo, Henefer, and Morgan is a great summer job for all types of responsible adults who are physically fit, have good interpersonal skills, and love being active in the outdoors. Many of our river guides are school teachers, school bus drivers, college students, nurses, EMTs, mechanics, ski instructors, and moms who love being out on the river in the summertime.
Whether you want to learn to guide a paddle raft for personal reasons, or if you want to become a professional river guide, this is the place to start!
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Choose one of the following 6-day sessions in 2023.
6-Day Course options for adults:
The 2 middle weekends in May: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (May 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21) from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day.
6 days straight, the first week of June: Friday, June 2 through Wednesday, June 7) from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day.
You must attend all 6 days of the course.
Junior River Guide Training 4-day course for teens aged 12-17: June 14, 15, 16, and 17 from 8:00 – 5:00 each day.
See more details about this basic river navigation skills course for teens in the tab below.
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Our 4-day Junior River Guide Training program for teens ages 12-17 who are interested to learn to safely navigate a paddle raft on the river!
DATES: June 14, 15, 16 and 17
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each of the 4 days.
Junior River Guide trainees will have the opportunity to learn to navigate the river current and gain experience guiding a paddle raft on class I and class II rapids of the Weber River between Echo and Morgan. We also like to get in at least one inflatable kayak trip during the course.
This introductory course will focus on the basic river guiding and navigational skills, as well as leadership and communication skills in working with a paddling team.
Trainees who graduate from this basic level course qualify to participate in our weekly Teen River Kayak Club.
The Junior version of our river guide training does not allow time for First Aid and CPR certification. However, please let us know if you are interested in obtaining your first aid and CPR certification and we can help you arrange it separately from the river navigation training course.
*Teenagers under the age of 18 are not legally allowed to carry passengers for hire in the state of Utah, and will not be able to meet the requirements to be employed as a river guide until after they turn 18 years old.
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$400 for the river guide training course
+$65 for optional Basic First Aid and CPR certification that takes place outside of our river guide training schedule. Schedule TBD.
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Destination Sports – Weber River Adventures Base Camp in Henefer
We float the Weber River from Echo to Henefer, Henefer to Taggart, and Taggart to Morgan.
We strive to spend all of our training days on the Weber River, where we normally run our commercial trips from Echo to Henefer, Henefer to Taggart, and Taggart to Morgan. However, in the event of low water flows in the Weber River, then we may start our training course on a class I section of the Provo River between Deer Creek Dam and Vivian Park.
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- Boat rigging
- Safety
- Hydrology
- Gain experience guiding a paddle raft
- Learn to “read the water” and understand how to navigate the river
- Learn to communicate with your guest paddlers to get them to do what you need them to do to assist you in safely navigating the raft
- Gain experience paddling an inflatable kayak
- Optional First Aid & CPR certification for an added $65 fee.
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Bring the following items:
- Shoes that can get wet. Chacos or Keen water sandals are recommended, or old athletic shoes that can get wet.
- Long polyester underwear or base layer (tops and bottoms). Do not bring long cotton underwear…Cotton kills when it’s cold and wet.
- Polyester or wool socks
- Polyester fleece top and bottoms or a mid layer
- Rain jacket and rain pants
- Hat with visor
- Winter hat or beanie
- Sunglasses with a leash
- Change of warm, dry clothes for when we are not on the river
- Lunch (packed in a hard box so it won’t get smashed on the boat)
- Packable snacks such as granola bars
- Water bottle and refill, enough for all day
- Note pad
- Pencil
If you have the following items, bring them:
- Wet suit
- A type III or type V PFD or “life jacket”
- Splash top or dry top
- Splash pants or dry pants
- Cold water paddling gloves and booties
- Dry suit
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Common questions:
- Will I get wet? Yes.
- Will I get dirty? Yes.
- Will we go out if it is raining? Yes. Snowing? Yes.
- What if there is not enough water in the Weber River when it’s time to start the class? Our backup options are to start learning skills on the Provo River or a nearby reservoir. In an extreme situation where there is not enough water anywhere nearby, we may postpone class to start as soon as the water level comes up. We will contact you as soon as we know this, if there is a need to postpone.
- If I take this course will you hire me? We do hire new river guides from those who successfully complete this course, are at least 18 years of age or older, and otherwise meet the requirements of Utah State Parks to carry passengers for hire. However, employment is not guaranteed. * We reserve the right to drop any participants from the course who are not able to meet the physical, mental and emotional demands of this course. In the event being dropped, we would refund the portion of the tuition payment for remainder of days in the course.
