Dates: April 5 -9th, 2022
Location: Cowichan River, Vancouver Island
Price: $1200 + gst
Prerequisites
At least 18 years of age
Current Paddle Canada membership and provincial or territorial
Paddle Canada Basic or Advanced Flatwater SUP skills, or equivalent skills or knowledge
Costs Include the Following:
- Instructor Ratio: 1:4
- Paddle Canada Certification: If successful, participants can achieve their Paddle Canada River 1 or 2 skills.
Price Does Not Include the Following
- Accommodations
- Travel to and from Vancouver Island
- Food
- River Board and Drysuit rentals.
Cancellation Policy
Training courses refundable less 10% prior to 30 days. The course is non-refundable within thirty days of start date.
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A Five Day River SUP Training Camp on Vancouver Island.
The goal for our SOAR River Camp is to provide an immersive river sup training week for those who want to become competent in a dynamic river environment in order run rivers safely or to gain experience with the goal of leading others down rivers. Our camp is hosted by industry leading instructors and coaches with a focus on safety, building technical river paddling skills, and increasing self and group leadership skills while gaining valuable paddling experience under the instruction and coaching of the team. This is a Paddle Canada certified SUP River 1 & 2 skills course.
In greater detail our course includes self and group river rescue and safety skills, decision making, and river hazard analysis in moving water. From there we transition to building technical river sup skills as we work on ferries, eddy turns, surfing and those skills required to control yourself while river running.
This years course is based on the Cowichan River, a beautiful river on central Vancouver Island and a perfect class 2/3 river to learn on. Our team is excited to work with you to accomplish your goals during our week of living the river life!
What to Bring
Required River SUP Equipment
- Inflatable river specific paddleboard.
- Adjustable paddle ( no carbon)
- Safety/River Rescue PFD TYPE III or V or Jacket PFD with rescue belt.
- Helmut
- Throwbag
- Drysuit or wetsuit (drysuit rentals available)
- River appropriate shoes. (NRS, Astral, MEC)
- lunch, water, snacks
- phone and waterproof case
- pen and notepad
- Dry bag for day trips
If there is equipment you need for the course Norm Hann Expeditions is a retailer for Northwater (throw bags, safety and rescue), Predator Helmuts, Xcel Wetsuits, Mustang Survival PFD’s and drysuits, and Badfish SUP Inflatables.
Travel
Location: Cowichan River, Vancouver Island
Accommodations
There will be the opportunity for group camping on the Cowichan River.
Norm Hann is a Paddle Canada Instructor Trainer for surf, touring, river and flatwater. He is a coastal expedition guide and has been leading people from around the world for the last eighteen years in the Great Bear Rainforest on multi day sup expeditions and wildlife tours. He is also a former high school teacher, college instructor and university basketball coach who has been involved with teaching, coaching and instructing for most of his life.
Chad Guenter, of Soul Flow Paddle Co, is a Paddle Canada River Instructor and an Rescue Instructor for industry leader Raven Rescue. Chad has a wealth of river and guiding experience and instructing in dynamic conditions. Chad brings his in depth swift-water rescue teaching experience to this course by providing a safe learning environment and incorporating safety principles and self rescue to the itinerary.
Neil Gilson of Bearfoot Performance Paddling is currently a Paddle Canada Flatwater and River SUP Instructor Trainer and SUP Touring Instructor. Over a 30-plus year paddling career, Neil has served as a whitewater canoe and rafting guide, ocean kayak guide and stand up paddle instructor on waters throughout western Canada including Nahanni, Gwaii Haanas, and Pacific Rim National Parks, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, and the mountain and foothills rivers of the Canadian Rockies. Neil brings a lifetime of all-round, on-water paddling experience, technical analysis and coaching expertise to share with beginner through to advanced SUP paddlers, and instructor level candidates.
Tour Reviews
I believe the highest form of reverence you can give a river – aside from stewardship – is to educate yourself and learn as much as you can from the experts. The SOAR River Camp is an incredible opportunity to do just that. Norm and Chad are TOP level instructors and they deliver an OUTSTANDING camp. After 5 full days of SUP river skills, river safety and rescue and leadership training I now have the confidence to make safe and wise choices – within my capabilities – as I begin to explore river paddling. I’ll never look at a river the same (or a deck for that matter) – without question one of the best experiences of my life. I had an absolute blast!!
Jodee Meyers
Absolutely gem of a week! If your goal is to start river paddling, then this camp is the perfect entry point. From safety, river dynamics, gear, rescue scenarios to technical skills, Chad and Norm methodologically introduces students to dynamic river environments. It is also tons of fun to share the stoke with like minded paddlers for a week… Even if you do not plan to paddle rivers (you will likely change you mind after experiencing river paddling), the skills you learn are extremely transferable to other sup disciplines (surf, ocean, flat water, etc.).
Basically, if you love paddling, you must take this course.
Just spent the last week on the 5 day SOAR River SUP course with Norm Hann and his amazing group of instructors. This course was set in the mountain backdrop of Canmore Alberta, home to world class rivers and views! This course is a must do for those that want to explore rivers on stand up paddle boards and do so in a safe and confident way. The instructors challenged, mentored and inspired all of us in the art of navigating rivers on SUPs. This course provided a safe place for all students to learn, dig deep, and be supported in the the mental perseverance to keep getting back up until we all had those “aha moments’ where the pieces came together. The energy and passion from the instructors was inspiring and it has fuelled me to keep learning and exploring rivers. I can’t wait for this course again next year to keep building on my river skills. Highly recommended for all paddlers looking for a new challenge.
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