Date: May 31- June 2, 2024
Price: $795 + tax
Instructors: Neil Gilson
Location: Cowichan River, Vancouver Island
Prerequisites
Paddle Canada Basic or Advanced Flatwater SUP skills, or equivalent flatwater skills.
Whats Included:
- Paddle Canada River 1 Skills Certification
What’s Not Included:
- River specific sup equipment
- Travel to and from Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island
- Accommodations
- Food
Cancellation Policy
Full payment is due to secure your spot on the course. A full refund will be issued if you cancel at least 30 days prior to the trip start date. Cancellation less than 30 days prior to the first day of the trip will result in the loss of the full course fee. Registrations may be transferred to another person for the same course. Norm Hann Expeditions reserves the right to cancel any course due to insufficient registrations or unsafe conditions. If Norm Hann Expeditions cancels a course you will receive a full refund or may choose to transfer your payment to a future course.
Learn to Run a River Safely on our Three Day Skills Course.
Our River Skills course is aimed at introducing you to fundamental river paddling skills, safety, awareness, and practical experience while exploring the emerald green rivers of Vancouver Island.
Enjoy three full days as you build your confidence in moving water as we strengthen your footwork, build efficient forward strokes and focus on eddy turns, ferries, and river running techniques. Developing your understanding of how to “read” moving water and use the features of the river environment to get you safely and efficiently to where you want to be opens up a whole new world of SUP exploration for you. A strong focus on hazard assessment, self-rescue skills and decision making teaches you how to stay safe and enables your confidence. Connecting with the river environment can be a powerful personal experience that deepens your understanding and appreciation of our amazing natural environment. And learning to ‘play’ with river features like standing waves and river surf is just plain fun!
Required River SUP Equipment
- River inflatable paddleboard, adjustable & durable paddle, quick release leash, helmut
- Safety/River Rescue PFD TYPE III or V or Jacket PFD with rescue belt.
- Throwbag
- Drysuit or wetsuit.
- River appropriate shoes.
- lunch, water, snacks
- phone and waterproof case
28 Aug. 2024 to 4 Sep. 2024
Tour Reviews
My wife and I took the River Skills course in June and truly loved it. We had some experience paddling in lakes but essentially none on rivers. The course gave us new strokes to use, lessons on how to navigate on rivers and where to look for dangers, and a lot of fun.
We started the first day with a morning of flat water skills development, where we worked on strokes that would be useful on rivers, then started dealing with some faster water (moving in and out of eddies )in the afternoon. By the second day, we were on a river and translating the new skills to new situations. The third day was a really wonderful run down a river, trying out our new skills, pulling out when the water was too hard for us (or too shallow), and really enjoying everyone’s company. My guess is that the specifics of what happens on each day will vary with the conditions and the paddlers. One of the great things about the course was a feeling that the guides were adapting to us and the conditions to make sure everything was both safe and enjoyable.
That brings me to the guides – Neil and Tina. Nothing I can say will do true justice to how much we appreciated what they did. Right from the start, it was clear that we were in experienced hands – which was important in allowing us not to be too anxious so we could focus on the lessons. They taught us a lot and all with patience, good humour, and warmth. It was really enjoyable just to get to hang out with them in what was clearly their home environment. I suppose the strongest endorsement I can give is that they made us want to do more lessons with them and to get out on rivers and do more paddleboarding ourselves.
If you are wondering about whether to take this course – whether paddle boarding on a river with some rapids sounds a bit crazy – let me give you a nudge. Do it. I’m sure you will love it as much as we did.
Leave a Review