Guide School Instructors

We have been guiding and instructing in Patagonia, Chile since 1985/86 and have developed an excellent understanding of what kind of person makes an outstanding river guide. Our guides and instructors are handpicked from the best kayak schools and instructional programs throughout North and South America. They are all experts in their field, relate well to people, and understand how to communicate difficult concepts effectively. Our guides are expected to enjoy spending significant amounts of time outdoors in isolated regions, to engage in resourceful problem solving and function well within a multi-cultural bi-lingual environment. In most cases our guides are over-qualified for the positions they hold with us. Our current guides and alumni include: world champions, national champions, authors, expedition pioneers, heads of instruction and company owners. Their commitment to your safety and the quality of your paddling experience is paramount.

Jim Coffey brings two decades and thirty countries of commercial operating experience to Expediciones Chile . As captain of the Canadian Rafting team he has lead Team Canada to 5 top ten finishes at the World Rafting championships. Since 1984 he has been leading expeditions, training guides and teaching canoeing, kayaking, first aid, swiftwater rescue and ecological awareness throughout, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, India, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He first introduced the SRT program to Eastern Canada in 1989 and became the first certified SRT1 and SRT2 instructor east of the Rockies . In 1992 he founded Esprit Rafting, an Ottawa Valley adventure travel company which specializes in whitewater rafting, kayaking and instruction. Jim's accomplishments include being a Canadian Team member for C2 whitewater slalom racing, as well as, the captain of 4 Canadian Rafting Championship teams at the World Rafting Championships.  Jim is a registered Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and an active Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.  A very likable guy, Jim is in charge of Expediciones Chile's safety certification and guide training.

Chris Spelius was a 1984 US Olympic Team Kayak Member, a Bronze Medalist in the 1991, World Freestyle Kayak Championship in Wales, England. He has won numerous freestyle, flatwater and slalom events around the United States and the World as a sponsored paddler with Team Dagger. He was also a member of Team Timex during the filming of PaddleQuest in 1995. His last professional freestyle competition and victory came in Norway in 1997. He was a longtime instructor at the Nantahala Outdoor Center and the Otter Bar Lodge Kayak School and worked as a raft guide at Holiday River Expeditions and Grand Canyon Dories (now OARs). His tenure as a kayak instructor has afforded him the opportunity to appear in numerous kayak instructional videos over the years. As a kayak designer for the Dagger Canoe and Kayak Company, Chris designed the Crossfire and the RPM, which went on to become the biggest selling kayak in the history of the sport. Chris' first ever descent of the Niagara Gorge in a kayak which was televised by ABC Sports and garnered him and the sport international attention. In the year 2000, Chris was recognized by Paddler Magazine as one of the “Paddler's of the Century” for a lifetime of dedication to the sport of whitewater kayaking. Chris is a graduate of the University of Utah.

Chris first visited Chile in 1980 and worked as a raft guide on the Bio Bio River. He later coached whitewater kayaking on a grant from the International Olympic Committee to help develop kayaking as an Olympic sport in Chile. Chris first paddled the Futaleufu River in 1984 and has been personally guiding kayak trips in Chile since the 1985/86 season. In 1991 he co-led the first two successful raft descents of the Futaleufu River. While spending more time in the office attending to the operation of his business his zeal for instruction has not diminished. His instructionally philosophy and dedication to excellent instruction permeates the entire Expediciones Chile staff. A complete biography can be found here: Chris Spelius.




Alejandro Rosales is one of Argentina's foremost kayaking pioneers and one of the most recognized names in whitewater kayaking in South America. He has numerous first descents to his credit and has spent much of his life developing whitewater kayaking in his homeland. He has guided extensively in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Costa Rica and the United States. In 1991 he founded his own company, Extremo Sur, based out of San Carlos de Bariloche, considered by many to be the capital of Patagonia, Argentina. Extremo Sur is one of the few companies licensed to operate rafting and kayaking trips on the Rio Manso in the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

Alejandro was the Argentina National Freestyle Champion in 1999 and runner-up in 1998. He has participated in kayak competitions around the world and has been featured on Argentina Television and in Weekend Magazine. He was also the first Argentinean to descend of the Cascada Falls on the Rio Manso. A graduate of the Rescue III International River Safety Program, Alejandro wrote the book in on river rescue in Argentina: Manual Para Técnica de Rescate en Ríos de Montañas. (The manual of Mountain River Rescue.) A soft-spoken individual he is an expert at team building and leading large diverse groups. In the tradition of Expediciones Chile’s guide team he is overqualified. A professional architect by training, Alejandro has spent his life following his passion for whitewater kayaking. He calls working for Expediciones Chile a vacation – however, we pay him anyway!! He is also the father of 7 year old son named Pedro.





Fergus Coffee was born in the United States to British and Canadian parents. With his English accent and New England background Fergus is truly kayaking's "international man of mystery". When not working in Chile he spends the off-season as the head of instruction at the Zoar Outdoor Kayak School in New England Fergus is an active competitor in freestyle and extreme kayaking. In 2006 he placed 16 th in the Teva Mountain Games, Homestake Extreme Kayak Race. Fergus has also paddled and worked extensively in Europe, Canada and New Zealand . Chris met Fergus while teaching a freestyle clinic at Zoar Outdoor and was so impressed by his racing background, instructional talents, organizational abilities, and people skills, that he recruited him to work in Patagonia.