Whitewater River Guide School

Learning to whitewater guide on Chile's Rio Futaleufu isn't for everyone. The river is one of the most difficult commercially run rivers in the world, a test of any guide's river running, verbal, and decision making skills. The river requires technical maneuvers in big water unmatched by any commercial runs in North America. Guiding on the Futaleufu blends strategies of big water rowing while simultaneously commanding a paddle crew in big, technical Class IV and V whitewater. A competent Futaleufu guide has the ability to adapt quickly and guide on any river in the world.

The type of water students will encounter on the Futaleufu will be unlike any encountered in North America. The rapids offer few slack periods requiring the oars and paddles to be constantly engaged with the water. Even a seasoned raft guide will find it necessary to adjust their style of rowing and paddling on the Futaleufu.

Our raft guide school tries to maintain a student to instructor ratio of four to one, ensuring that every student receives extensive and personalized instruction. Our instructors are seasoned Futaleufu guides that will take this week to impart their knowledge to others. The owner of Expediciones Chile , Chris Spelius, will also be a participating instructor. He has been captaining rafts since the 1970s and has been paddling the Futaleufu since 1985. In 1991 he helped pioneer the first two successful raft descents of the Futaleufu River .

The textbook for the course is The Complete Whitewater Rafter by Jeff Bennett. All students are required to purchase a copy of the book and begin reading it BEFORE heading down to Chile. We also recommend that students read up extensively on swiftwater rescue and make themselves as knowledgeable as possible about the raft guiding profession.

The first session of the class will be held on the Class II-III Rio Espolon before heading out to the Rio Futaleufu. For the paddle boat captaining section we will raft the Rio Azul or less intense sections of the Rio Futaleufu. Most of the class will be taught on the Class IV sections of the Futaleufu - all the Class V drops will be captained by one of our experienced river guides. Graduation day will involve the entire group running the Class V Inferno Canyon.

Expediciones Chile's approach to teaching is total immersion. Students will first serve as part of the raft crew with the instructor in charge. Throughout the day the boat captaincy will switch, giving each student the opportunity to captain the raft with the guide school instructor serving as a guest. Each successive day will focus on different aspects of river running and raft piloting. Students will have the opportunity to master all of these skills. Participants will advance on the oars as far as their skill level and comfort level will allow.

In the evening there will be guide school lectures covering all aspects of the raft guide profession that will include knot tying, trip preparation, customer service, rigging, raft repair, trip leading, and the basics of river rescue. We will outline the qualifications, professionalism, and attitude of what it takes to be a first class river guide.

This course will cover some of the basics of swiftwater rescue and first aid, but will not emphasize teaching rescue or first aid techniques. Those topics are covered in our Swiftwater Rescue class. More time will be spent teaching river and team safety procedures that emphasize our “triangle safety system”; the coordination and positioning of raft, safety kayaker and catamaran to rescue swimmers.

Successful graduates of this program will be welcome to submit their applications for guiding on the Futaleufu with us the following season. We will likely have guide jobs available as well as guide internships. If accepted, participation in our Swiftwater Rescue Class will be required before our season starts.

Who is this course for? This course is designed for avid beginners and experienced raft guides who want to begin guiding on the international river scene. We have scheduled our guide school to coincide with the Spring Break of many colleges so that university students might participate. All students should be in top physical condition and be mentally ready for the challenges this course will present.

Swiftwater Rescue Training

Rescue 3 International Swiftwater Rescue Technician (WRT) - Level 1

Earn an international certification in Swiftwater Rescue on one of the most prestigious and challenging rivers commercially run, the crown jewel of big water rivers, the Rio Futaleufu in Patagonia, Chile.

Our Rescue 3 International Swiftwater Rescue Technician course is designed to help rescuers aid others and at the same time help themselves. This course is not a clinic or workshops but a comprehensive, competency based program. The course is essential for recreational boaters, commercial guides, police, firefighters, lifesaving and search & rescue teams, or anyone who lives or works near moving water.

Our week-long swiftwater rescue course covers 30 hours of rescue training that includes: foot and body pins, boat pins and wraps, shallow river crossing, throw bag rescues, technical ropes, anchors and tension systems.

Another 30 hours include raft guide training on the Futaleufu and outfitter management training. For those in law enforcement or firefighting who don't want to participate in raft guide training, we can substitute other activities from our extensive Adventure Vacation Program.

Participating in the class does not guarantee certification. You must pass all the requirements. This is an intense and physically demanding course. The hours for this six day period are from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Achieving certification on the Futaleufu River with Expediciones Chile and Jim Coffee, one of the top instructors in the industry, will be something that you can be extremely proud of. Gaining river guide training and a river manager's insight, which you can use with any company in the industry, is an additional bonus.

Our accommodations are at the one of a kind Tres Monjas Eco-Camp at the confluence of the Azul and Futaleufu Rivers. This eco-camp is a virtual island with a river on each side. The Futaleufu River running this time of year is between 15,000 to 18,000 cfs and the Rio Azul, on the other side of the camp, typically ranges between 500 and 2000 cfs. This gives us the settings for all of the rescue scenarios that we need to exercise.

Each student will get a chance on the safety-cat oars, the oars on the passenger raft, and as safety kayakers if they are kayakers with bomb-proof rolls running the Futaleufu and Azul. The training camp starts with a morning jog or hike at 7:00 am.

Our founder Chris Spelius says of Jim Coffey, our Rescue class instructor and director or River Safety: "Jim loves and lives the river business. He has taken an already impressive body of knowledge involving river safety and river management, and evolved it to a new level".

Send your river manager, head guide, or business owner and revitalize your company. You will be inspired and challenged by joining this course.

Some swift water training topics that we will cover are:

• Preplanning rescue scenarios
• River and rescue communications
• Equipment needed for these types of environments
• Risk management
• Incident command system applied in a river context
• Working together: coordination of rafts, kayaks and land-based teams
• How to read large volume whitewater
• How to choose the safest lines
• Lining boats through rapids
• How to determine the best place to perform a rescue
• Ghost ride a raft (at Zeta, a usual portage)
• Rigging rafts and kayaks for rescue and/or flip and recovery
• Foot and body entrapment extrications
• Body searches
• The "V" -lower: a high-angle rescue technique
• High line Tyrolean and Telfer systems for rescue
• Rappelling and ascending a fixed line

ACA Whitewater Kayak Instructor Training

ACA Instructor Development/Certification

This forty-hour weeklong kayak school course covers both the American Canoe Association Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) and the Instructor Certification Examination (ICE). The first half of the week is designed to help paddlers develop as kayak instructors and prepare for the ACA Certification Examination. The course will stress the ACA model for effective instruction and group leadership required to teach others to paddle on moving water. Paddling skills, rescue and safety comprehension, and technical knowledge will be thoroughly reviewed and modeled in preparation for the instructor certification examination.

The second half of this kayak school week will be devoted to the instructor examination itself. Candidates will be evaluated on the topics taught during the Development Workshop. Three different certifications will be available: Basic River Kayak Instructor, Whitewater Kayak Instructor and Advanced Whitewater Kayak Instructor. There will be time in the week to practice the techniques modeled during the Development Workshop and to also pursue many of the multisport activities available from the paddling school lodge.

Students can also sign-up for either half of the course, leaving the rest of the week open for optional activities.







Wilderness Medicine Seminar

Why Patagonia?

Patagonia, Chile is an unparalleled outdoor classroom to teach practical and applied wilderness medicine skills. Not only is Patagonia one of the last frontiers of untouched remote wilderness on earth, it is a convergence of world class whitewater, mountains and ecology. Wilderness MedVentures believes Patagonia has the potential to attract a large number of physicians eager to experience pristine wilderness while gaining hands-on experience in wilderness medicine. Dr. Kevin McGarvey, one of the emergency physician instructors, has already done 6-weeks of University funded research in the Futaleufu Valley, working closely with Expediciones Chile’s owner and guides to create an optimal teaching environment.