By coincidence, I actually began guide training in British Columbia a few days after this article was published. I flew over from Australia to pursue this line of work, and it was absolutely worth it. I’m currently typing up my travel journal at http://papertrailtramp.wordpress.com/, in which I’m describing the training process, the work, and the lifestyle in some detail. Feel free to have a read.

Tom

My life is actually quite similar. Weekdays I work for an online broker and weekends – during the season – I am to be found rafting the Vorderrhein in Switzerland for the local kayak school / raft company.

I wouldn’t miss it for anything and I’m actually working on extending my time on the river and/or decreasing my time in the office.

Good stuff!

yes i do remember that time. it was when hurricane ivan made its way up to east tennessee and rained for days. water flow on the river is expressed in cubic feet per second (cfs) referencing how much water is passed over the dam at the top. on a normal day, the river runs anywhere between 1200 and 1500 cfs. when Ivan came through, the river actually got up to 7000 cfs. now when it’s that high, we can’t take customers down by law, the cutoff is at 3000 cfs, and i’m sure there were trips going out while the water was still legal. we had a group of guides (myself not included) that went down the river while it was 7000cfs. the 5-mile middle section usually takes about 1.5-2 hours to run. they made it down in 40 minutes. craaaaaaazy.

Do you recall a few years ago (3 or 4 maybe?) when the river got right up to the limit where you could still put people on the water, most of the rapids washed out, and Powerhouse turned into basically a 15-foot vertical wall of water? You almost had to duck as you passed under the bridge. I was told it was the highest/fastest the Ocoee had been in like 20 years or something.

Don’t know why I’m mentioning it…just a fond memory.

Will

http://www.alaskaadventures.com/alaska_travel_adventures/pages/job_descriptions.htm

RIVER GUIDE: Row inflatable rafts with 10-12 passengers down five miles of the Mendenhall River. There is one mile of class 2-3 whitewater. Responsible for safe operation of raft; providing entertaining and informative narrative to clients; loading, unloading, and cleaning of trip equipment. Boating and rafting experience helpful. Position requires heavy lifting; random drug testing. Available in Juneau.

Hope you have a great summer Broseph!!!

oh, and this is @Roadchick, the first rapid is called Grumpy’s, and it’s called that b/c if you fall in, you’ll be grumpy the rest of the day. it’s full of swift current and many rocks. i’ve had a few swims there myself during my training, and it was not fun, so i feel you on that one!

basically, i make about … hmm… maybe between a grand or two each summer. if i could do it full time, i could make a lot more, but not enough to support a life beyond extreme simplicity (which some people are happy with). on a busy weekend in august, i could probably bring home $150 on the paycheck, and that doesn’t count tips…

YES, raft guides work very hard for tips. a lot of people don’t know that, and a lot of times we end up empty handed for the day. now, granted, that’s how WHY we raft, it sure makes it nice to have a few envelopes with your name on them at the end of the day, and some cash stuffed inside. and really, tips can be pretty random. i’ve seen anywhere from an envelope full of change to $150 from a single group. for a lower-section-only trip, it’s about average for each person in the raft to tip like $5 for a trip. that gives the guide $30 bucks for the whole raft, and it gives him a smile as well. some guides are pretty shameless about talking up tips, i just take whatever i get. i’m kind of embarrassed to mention it b/c i don’t want people to think i’m only being nice for money. i’m definitely not out there for the money. i’m out there b/c it’s where my heart is.