About us

Guides First, Company Second

The company was started by four river guides who had spent seasons working for operators that ran too many boats, briefed too little and put unqualified people at the back of a raft because the bookings had been taken. Their alternative was a small outfit where every guide holds current whitewater rescue and first-aid certification, every trip has a lead and a sweep, safety kayakers cover the harder sections, and the number of boats on the water is limited by how many can be watched properly rather than by how many are sitting in the shed.

River knowledge is rebuilt every spring. Snowmelt moves gravel, floods drop trees into the channel and a rapid that ran cleanly last August can hold a lethal strainer in May. Before the season each section is scouted and paddled by the senior guides, dangerous wood is removed where the authority allows it, portage points are marked, and the notes are shared across the whole team. Water levels are read daily and posted, and trips are moved to a different river rather than run at the wrong level.

Everything else follows from that. Boats and equipment are replaced on a schedule rather than when they fail, guests are graded honestly before being placed on a section, and no group is sold a trip that is beyond it because the alternative was a refund. We also train guides for other operators, run rescue courses for the local rescue service and take part in the annual clean-up of the gorge, which produces a startling amount of scrap every year.