What will be covered: This workshop will cover the more advanced elements of whitewater navigation. Instruction will be primarily in the medium of paddle guiding a raft. Students will be encouraged to develop the ability to read chaotic river currents and a dynamic approach to navigation.

Many skills will be demonstrated and practiced, including:

• The dark art of using rocks instead of avoiding them

• The troubling art of planning for the best and expecting the plan not to work

• The fine art of thinking of every paddle stroke as unique

• Planning out and successfully executing unconventional lines within rapids

• Navigating a river uncontrolled by dams and being comfortable with daily and yearly changes in flow and obstacle placement

• Intentional and unintentional rock slipping and pivoting

• Controlled and uncontrolled raft surfing

• Catching microeddies in a larger craft (it’s not just for kayakers)

• Pinballing and shaboinging

• Lowsiding (and highsiding)

• Running rapids without the luxury of calling a get-down

• Intentional and unintentional swimming of rapids

• Avoiding man-made obstacles, like bridges and pipes

• Negotiating strainers and foliage-choked passages

• Intentional and unintentional scenarios involving rafts pinned on rocks and rafts being surfed in holes

• Treating a river trip as an expedition

• Rescue on the Run

• Downstream safety

• River safety triage

• The joy of R2ing

The facilitators: John Kosakowsky and Daniel Jenkins have both been rafting for over 15 years. They cut their teeth on the South Fork of the American River and soon ventured off around California to explore their home rivers. They then went on to work and play in other parts of the US and the world, but are always drawn back by the lure of California's rivers.  The Kaweah River is one of their most loved runs;  technical, fun and beautiful. John and Daniel are excited to share what they have learned about rafting harder runs with other whitewater rafting enthusiasts/professional whitewater boaters.