5-Day Beginner Whitewater Packrafting Course – No Frills

Please note, we changed this course to a no-frills course and so it does not include food & lodging the first two days. This course is appropriate for beginners (i.e. people with little to no experience piloting a single-person craft) and beginner-intermediate boaters (i.e. people who have spent time on rivers in single-person crafts, but who have no formal training and/or who haven’t packrafted much or at all).

Beginner Whitewater Packrafting: Learn Paddling Skills & How to Prepare for Your Own Backcountry Adventure!

Course

On this 5-day beginner whitewater packrafting course course, you’ll spend the first two days building skills on the Animas River. You’ll spend the next three days honing those skills in the backcountry. This no-frills course does not include food or lodging the first two days. On days 1 and 2, you’ll meet in Durango at the kayak play park in Santa Rita Park, Durango, from 10-5. On day 3, you’ll meet at 7a.m. at the Mancos Brewing Company in Mancos, where you’ll caravan and/or carpool together to the put in.

You’ll acquire skills such as equipment use and care, self rescue (aka “wet reentry”) techniques, paddle techniques, how to read the river and how to catch eddies, among other things.

What’s Included

This course includes open Alpacka Classic packraft, PFD, paddle, helmet, all backcountry food (lunch, snacks & dinner on day 1, breakfast, lunch, snacks & dinner on day 2 and breakfast, lunch and snacks on day 3), permits, wag bags, sanitizing kits and camping.

What’s Not Included

Food or lodging on days 1 and 2. We do not provide whitewater boats, drysuits, river knives, whistles or throw bags. You will need a drysuit for the first two days of trip, as you’ll be practicing self and partner rescue skills and learning to catch eddies and surf (which means you will likely swim). However, you may not need the drysuit for days 3-5, as temps are usually quite warm on the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers that time of year. You may rent one at 4CornersRiversports.com. If you rent your gear from Backcountrypackrafts.com, let them know we sent you and they’ll give you a 15% discount. Adult beverages not included. You may also want to rent a whitewater boat, which you can do through Backcountrypackrafts.com and Kokopelli Bike & Board in Cortez, Colo. We will orchestrate drop off and pick up.

Price: $1795

A 25% deposit is required to secure your space. Another 25% deposit is required within 90 days of the course. And we will need the remaining balance 30 days prior to your course. If you are registering inside of the 30 day window, the remaining balance is due immediately.

Instructor: Jon Bailey

Expect to learn and/or practice many of the following skills:

✓How to pack light for backcountry packraft adventures
✓Equipment (use and care)
✓Field repair-tips & tricks
✓Swimming and general water confidence
✓Self-rescue & buddy assistance
✓Dealing with currents
✓Swiftwater entry
✓Aggressive & defensive swimming position
✓Decision making
✓Hazards & river dynamics
✓Basic & advanced paddle strokes
✓Using eddies
✓Other TBD

About The Animas River

Most of the intensive training for this course will take place on up to Class III+ on the Animas River. We spend a lot of time spent on the Animas City Kayak Play Park. And we’ll do various sections of the Animas to and from the play park.
Length of Play Park: 1.25 miles
Length of Daily Adventures: 5 to 8 miles
Gradient: 30ft/mile
Difficulty: Class II III at 500-2000 CFS, Class III to IV 2,000 CFS and up.
High Water Flows: May-July
Flow: below 500cfs is low; 1,000-2,000cfs ideal for this course. Water Flow please see water levels
Length of Play Park: 1.25 miles
Length of Daily Adventures: 5 to 8 miles
Gradient: 30ft/mile
Difficulty: Class II+ III at 500-2000 CFS, Class III to IV 2,000 CFS and up.
High Water Flows: May-July
Flow: below 500cfs is low; 1,000-2,000cfs ideal for this course. Water Flow please see water levels

Full 2023 Packraft Course Schedule:

✓April 15-16—2-Day Learn Basic Packrafting Skills – Course is Full
✓April 21-23—3-Day Learn Basic Packrafting Skills – No Frills
✓April 28-30—From Paddle Strokes to Multi-Day Adventures: 3-Day Learn to Packraft – No Frills
✓May 5-7—2-Day Intermediate Packrafting (includes night of the 5th at the Ranch)
✓May 13-14—2-Day Learn Basic Packrafting Skills – No Frills
✓May 25-29—5-Day Beginner/Intermediate Whitewater Packrafting Course
✓June 2-4—3-Day Learn Basic Whitewater Packrafting Skills
✓June 3-4—2-Day Learn Basic Packrafting Skills – No Frills
✓June 6-11—5-Day Packraft Expedition Training & Advanced Paddling Skills Course
✓June 14-18—5-Day Beginning/Intermediate Whitewater Packrafting
✓June 24-25—2-Day Intermediate Packrafting Course