Desert Bikerafting: Learn How to Pair Bicycles & Packrafts
Beginner/Intermediate River Bikerafting
Note: This course does not take place where this video was shot, but it is in the same Utah canyon land country and you’ll be learning from this guy.
Course Overview
Have you been chomping at the bit to take a bikerafting course from one of the most accomplished experts in the field? For this course, Steve “Doom” Fassbinder will spend one and a half days training you on the Animas River. You’ll work on your packrafting skills on day 1, and focus on bikerafting transitions and river navigation on day 2. Days 3-5 you’ll drive to Utah (it’s four hours!) and spend 3 days practicing the skills you learned over the first two days.
Price: $1745
A 50% deposit is required when you sign up. The remaining balance will need to be received through 30 days prior to your course. The remaining balance is due immediately if you are registering inside of the 30 day window.
Please review our cancellation policy, which you will find on our Terms, Conditions & Cancellation Policy Page.
what's included
An open Alpacka Classic packraft, PFD, paddle and helmet.
Food, camping and sanitation package on the 3-day backcountry portion of the course.
If you want to stay at Scullbinder Ranch, let us know and we can accommodate you in the cabin or a glamping tent. Please note that the Ranch is 1 hour from Durango, where the first 1.5 days of the course is being held.
what's not included
Transportation, lodging, food while you’re in Durango. A tuned up, working bicycle. Adult beverages, whitewater boats, drysuits, river knives, whistles, throw bags.
You may or may not need a drysuit for this course. It depends on your capacity to deal with cold, wet conditions and the weather. The weather is inconsistent in October.
If you do need one, you may rent them online through BackcountryPackraft.com. We’ll give you the code for a 15% discount once you pay your deposit.
What you will learn
- ✔️Basic packraft equipment use and care
- ✔️Self-rescue, partner-rescue and how to right your boat with a bike on it
- ✔️Dealing with currents
- ✔️Aggressive & defensive swimming positions
- ✔️How to navigate river hazards with a bike on your boat
- ✔️River dynamics
- ✔️Basic paddle strokes with a bike on your boat
- ✔️Using eddies
- ✔️River commands
- ✔️How to lash your bike to your boat and vice versa
- ✔️Transitioning from bikes to boats and vice versa
Instructor
Steve Fassbinder: Steve, aka “Doom,” is one of the country’s first Level 3 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructors, as well as a Level 3 Kayak Instructor. He is also certified in Advanced Swiftwater Safety and Wilderness First Responder. An early adopter of packrafting, he has guided for three years and done remote packrafting expeditions around the world for over a dozen years.
Prerequisites
This is a beginner/intermediate course due to the mileage you will ride/paddle and the general nature of the course. For this course, you must have cycling experience carrying bags and extra weight (i.e. bikepacking). However, if you are a strong and avid mountain biker who is willing to suffer, you’ll probably be fine. You also must have general backcountry experience for this course. You do not need packrafting experience.
