Learn to Packraft this summer! This course covers BASIC PADDLING & Swiftwater SKILLS
Learn to packraft with renown instructor Steve Fassbinder!
Course Overview
From 9:30a.m.-4:30p.m. over two days, you’ll learn basic paddle and river reading techniques on the Animas River, in Durango. We’ll teach you what you need to know to enhance your existing backcountry skill set.
This Packraft Instruction course is for adventurers wanting to learn basic packrafting skills, from paddling and reading rivers. Additionally, we will cover boat and gear use and maintenance, self and partner rescues, among other things. Scroll down to book.
Price: $675.00
A 50% deposit is due upon receipt to secure your space. The remaining balance is due 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
This course includes an open packraft, PFD, paddle, helmet.
What's Not Included
Food and lodging, though you are welcome to add 1-3 nights at Scullbinder Ranch, which includes breakfasts and dinners. Transportation is also not included. You need a car or to carpool. We do not have a shuttle. Finally, we do not include: whitewater boats, drysuits, river knives, whistles or throw bags.Â
You will need a drysuit for this trip. Rent drysuits online with a 15% discount at BackcountryPackraft.com (we will give you the discount code once you pay your deposit).
Instructors
Steve Fassbinder
Steve, aka “Doom,” is one of the country’s first Level 4 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructors. And he is a certified International Rescue 3 Whitewater Rescue Technician Professional (WRT-PRO) and IRF Whitewater Packraft Guide. Steve is also certified in Advanced Swiftwater Safety and Wilderness First Responder. An early adopter of packrafting, he has guided or instructed bike-packrafting to kids and adults for over a decade. And he has done remote packrafting expeditions around the world for over a dozen years.
Krista Beyer
Krista spends most of her days thinking about water. This lifetime curiosity was cultivated as a child in the wet climate of the Pacific Northwest. At an early age, she would pull on a pair of muck boots and some trusty foul-weather gear to explore the tidepools of the Puget Sound. Krista’s curiosity has since taken her to the study and exploration of the aquifers of northeast Arizona, the river corridors and fisheries of the Colorado River Watershed, the snowpack of the San Juan Mountains, and the glaciers of Alaska. To this day, muck boots are her favorite shoe, and her favorite days involve a dry suit or a durable rain jacket. Krista is certified in Swiftwater Rescue and is a Wilderness First Responder. She’ll be working toward her Level 2 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructor Certification spring 2025.
What You will learn
We base this instructional courses on confidence and skill progression. The course starts with the basics. And then we push you a little harder as the days progress, tailoring the experience to your own personal abilities.
Beginners will learn basics paddling skills and river reading techniques such as:
- âś“Equipment (use and care)
- âś“Swimming and general water confidence
- âś“Self-rescue & buddy assistance
- âś“Dealing with currents
- âś“Aggressive & defensive swimming position
- âś“Decision making
- âś“Hazards & river dynamics
- âś“Basic paddle strokes
- âś“Using eddies
- âś“River commands
- âś“Spacing on the river
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