A 50% deposit is required to secure your space. Full payment is due 90 days prior to your course. If you are registering inside of the 90 day window, the remaining balance is due immediately.

Please review our cancellation policy, which you will find on our Terms, Conditions & Cancellation Policy Page.

Open packraft, PFD, paddle, helmet.

Food and lodging, transportation are not included. You need a car or to carpool.  

You will need a drysuit for this trip. Rent drysuits online with a 10% discount at BackcountryPackraft.com (we will give you the discount code once you pay your deposit). 

Thad Ferrell

Thad is a Level 4 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructor. He additionally has advanced Swiftwater Safety training and he is a certified Wilderness First Responder. An early adopter of packrafting and life-long cyclist and bikepacker, Thad has accomplished some ground-breaking, multi-week climb-bike-packraft adventures in the desert Southwest. He is also an expert fly fishing guide.

Annie Bussell

After moving to the southwest in 2013, Annie found a deep passion for backpacking into remote wildernesses and floating wild rivers. As a raft guide since 2014 and a Level 4 ACA-certified packraft instructor since 2025, she has long held a love for navigating and immersing herself into river corridors. After starting work at Alpacka Raft in 2021, she discovered packrafts. These tiny inflatable boats have allowed her to merge her love of backpacking and paddling and find new ways to access the remote wildernesses she loves. When not paddling or hiking, Annie makes art, including stunning murals you can find on the outside of the Alpacka Raft factory and at the La Plata County Airport.

On these 2- to 3-day Beginner courses, you’ll learn about your equipment, basic river reading and paddling skills, and basic swiftwater rescue skills. This course is meant to introduce you to these skills, not to get you to master them. You’ll do more drills and hone these skills in our Level 2-4 courses. 

This course is meant to introduce you to these skills, not to get you to master them. You’ll do more drills and hone these skills in our Level 2-4 courses. 

Paddling & River Running Skills

• ✔Equipment (use and care + boat rigging, fit, and release of thigh straps)

• ✔Posture, safety, comfort, rocking and balance

• ✔Swimming and general water confidence

• ✔Dealing with currents

• ✔Aggressive & defensive swimming position

• ✔River hydrology/dynamics, features & hazards

• ✔Basic paddle strokes (forward, back, draw, sculling)

• ✔Using eddies

• ✔River communication: Paddle, hand, and whistle signals

• ✔Spacing on the river

• ✔The “River Safety Talk”

• ✔Field repair-tips & tricks

Swiftwater Safety: Handling common emergency situations on the river

• ✔Identify and demonstrate the use of appropriate rescue and safety gear for packrafting

• ✔Responsibilities of the group, rescuer, swimmers

• ✔Boat-based rescues

• ✔Group communication

• ✔Swimming in rivers & water confidence (aggressive & defensive swimming position)

• ✔Self-rescue & buddy assistance (wet re-entry)

• ✔River dynamics: currents, obstacles and hazards

• ✔Rescue priorities: people, craft, paddle, gear

• ✔Discuss how to avoid and prevent cold water shock, hypothermia, and hyperthermia by choosing proper clothing and recognizing and treating early symptoms.