Packraft La Venta River: Beg./Interm. Expedition & Paddling Course, Chiapas, Mexico
Packraft La Venta River (aka Río La Venta) & Río Santo Domingo: Our 1st beginner/intermediate expedition & paddling course in Mexico!
If you cannot do this course, please email us to schedule a private course for 2+ people.
Course & Adventure Overview
Immerse yourself in both the stunning natural world of the Mayan region of Mexico, and its cultural offerings. We are partnering with local business owner, Rod Alfonso, to give you the ultimate Chiapas experience. See our Lodging, Sight Seeing & Chiapas Experience section below for details. But first, sign up for the 8-day Expedition Packrafting Course today! There are only 8 spots available.
What will you get out of it? So much! Meet your guides the night before at a TBA restaurant to discuss the week. Then leave for two days of skills training on the Río Santo Domingo, with a night of local camping in between. Then you’ll head back to Rod’s for a day of packing and driving to the put in. Then the real adventure begins. Packraft La Venta River, also known as Río La Venta. Spend five days learning whitewater paddling and expedition packrafting skills while paddling among waterfalls, caves, and limestone gorges covered in lush, green vegetation. Temps in the high 70s are perfect this time of year. This is not a desert Southwest adventure!
This Expedition Packrafting course requires participation in one to two Zoom meetings prior to the course. Plus we will meet up the night before the course at a TBA restaurant to discuss and plan the logistics.
If you’re not sure you are experienced enough for this course, please visit our blog post, “What Level Packrafter Are You?“
Price: $2995
A 50% deposit is required to secure your space. You’ll need to provide the remaining balance 30 days prior to your course. The remaining balance is due immediately if you are registering inside of the 30 day window.
Additionally, please review our cancellation policy, which you will find on our Terms, Conditions & Cancellation Policy Page.
What's Included
This course includes a packraft, PFD, paddle, helmet, permits, camping, backcountry sanitation kit, all meals for the duration of the backcountry/camping portion of the trip (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks), including the first two skills training day. It does not include meals if we dine out.
What's Not Included
Adult beverages, lodging, food in town, river knives, whistles or throw bags.
Instructors
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.
Thad Ferrell: Thad is a Level 3 American Canoe Association Packraft Instructor. 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.
What You Will Learn
We designed this trip for adventurers looking to hone their backcountry packrafting skills. Although we do teach many of the standard techniques from our other packrafting courses, we spend less time on self-rescue and aggressive swimming skills and drills. Instead we focus more on what it takes to accomplish a multi-day packraft adventure in the backcountry. Checklist of things we cover in this course:
- ✔️Basic packraft equipment use and care
- ✔️Self-rescue, partner-rescue
- ✔️Dealing with currents
- ✔️Aggressive & defensive swimming positions
- ✔️River dynamics
- ✔️Intermediate paddle strokes
- ✔️Using eddies
- ✔️River commands
Plus, you’ll learn some of these skills:
- ✔️Field repair-tips & tricks
- ✔️How to pack light for backcountry packraft adventures
- ✔️Using online resources: GIS, USGS water gauges, Google Earth, etc
- ✔️Using paper maps and navigation in the field
- ✔️Trip planning & logistics
- ✔️Expedition pack lists
- ✔️What to pack and how/where to pack it
- ✔️Expedition vs. personal items
- ✔️Expedition food planning and prep
- ✔️Leave No Trace practices in the backcountry
- ✔️Managing your backcountry camping and boating gear
- ✔️How to find a good camp
- ✔️How to efficiently transition from the river to camp
- ✔️Reading whitewater/hazards and avoiding them
- ✔️Expedition mentality
Lodging, Sightseeing & The Chiapas Experience
Follow us @fourcornersguides on Instagram to see photos from our Advanced Expedition Packrafting course. Visit our Dark Canyon photo album on Facebook.
