View topic - WW courses

I"m intersted about doing some white water / river canoeing. I'm very novice when it comes to this. the amount of my experience is basically last year after heavy rains throwing a canoe in the credit and going down with a buddy. (Norval to Streetsville) We managed to stay in the boat and had a ton of fun. This has peaked my interest for ww/ river canoeing now.

I also recently picked up a 16" Novacraft prospector royalex so hopefully it will be a good compromise of Lake, river, ww

I would like to take a course to get some knowledge as i doubt just throwing a canoe in a river and pointing it straight is the safest and smartest thing to do

There seems to be 2 or 3 different companies that offer this service - some only offer this course in the spring. A couple through out the summer fall months.

Does anyone recommend any one specific course/company over another ?

I"m located in Mississauga /Ontario - so out of the province courses really arnt an option at this point.

cheers

I would highly recommend Paddler Co-op in Palmer Rapids. We have taken numerous courses through them, and their instructors (and location) are great.

http://www.paddlerco-op.com/


Allan.

Madawaska Kanu Center

http://www.owl-mkc.ca

I can tell you one to stay away from. I too am a novice. Back in May, I signed up for "Instructional Canoe Fast Moving Water Lessons" on the Nith River through Grand Experiences in Paris (about an hour from Toronto). As far as learning anything goes, it was a waste of time and more of a disorganized guided tour than an instructional course.

I've heard that the Kanu Centre on Palmer Rapids is probably the best place to go.

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They come out at night...mostly.

Madawaska Kanu Centre is a great place for Whitewater instruction, but it's not really at Palmer Rapids.

I've had two 5 day courses with Andrew. It was well worth my time and money. I'd love to do it again.

PK

Oops, right river, wrong location!

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They come out at night...mostly.

Paddle In...based out of penetanguishine.They do MW1 and 2,Tripping 1 and 2,and Lakewater courses....Small classes,various venues.Great folks...Marty,Jerry, and Leslie.

http://www.paddlein.com/index.html

I'll second the Madawaska Kanu Centre suggestion. We did the beginner course years ago and were very impressed with the quality of instruction and the facilities (good food too).

Anyone head things about this one ?
http://www.blackfeather.com/skillclinic ... ewater.htm

Hiya Donny,

Quick, run away....you'rte about to be assimilated into the world of roylex geeks......

here's my IMHO

madawaska canoe center....... absolutely the finest way to do it up vacation style.....for a 5 day course. The instructors aren't burdened with the schedule of getting you through ORCA (I'll qualify that later) unless that is your goal; it's attentive to what your goals are so be specific when you meet the instructor the first night. Claudia has an excellent eye for good teachers and communicators.
there's a huge caveat... the style or quality does not change BUT if you are looking for a 2 day (weekend) the MKC course is taught right alongside every other course being offered at Palmers Rapids. MKC pays for relases midweek at their location on the middle mad....weekend courses are not at this location.

I did say I'd qualify the ORCA comment:
it's a good program when you have to ensure your membership or participants have reached a certain level of comedency....it provides a consistant template on which you can describe your skills....the downfall is there is little room for customization in a 2 day course when there are several core modules to cover.....and if you decide you want to focuse on one aspect it can be done but you will have to engage the instructor and accept that you may or may not pass the "certification portion"

it's like choosing to ride a bike with a touring group who want to see the countryside and hoping on the wheel of a carbon cervelo hammerfest and getting the workout of your life but not really have breath for conversation or seeing much beyond wether he'she rides shimano or shram

most courses taught at palmers are close to equivalent..... paddlers coop would be my recomendation but ask who the instructor is and try and engage before the course to get them on your vision.

the Blackfeather course was the first white water course my hubby ever took and he's an ok paddler now. It's not exclusively ORCA (I'm not sure if they offer certification now?)and it focuses on skill elemnts that will help clients taking their northern trips to get down rivers. If you are saving some coin by taking this option go for it...if it's equal price well remeber that the focus of the instructors is to get their clients ready for a singular trip. If you're on that trip I wouldn't recommend yiou take anything but the blackfeather course. (the instructors have been doing this stuff since they were my kids ages)
BUT, if you are not, it's not a bad course but you have more likelyhood of personal attention to your goals elsewhere as the blackfeather guides are very often saddled with older clients who really have alot of ground to cover before they should be tripping in whitewater.

Honestly why not check out the WCA? get to your library and take out a couple of the books on whitewater skills and then engage the training committee of the WCA who offer moving water courses.

Often though that they should do a one day intro to intro on the credit or a little rifle soemwhere just so city folks could sample before giving up a weekend. They have some excellent volunteers who have tons of tripping experience.
tripping and playboating are quite different and being able to tell you how a loaded boat will react is something worth listening to or experiencing before you head out.

You could consult the ORCA site for training options remaining this year

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http://campfireblues.wetpaint.com/
home of the opinionated old farts!

Gail R - thanks for the reply, that gives me something to think about and where to go.

I just want to say in defense of Grand River experiences,
I also took there course and was reasonably instructed on technique as far as what the river had to offer.
Recently went on a whitewater trip and thanks to the Nith experience my girlfriend and I were a step a head of the other novices and did quite well running class 2 rapids that called for techniques like side slipping and eddy turns in which we were introduced to through Grand experiences!

NewSolo, I suspect we must have had different instructors. The instruction we received consisted of things like "Stay to your left up ahead and then move to the right around the bend."

I learned more from watching Bill Mason videos than I did from that course.

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They come out at night...mostly.