Whitewater Forum: Best teaching rivers for beginners.

Best teaching rivers for beginners.

Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17010
Printed Date: 23 Apr 2024 at 10:27pm

Topic: Best teaching rivers for beginners.

Posted By: Newbflat2
Subject: Best teaching rivers for beginners.
Date Posted: 29 Feb 2020 at 10:20am

First me.. Haven’t paddled very much in recent years but back in the day was a solid class 4-5 boater. I get out every few years mostly to do self support inflatable trips on the Owyhee or Rogue etc… Plus the occasional pack rafting trip here in there.

I have decided to teach a couple of friends how to paddle Whitewater. They will be in inflatable kayaks and neither have much or any experience. They both desire to fully learn so they can go with me on various easy to moderate self support trips. My problem is that I really don’t know where to go around here to teach people in know where to go for harder water, just not easy and of good teaching quality. When I learned to paddle in Eugene Oregon there was a couple of different places where I could go that were perfect for teaching, i.e. nice big pool with some rapids and decent eddy lines, or short runs with nice easy Boulder gardens that end in good pools. They will be in inflatable kayaks so they’ll have an easy leg up on learning in a hard shell. But I still want to teach them properly and get them solid fundamentals before embarking on some river trips this spring and summer.

So, what are the go to beginner runs near Seattle for teaching people basic white water, river running and boat handling? Are there any that are particularly well-suited for training? Such as rivers with a nice mix of boulder gardens and wave trains with pools? Looking for say 2+ for a couple of trips and then good 2-3 with emphasis on 3... or something like that.

Replies:

Posted By: JoesKayak
Date Posted: 29 Feb 2020 at 5:21pm

Check out this thread... it lists a bunch of runs in a graduated order that are good for learning and teaching on.

Http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4882 - Http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4882

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http://joeskayak.com - Joeskayak.com

Posted By: Newbflat2
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2020 at 10:14am

Thanks, that’s just what I was looking for...

Happy paddling.

Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 06 Mar 2020 at 2:07pm

Close to Seattle the best river is the Snoqualmie, from the falls to the Middle Middle then for easy creeking the Fall in the Wall on the North Fork Snoqualmie. It is all right there, close to Seattle with the MM being the greatest learning river around. For introduction to Class IV close to Seattle, the Upper Green and Class III, the Lower Green.

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Nomad

Posted By: megspk
Date Posted: 10 Apr 2020 at 3:18pm

Hey there! I wrote a little blog about some of the great beginner runs in the Seattle area :)
Let me know if you think it was helpful!
Cheers and have fun!

https://sugarboof.blogspot.com/2019/12/class-2-runs-great-for-beginners.html

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“A strong person and a waterfall always channel their own path.” -Unknown

Posted By: JoesKayak
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2020 at 11:26am

Sweet list, Megan. And the descriptions are short but concise.

One more E. Washington one that's a nice addition is the upper Wenatchee. It has class 2 rapids and a very long season. You can run it at lower levels late into the summer. It's a long run too, the full run from Lake Wenatchee to Tumwater campground is over 15 miles but you can use alternate access spots to shorten it. It's a great beginner run at low to medium levels but might be a bit too pushy for beginners durning peak snowmelt not yet ready for strong currents etc.

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http://joeskayak.com - Joeskayak.com

Posted By: megspk
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2020 at 11:31am

Thanks for the feedback! The Upper Wenatchee is a great idea for an addition to that list! I have yet to do this run, so I'll try to get on it this spring so I can do a write up on it :) I've heard it's really really pretty and a great beginner run!

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“A strong person and a waterfall always channel their own path.” -Unknown

Posted By: Newbflat2
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2020 at 11:49am

Thanks for the suggestions... I hope to be paddling some days again. Stay safe out there.

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