Whitewater River Guides School

Maybe you’re looking for the foundation of a lifetime career in the outdoors or even the skills to be able to enjoy the wonderful world of river trips with your friends and family. New Mexico River Adventures has been leading the way in river guide training for more than 20 years. The profession of river guiding offers an unsurpassed mix of fun, excitement, camaraderie, and challenge, all in pristine outdoor settings. Make no mistake, river guiding is an intense job with long hours, an immense amount of responsibility and hard work, and most importantly it is exceptionally rewarding.

Whitewater River Guides School Focus

Our guide school is primarily focused on training individuals for jobs as whitewater professionals, however, it is also open to those looking for an intense training program to ready themselves for a long future of private boating adventures with family and friends. The goal of the school is for every student to be a safe, conscientious, environmentally-responsible steward of the river. We hope that each student leaves this course with the confidence and skills to navigate any class 2-3 river while assessing problems and emergencies with a calm and logical approach because let’s face it, things don’t always happen the way their supposed to on the river!

We generally hire new guides from our guide school. Students possessing the right balance of a professionalism, personality, fun and river skills will be offered employment directly following the conclusion of the course.

The Whitewater River Guides School Curriculum

The guide school is an intense 8 day course offering highly personalized instruction in all aspects of commercial guiding. The primary emphasis will be in paddle boats however oar boats will also be introduced and utilized at different times throughout the course. In addition to navigation skills, we will also cover river safety, equipment maintenance, risk management, and emergency procedures as well as on-shore training in boat repair, meal preparation, sanitation, and logistics. Our instructors begin by explaining basic principles and then teach by example. You will be guiding a boat on your first trip down the river as well as paddle boats, flip boats, re-flip boats, load boats, swim, scout, improvise, lead, follow, carry, cook and tie knots.

New Mexico River Adventure Guides

Completion of our guide school does not guarantee you a position at New Mexico River Adventures. Hiring will be determined by your work ethic, guest service, river skills and your ability to work with others. New Mexico River Adventures believes that an individual’s personality and social skills are very important elements in the making of a truly superior river guide. Of course, river skills, physical abilities and good common sense are the most important. If you have strong people skills, a good work ethic, and want to spend all day, every day on the river.

Please contact us for an amazing course which could lead to a lifetime passion!