Quick Details
Guide School
Ages 18+
$ 319.93
RAFT GUIDE SCHOOL
This class is only intended for people who are interested in employment not for the general public.
You could spend your summer behind a desk.
Or you could spend it chasing whitewater, learning to read rivers, running rapids, and building friendships that last long after the season ends.
Why Rivertrippers?
There are plenty of places to learn how to guide. We believe there’s a difference between training people to fill a position and investing in people who want to build a future on the river.
That’s why we’ve built our guide school around getting you on the river, learning from certified instructor guides, and giving you the skills to become part of the crew.
This Is More Than a Summer Job.
We want you to leave guide school with more than a certification.
You’ll also learn how to lead a group through challenging situations. How to communicate when things get chaotic. How to make decisions quickly. How to work as a team. How to turn a nervous first-time rafter into someone who can’t stop talking about their trip.
Those skills follow you everywhere.
We’re Here to Build Guides, Not Just Fill Boats.
We want guides who stick around. Guides who get better every season. Guides who eventually teach the next generation of boaters. Guides who look back years from now and realize that their summer on the river became a much bigger part of their lives than they ever expected.
That starts with good training and a company that is willing to invest its time in you.
If you want an easy summer job, this probably isn’t it.
If you want big challenges, big water, big muscles, muddy sandals, ridiculous stories, new friends, and the chance to learn something you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life—
Welcome to guide school.
Guide School Scholarship
We provide guide school at a heavily discounted scholarship rate because we believe in investing in people.
We don’t believe in dragging out guide school just to keep trainees around to fill seats. We don’t believe you should pay for training days that don’t make you a better guide. And we definitely don’t think you should spend your summer doing someone else’s job for free. Every day of our guide school has one purpose for you: learn the skills, gain experience, and become a confident, capable river guide with a certification that can take you to rivers anywhere in the world.
In 7 days, you’ll receive 50 hours of professional training — the Colorado state minimum required to become a raft guide — while learning from certified instructor guides who want to see you succeed.
You’ll learn how to handle a boat, read water, navigate rapids, rescue swimmers, work with your crew, and keep your guests safe while making sure they have an unforgettable day.
You’ll spend long days outside. You’ll get wet. You’ll probably be tired.
And you’re going to have a hell of a lot of fun.
For the final 3 days, you’ll be on the river, at your pace, with experienced guides, working one-on-one and across a variety of our river offerings. This is your chance to practice the skills, learn the lines, and gain experience where it matters most to you.
You’ll add hours and miles to your guide log while tailoring your training to your goals as a guide, becoming familiar with our operation, and getting to know the people you’ll be working alongside.
By Day 10, you’ll be ready for your certified checkout run with guests.
And you will proudly be a professional riverguide- like the rest of us.
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Itinerary (Subject to Change)
What to Expect
**Day 1 — Welcome to the Rivertrippers Team**Your first day is all about getting settled in, meeting the crew, and getting familiar with the operation.
**Meet the team**: Introductions, expectations, and an overview of what it means to be a Rivertrippers guide.
**Gear up**: Check out your gear for the week, including PFDs, throw bags, river shoes, wetsuits (if needed), dry bags, and helmets.
**Know your equipment:** Get familiar with everything from rafts and frames to trailers and the gear that keeps our trips moving.
**Rig it. Pack it. Run it:** Learn how to properly rig and de-rig rafts and trailers.
**Get on the water:** The classroom portion is over—it’s time to start putting what you’ve learned into practice!
**Meet your raft:** Learn how to properly load and organize your raft with guests and gear.**Days 2–7 — Learn the River, Become a Guide**
This is where the real guide training begins. Over the next several days, you’ll build your skills, confidence, and river experience while learning how we operate at Rivertrippers.
You’ll work through:
**Safety & Rivertrippers protocols:** Learn our safety orientation, guest speech, procedures, and expectations on the river.
**Oar guiding:** Get hands-on experience reading the river and handling your boat from the oars.
**Paddle guiding:** Learn how to communicate with your crew, call commands, and work together as a paddle team.
**Flip training:** Spend a full day learning and practicing what to do when things don’t go according to plan.
**Swim training:** Build your skills and confidence in the water and learn how to safely manage yourself and your guests in a river environment.
**Real river experience:** Every day gives you more time on the water, more miles in your log, and more opportunities to put your skills into practice.By the end of Day 7, you will have accumulated the 50 hours of training required by the State of Colorado to qualify for state certification as a river guide.
**Days 8–10 — Put Your Training to Work**
Now it’s time to experience what guiding is really like alongside our seasoned guides and instructors.
**Five ride-alongs**: Join Rivertrippers’ experienced guides on real trips and see how the skills you’ve learned come together with actual guests.
**Learn from the pros:** Observe guest interactions, river decisions, boat handling, safety practices, and the day-to-day rhythm of being a guide.
**Certified checkout run:** Complete a required checkout run with guests and a qualified instructor onboard.
**Ready to Work:** Once you successfully complete your checkout and all other requirements, you’ll be ready to begin your journey as a Rivertrippers guide.**A Few Important Things**
Guide School is a commitment. There are no makeup days, so please plan accordingly and arrive on time, prepared, and ready to be on the river each day.
This is more than learning how to row a boat or call paddle commands. You’ll be learning our operation, building your river skills, becoming part of the Rivertrippers team, and laying the foundation for your career as a guide.