Raft guide

Typically first year raft guides are required to undergo a training program often run by the company or a professional guide training school before beginning to guide commercial trips. This training utilizes classroom and on-river experience to train students in rigging and maneuvering vessels; river flow and hazards; scouting and running rapids; and river rescue and emergency procedures. Trainees are generally required to have a minimum of Basic First Aid and CPR certifications. Professional river guides often have additional advanced certifications such as International Rafting Federation-GTE, Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, Swift Water Rescue, White Water Rescue or Emergency Medical Technician. River rafting is an adventure sport in which expeditions are taken down rivers. Raft guides are also usually required to obtain a food handlers license, as preparing food is a large component of being a guide.

Training may include such skills as:

• Teamwork and leadership skills
• Safety on the river - hand signals
• Boating gear and equipment
• Commercial river operations
• Customer service - safety talks and guide "chatter"
• Whitewater paddling techniques
• River etiquette guidelines
• Problems, emergencies, advanced river rescues
• Knots and riggings
• Natural and the local history of the river
• Meal Preparation

A typical raft guide is usually in his or her twenties, but can range in age from late teens to late sixties. The majority of raft guides are seasonal employees and work during the spring and summer months when rivers are flowing at their best levels. However during the seasonal winter months, some raft guides will continue to work by traveling to countries with warmer climates where commercial rafting exists.

A raft guide's primary job is to navigate an inflatable raft with passengers (crew) down a river in a safe and enjoyable manner. This requires that they continually assess and manage risks during the trip. A skilled raft guide is able to recognize river features and understand their effects on a raft, and what is required to navigate among or around these features with passengers. On rapids where the potential risk of injury is high, it is the guides responsibility to keep the raft from overturning (flipping) or passengers from falling overboard.

An important part of the job is delivering the "Safety Talk". Before a trip, raft guides brief customers on potential hazards they may face on the water. Every raft guide has their own delivery style. Some safety talks include a lot of corny jokes (summer teeth) and others explain the dangers of the river in detail (foot entrapment). Most rookie guides will listen to veteran guides' talks and take bits and pieces of each to create their own. A good safety talk should cover equipment (PFD, paddle, helmet), how to self-rescue in event of a swim, how to pull people back into the boat, and learning hand signals. Guides will also go over what to do in the event of a flip, wrap, or strainer. These three main hazards are very important to know in order to stay safe. Safety talks can also include discussions such as "Leave No Trace", and plants and animals to watch out for.

Guide compensation can vary a great deal by type and length of the trip. In North America guides are typically paid by the day. They are also known to receive gratuities from their clients and the summation of a trip.[2]

• Salary.Com Dream Job: White Water Raft Guide
• Information and Resources for Raft Guides
• New York Times article on Whitewater School