
Arrive to Rendezvous River Sports at 9am. Orientation and introductions.
Learning good kayaking technique requires the right equipment, a properly fit boat and a solid foundation of skills. We will start the day at Rendezvous River Sports shop. Our instructors will begin getting to know the students as we gear everyone up for being on the water and discuss the features of a whitewater kayak.
We take extra care to ensure that everyone is comfortable with their personal equipment and with the boat they will paddle. We are pleased to offer a very broad range of the latest kayaks from Jackson, Dagger, & Pyranha for our girls to use.
Once everyone is geared up (about an hour +/-) we will travel to Slide Lake or an equivalent flat water training site to learn basic paddling skills. We begin with the body mechanics of kayaking, correct posture and wet exits (Depending on weather conditions we may teach wet exits in the RRS pool). As many students are apprehensive about being upside-down we are careful not to rush this step.
Next, we move on to strokes beginning with forward and reverse sweeps and forward and back paddling. After lunch we will play with using the kayak on edge, J-turns, braces and draws. This will still leave us time for a few games to test our new skills and for a short paddle around the area. In addition to kayaking, our instructors are also knowledgeable about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and will help the students understand the natural history of the unique places we will paddle through.