5 DAYS KAYAKING CLINIC COURSE

This five-day kayaking clinic for beginners is the perfect course for those who want to get all the way into kayaking in one fell swoop. By the end of your week kayaking on the Deerfield, you may have the opportunity to paddle class III whitewater - and will have the skills and confidence to enjoy it! To take this intense kayaking course you should be in good physical condition and have an aggressive attitude toward learning sports. Some prior kayaking or canoeing experience is helpful, but not necessary.

Our five-day kayaking clinics provide both an introduction to kayaking and a solid base from which to move into more advanced kayaking. Spending the first morning in the secure learning environment of a pond, we progress gradually to moving water and finally to class II whitewater kayaking. Five-day clinics give you the time to hone the whitewater kayaking skills you learn in the first two days and to move well beyond them by working on surfing, rolling your kayak and making river maneuvers on class II+ and class III whitewater.

WHAT TO EXPECT AND HOW TO PREPARE

Goal of the clinic

To provide a comprehensive introduction to whitewater kayaking for those with an aggressive attitude toward learning new sports.

Who should take the clinic

To take this course you must be in good physical condition and have an aggressive attitude toward learning sports. Some prior kayaking or canoeing experience is helpful, but not necessary. Our minimum age for this clinic is 14.

What will be covered

As in our two- and three-day kayaking clinics, after introducing you to the sport of kayaking and to your equipment, we get our first taste of paddling in the security of a pond. We start by teaching you to safely exit the kayak when upside down. Then we move on to leaning and basic strokes, including sweep strokes, forward strokes, draws and braces. Once everyone is comfortable in their boats, we head to moving water where we introduce river maneuvers such as the eddy turn, peel out and ferry.

On the second day we continue to work on river maneuvers and we end the day by running a several-mile-long, Class I-II section of river.

Our third day is spent on basic surfing, rolling and continuing to practice your techniques as you gain increasing confidence paddling the rapids of the Deerfield.

On days 4 and 5 we continue to hone these basic skills while having increasing opportunities to paddle class II+ and class III rapids.