The 101
Almost everyone will get something out of the 101 course. It's designed for complete beginners, but equally, we've had people who have been packrafting years join the 101 had they've learnt a ton.
A great place to meet other packrafters, try gear out and ask questions about gear before you buy and to lay the foundations for all your river running. This is the best money you'll ever spend in your packrafting career, you'll squeeze so much more out of every km you paddle after the course as you continue your learning. These weekends really are friendship farms!
Course Content
Packrafting 101
Whilst every course we run will vary slightly to meet the needs of our students and the conditions we have on the day, there is a uniformity of content that we deliver that has since become the curriculum for the Packrafting Association of New Zealand.
Whilst there is always scope to ask questions and discuss other topics that come up throughout the course, our packrafting introduction courses include but are not limited to:
- An introduction to hydrology, river features and hazards
- An introduction to packrafting equipment
- Internationally adopted river signals
- Swimming in river
- Swimming with gear
- Packraft inflation and tempering
- Forward paddle stroke
- Steering paddle strokes
- Catching eddies
- Leaving eddies
- Crossing currents
- S-turns
- Scouting and identifying a line
- River running tactics
- Catching mid stream eddies and more boat control work
- Rescue priorities and principals
- Throw bagging
- Recoil and second throws of throw bags
- Self Rescue (deep water re-entry)
- Peer Rescue (assisted deep water re-entry)
- More scouting and line execution
- Boat scouting
- Setting boat based safety cover
- An understanding of more complex risks such as foot entrapment and boat pins
- Any other areas of paddling that people are keen to spend time on developing (skill development is about repetition, repetition, repetition)
Details:
Departures and Timings:
- From Queenstown (meet your guide on Duke St, opposite the Sofitel) at 8am. You can meet us in Glenorchy or alternatively self drive (self driving is a necessity under Level 3)
- Allow three full days on the water
- Private Courses can be put together for groups of 4 as a minimum.
- Private tuition can be booked at a rate of $50 per hour to work on specific skills or have some private coaching.
- Our 3 day courses in Murchison are run in conjunction with the NZ Kayak School and include accomodation and video analysis.
Fitness and Experience Levels:
- Our Packrafting 101 are perfect for newbies or people who are in the first couple of years of packrafting and are suitable for all levels of fitness.
- Specific Rescue courses are available on request and/or subject to minimum numbers.
- The Intermediate course is aimed at picking up where the Packrafting 101 course stops. Therefore participant should be ready for a course that will include grade 3 whitewater.
What to bring:
- A towel and swimwear
- Your personal river/rescue gear
- Sturdy footwear (that you don't mind getting wet as we cross rivers)
- Suitable hiking clothes for the weather
- Camera
- Sunscreen
- Bug Repellant
- Food
- Your own Packraft if you have one
What we provide:
- All specialist packrafting equipment
- Knowledge and experience
- Transport
If getting hold of specific packrafting or rescue gear is problematic, let us know and we'll do our best to provide gear for you.
