River Instruction

Although the pool provides a safe, warm, and comforting environment to learn and practice many paddling skills, other skills require actual time on the river to learn and improve. After the winter and spring pool sessions conclude, Colorado Whitewater’s instruction program moves outside with various classes and programs throughout the paddling season that will allow you to work on your kayaking under the watchful eyes of CW instructors. CW’s on-river instruction programs include:

• Flat Water/Moving Water Weekend (FWMWW) is the culmination of the Beginner Class and includes time on a lake to transfer pool skills to the out of doors and then finally time on a mellow river to confidently apply those skills on moving water.
• Training Camp provides a mix of formalized and casual instruction on the lower Arkansas River at CW’s biggest annual event in mid-May.
• Weeknights at Golden occurs weekly after the peak runoff and provides the ideal regularly scheduled drop-in on-river kayaking instruction. This new instruction program is aimed at providing continuity in instruction for students who completely training in the pool and want to continue to practice and learn on the river with CW instructors. The regular meeting time in the evenings in Golden provides accessibility that will allow members to progress at their own pace well into the summer.

And in addition to these instruction programs, CW offers Cruises and River Weekends (Poudre, Arkansas, Colorado) that encourage continued growth and learning on the water. No matter which on-river programs you participate in this year, there is simply no substitute for time in your kayak on the river, so get out and enjoy our rivers as much as you possibly can!