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Our raft guides have many years of professional guiding experience. Experience on the river helps ensure safety, however it also makes for interesting river stories.
Adam is in his 19th season of professional guiding. Besides that, he is also a deputy policeman. He sat down with us to help satisfy our curiosity about his life path along the river.
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Chasing rapids and criminals, sounds like the dream career path of many boys.
Which passion came first?
Definitely the passion for the river! My family moved to Colorado when I was 13 years old. We lived right next to a rafting company. Soon after moving, my parents took me rafting for the first time. From this day on, I was hooked! I wanted to spent as much time on the river as possible. I went rafting whenever the company had an extra spot available.
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So, how did you become a raft guide and find your way to The Adventure Company?
Team Whitewater Program, offers boat guiding trainings to participants under 18 years.
After one summer, I had enough miles to be a guide. So I started guiding for Team Whitewater in the next season.
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Like many young people, I thought I wanted to go to college. That changed quickly because I just missed being on the river and in the mountains. It didn’t take me long to know that, I wanted to live the river life. In my 20’s my parents bought a rafting company, so I guided for them.
Right after my parent sold their company I guided twice for Mark Hammer, as a Rent a Guide. Hammer ended up offering me a job right after, that was 7 years ago!
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7 Years of guiding for TAC and your 6th year as deputy –
How do you manage your time to make this work?
The way I see it is, I need to be on the river anyway. So instead of spending my days off on the river, I just guide!
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What is your favorite river section?
Royal Gorge! Thousand foot cliffs on each side, class 3 & 4 whitewater and it’s just always warm and beautiful when you are floating through there.
I always try to take these trips when I am available.
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What do you do to help ensure safety on the river?
You can never discount the years of experience a guide has, but besides this I am communicating everything I want my crew in the boat to know. I explain to them, where we are trying to point the boat, when I need paddle strokes and what they should expect before going through a big rapid!
I feel like if you take the mystery out off the rapid, your crew reacts right.
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What tip would you give our guests to make their raft trip fun?
If you want to have a good time on the river, come with an open mind and listen to your guide. Everybody here at The Adventure Company is so passionate, just be open-minded and I guarantee it will rub off on you!
