The Best Summer Jobs for Adventurers: White Water Rafting
If you're a ski bum, college student boring yourself working retail or in food service, or just need some time off, summer is the time for adventure and the time for amazing outdoor jobs.
I've worked in some jobs I've regretted, some I've despised, some I've just been completely bored doing, but if there is anything that perks me back up after work, it's the thought of being outdoors.
Photo Property of WWC featuring me in a Hawaiin Shirt
These jobs do much more than combine work and play, they create a lifestyle of adventure that spirals beyond work. Jobs like this get you in touch with like-minded folk of all ages, life-paths, and expertise, opening you up to more opportunities.
You can not only network out with new friends and coworkers, but meeting new people can help get you into activities you'd never thought you'd do.
I learned to belay for the first time through coworkers of mine, I got into photography through the people I met rafting. There are so many opportunities, you just have to open your eyes and say yes to everything.
If you're looking to make loads of money though, often times these aren't the positions for you.
My career as a raft guide has taught me so much, so if you are looking for something exciting over the summer, here are some of my experiences...
Photo property of WWC of me surfing at Hole Brothers
White Water Rafting Guide
I started at White Water Challengers on the Black River when I was 19, training for an entire summer before returning for two more years as a guide.
For a job like this, you need to train for anywhere from a month to an entire summer before you can officially become a guide. You also need to have a certification in first aid, CPR, white water safety, and have a guides license through the state where you are working in.
This seems like a lot, but the work is worth it.
Working for Challengers, I lived in a tent the entire summer with a crew of other dirtbag raft-guides, working hard during the day out on the river, and playing hard after work going surfing on river waves, cliff jumping, climbing and whatever other shenanigans we could get into.
The job itself can be difficult, but once you learn all of the jargon and techniques, it all boils down to being able to communicate well with your guests.
Guiding is More Than The River
You're selling an experience, not just a ride, so creating excitement out of all of the small things that happens on the river is key to a trips success.
At first, I was nervous around guests, as well as juggling my duties getting people safely down the river with creating a fun experience. If you don't know what to say at first, guides could create textbooks of lame, recycled dad jokes that are perfect ways to break the silence on a trip. The more you figure out your style, the more you guide, the more you will be able to figure out which stories, jokes and personal touches you need to add to create an amazing experience for those you take downstream.
Photo property of WWC
Raft Guide Cuisine
Aside from the technical part of things, living as a raft guide isn't for everyone.
Some outfits put you up in a company cabin or house, but working at Challengers and BRO Rafting us guides lived in tents in the woods behind the companies office. You get one free meal per trip taken down the river, and even if it is the same meal every day, it is still free food.
I enjoy living outdoors, spending my evenings kicking back in a hammock or on the van seats used as couches in the tree-fort we use a communal space. It's not for everyone though, so if you're looking to do a job like this, research what living conditions are going to be like.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet was tough, and it took me two summers to figure out that bar food for every dinner doesn't do well for your digestive systems. Cooking, it turns out, is just as easy (and a lot cheaper) from a propane grill and camp stove.
Views of 'Guideville' and fireflies
You can also eat a lot healthy.
We grilled up all sorts of stir-fries, vegetables, fish, and tacos out of cast iron pans, eating a lot healthier even if we put back a few beers while dinner was cooking. It also brought the group closer creating family-style dinners.
Post Work Shenanigans
Finding time for activities can seem difficult when you're exhausted after a hard day on the river, all you want to do is relax and have a drink.
The only thing is, opportunities are all around you. Your coworkers all enjoy doing the same outdoor activities as you, so it's easy to drive to a crag to go climbing, go surfing on the river, trek up a canyon for some cliff-jumping, or go for a hike somewhere.
As with anyone job, you just have to embrace the fact that you can't let yourself fall into a slump. These types of summer jobs give you so many opportunities to more firmly root your passion for the outdoors and adventure sports, so don't take no for an answer and go learn, go do.
That and as a raft guide, you are basically expected to be a hooligan every now and again.
I have too many fond memories of jetting down the river after hours, running lines we aren't allowed to with guests, causing mayhem in the town.
Looking for a Summer Escape
Creating opportunities for yourself, enjoying what you're doing, that is what is important right now. So try out a summer job in the outdoor community, let yourself be swept away in the excitement of it, learn new sports, embrace the outdoors.
Even if you don't want to be a raft guide, working in outdoor settings can be found anywhere from working as a trail maintenance worker, or in a slew of miscellaneous jobs at a national park.
Check it out, you won't be disappointed if you do.
