Any weekend can be the weekend you become a kayaker.

Just last week the Wet Planet kayak school was joined by river enthusiasts from Portland, Oregon and Olympia, Washington for our 2-day Rapid Progression instruction. Hailing from outside Portland, Loree and Gordon came to us with significant water experience in their recreation kayaks. With just a few raft trips to give them a taste of what whitewater kayaking might be like, they signed up to make the transition .... continue reading.

Back with Wet Planet, for an annual tradition! I met this year's first group of First Descents participants in the Columbia Gorge as they darted around the hostel collecting river gear for the first day on the water. First Descents is a very cool non-profit organization which makes it possible for young adults with Cancer to have fun and learn to kayak for a week, creating a very unique and bonding experience for all involved.

I began to learn names; Chica, Blanche, Alley Cat and Stryka were some of the first. I became known as Swish and climbed into the van with over 20 kayaks from Wet Planet's fleet in tow .... continue reading.

For the past 32 days Wet Planet Whitewater Center has been the epicenter for kayaking in the United States with Raft Guide and Kayak Instructon staff members taking on Eddyflower's Total Vertical Challenge.

This competition is unlike any you've heard of before.

For an entire month, participants log every vertical foot of whitewater dropped in their kayaks while also raising money for First Descents, a non-profit organization that sponsors young adults with cancer in week-long kayak instruction camps. However, each river can only be run a maximum of 5 times, making strategy and endurance essential for success. ......continue reading

Building a solid kayak instruction program begins with an educated, knowledgeable and passionate teaching staff. Last week Wet Planet brought together veteran and new staff members to discuss and practice new teaching methods for the annual Kayak Instructor Spring Training. ... continue reading.

Team Wet Planet was represented at Clackamas RiverFest last weekend! Heather Herbeck, Lori "Turbo" Turbes, and some other Wet Planeteers made it out and had a great time. (thanks for organizing a great event!). New in the area from Minnesota, Lori loved learning about the wide variety of inflated river crafts we apparently float on in the PNW!  Good times, kayak races, raft races, good people, great new connections and more friends.  And the winner of our awesome raffle (beginner kayaking course or 4 spots on a White Salmon River trip) is .......  continue reading! 

It almost felt like summer at Wet Planet this weekend, with people sitting in the sun on the front porch, boaters putting in and getting off the river, and some great kayak instruction going on. It was hard to believe that it's still just the beginning of March!

Saturday was our One-Day River Rescue Course for Paddlers. This popular one-day river rescue course ... cotinue reading

Every Saturday at 10am, the Hood River Pool closes off an area of the pool to allow kayakers to get in the water and play.  This past Saturday, the Wet Planet crew headed across the Columbia for a Saturday pool session. Heather worked with students during a regularly scheduled Wet Planet kayak pool session, while a couple other Wet Planet staff took advantage of the warm water to just have fun in our boats.  Continue Reading

Woohoo . . . day 4 was a blast!!! We spent the morning learning about the different classifications of whitewater (class I through class VI). After a short video, we brought out the foam to make our annual "Foamie Boats"!!!  Then we went for an awesome raft trip.  Check out this post to hear more about Day 3 of the Kids' Camp.

It's just keeps getting bigger and better . . . . I can't believe the second day is over already!  Read more about day 2 of the kids' camp in this blog post.

Wet Planet just finished up Day 1 of their kayaking kids course. We had so much fun today . . .  Check out this post to hear all about our first day!

Wet Planet Whitewater is extremely proud to welcome "First Descents" to the Columbia River Gorge for the first time ever! Words cannot express the excitement and buzz that this is creating in the local kayaking community... Read on for more on this amazing program!

It's a real challenge to track down Andy Round, as he is usually on the
river, working or traveling . . . but, since he bought a house and
"settled" down in BZ Corners, we can usually find him catching eddies
in Maytag Rapid on the White Salmon River for hours at a time, or at
Wet Planet getting ready for the season. Let's find out more about Andy:

Heather Herbeck, a full-time BZ Corners resident, was tough to track
down this winter. She seems to keep her plate full with her training
program and various projects . . . never a dull moment in the Herbeck
household. Read on to catch up with Heathers latest adventures...

Today, I had the chance to get out on the Klickitat River and kayak with the students from Adventure Treks. The Wet Planet Kayak School was running a beginning kayak course for a group from Adventure Treks. The group was comprised of 29 students, 6 of whom were instructors for Adventure Trek. While a few of them had previous kayaking experience, the majority of the group were new to the sport of kayaking. I took the opportunity to get out on the river with the group to shoot some photographs and video...