Interview with Mr. Andy Round...

WP: How long have you been a raft guide at Wet Planet?

AR: I honestly don't know but I have been around from the start, then again I am always A. Round.

WP: You could be a comedian Andy!

WP: What responsibilities do you have at WP?

AR: I am a lead kayaking instructor and head of the kayak school and a
rafting trip leader. I also teach raft guide school and assist WRT. I
specailize in teaching advanced kayaking. I also help run or run WP
international trips to places like Costa Rica and Peru. Its a hard life
but someone has to do it, I guess.

WP: What have you been up to all winter?

AR: Tons of stuff, you really want to know? I have been working at WP
helping with various logistical issues to do with international trips
and guide school as well as fixing bootie's!

I have also been working at Mount Hood as a road warrior rescueing
crazy skiers who wipe out in ther cars, or lose there keys and stuff
like that, yep, I get to break into there cars when they lose there
keys or lock themselve's out.

I am really good at it and am thinking of a new career as a car thief,
or actor in 'Gone in 60 seconds' I mean those guys can't act in that
movie anyway, so I reckon I am in, especially with the accent.

I've been snowboarding, mountian biking and kayaking but not in that
order. I have also been trying to write a book about how to kayak but
thats a long work in progess,and a secret so don't tell anyone. Oh and
working on my house a bit, but not much.

WP: When will you be starting the 2009 season?

AR: When ever they will have me. I am leaving for Costa Rica very soon
to go kayaking and then help Todd run the WP rafting trip. After that
Guide school starts, with me and Hootie, Guide schools going to kick
ass this year, as I have finally figured out how to keep my raft in a
straight line.

WP: What Wet Planet trip are you looking forward to the most in 2009?

AR: Thats easy-- The Cotahuasi, the deepest canyon on earth in Peru,
October 2009. Its one of the best multi days trips in the world period,
makes the grand canyon look boring, yawn.

Then we head to the Apurimac the true source of the Amazon, as part of
the same trip. If you don't think thats cool then I can't help ya.

WP: Looking back on last season, what is the most memorable moment you had?

AR: Oh man there are so many, we had some great Wind river trips, I
dumped my whole crew and surfed alone in my raft in rams horn rapid
managed to dig her out of there after nearly flipping a few times, that
was pretty funny.

Maybe the best was the Kayak trip we did on the Lower Salmon in Idaho,
teaching beginner/intermidiate and in one students case advanced
kayaking on a 5 day overnighter on this beautiful river with raft
support and great food. Thats the friggin life right there.

WP: Tell us Andy, what is one thing we don't know about you yet?

AR: Yeah yeah I am not really Australian.

So I am actually an alien who has been sent down here from a different
planet, there are a bunch of us here as spy's on the human race but we
have different missions, mine is to figure out why people sit in those
bright jelly bean shaped boats and hurl themselves down white water
rivers that could kill them.

My race doesn't really know what fun is and we don't have adrenal
glands, so its hard to explain my findings to them and they make me
stay until I come up with a different answer.

This probably explains a lot to those that know me, right? Or should I say think they know me?

When I first landed on earth I miss- calculated my landing zone and
accidently hit Australia, [kind of like the way I run water falls] my
internal computer picked up the Australian accent and now as hard as a
try I can't learn to speak American and every time I say the word Dude
a beep gos off in my head like when your computer refuses to do what
you ask of it and beeps at you, so you try again and it beeps again,
you try again and low and behold it beeps again and so on, until you
throw it in the river.

Because throwing something in the river is, as we all know, the fastest
way to get rid of something and therefore begs the question that when
you go rafting and kayaking -- are you in fact trying to get rid of
yourselves?

Bet you didn't know that?

WP: Wow Andy, we thought we knew you . . . guess not! A man of many "alien" layers! Haha!

Thanks, Andy for taking some time and sharing "the life of Andy" with us!

If you haven't experienced a rafting trip or kayaking experience with
Andy yet, you're missing out. He's a wealth of knowledge and
information, which Wet Planet deems lucky to have! Say "hi" to Andy
when you see him, he's the one with the distinct 'alien' accent.

Wet Planet Whitewater

www.wetplanetwhitewater.com