White Water Raft Guide School

Learn How to Do This for a Living!

Enroll in NOC's Raft Guide School where your classroom is the river! These fast-paced training programs provide you with the skills necessary to work as a professional river rafting guide for commercial outfitters, camps, clubs, schools and more. NOC pioneered raft guide school as a place to get training from the top raft guides in the nation. You can learn to become a professional river guide at NOC's Nantahala River headquarters, in western North Carolina.

In your week of fun with NOC's raft guide trainers, you'll learn:

• Reading whitewater
• Maneuvering rafts
• Stroke techniques
• Knot tying
• Raft rigging
• River signals
• How to communicate with your crew
• The basic operations of a rafting trip

And crucial safety aspects of whitewater rafting like:

• Basic River Rescue
• Equipment Maintenance
• Risk Management
• Emergency River Procedures

Raft Guide School 2012 Dates

This five-day course begins with dinner on Sunday evening and ends with lunch on Friday afternoon. It also includes lodging at our Basecamp facility. A Wilderness First Aid course preceedes or follows most raft guide school courses, to supplement your professional training.

Join our Team

Do well in class and you might even be asked to join the NOC guide team! Preferential consideration will be given to graduates of Guide School for summer employment at NOC. Please note: If you have already applied to work at NOC, you are not automatically enrolled in Raft Guide School. Please call or click the booking widget above to make your reservation. There will be an option for students to continue their education with NOC the weekend before or after their course by signing up for a Wilderness First Aid or CPR course (at an additional cost).