Women’s Weekend

Prerequisites: none – Have you been curious about kayaking and want to give it a test run?  This course is a great option to try whitewater kayaking and join other women paddlers learning it for the first time too.   After introducing you to the sport of kayaking and to your equipment, we get our first taste of paddling in the security of a pond. We start by teaching you to safely exit the kayak when upside down. Then we move on to learning basic strokes, including sweep strokes, forward strokes, draws, and braces. Once everyone is comfortable in their boats, we head to moving water where we introduce river maneuvers such as the eddy turn, peel out and ferry.

Prerequisites: none – We’ll start with the same plan as the women paddlers in the 1-day course.  Adding on the second day really allows you to get your feet wet in this sport.  The second day helps to strengthen the lessons of the first day and we’ll add to those lessons with more information on the harder paddling strokes and more time to practice them.  You’ll have more river time too!  Once you get a second day of paddling in you’ll have a great foundation to continue on with this incredible sport, and you may even have some new friends to learn with.

Prerequisites: wet-exits with a sprayskirt from a whitewater kayak and basic understanding and execution of the river running maneuvers (eddy turn, peel out and ferry).  This should not be your first whitewater kayak lesson.-  Rolling is one of the best tricks a whitewater paddler can learn to do, it’s awesome!  This clinic is tailored towards paddlers with prior class I-II river experience.  New potential is unlocked once you feel confident you can flip over and get back up.  Our skilled staff use a helpful progression of drills to make learning the roll safer and easier.  We’ll demo the roll for you and stand in the water while you work on the drills to achieve rolling success.This clinic meets at our base in Charlemont, but folks may decide to bring their own vehicles and join the community paddle that will be happening on the Fifebrook section post course.

 Prerequisites: Advanced beginner to expert level paddlers – This is the same rescue course as our scheduled 1-day rescue course, but all women!  It is honestly rare to find women instructors in river rescue, but Zoar Outdoor takes pride in the fact that we have several amazing instructors who are so stoked to put on a women’s only river rescue course!  This clinic is tailored towards paddlers with comfort in at least class II or higher river experience.  We’ll be taking a bite of ego out of river rescue and focusing on skills that help the everyday paddler.  Our emphasis is on judgment and managing river rescue situations, as well as rescue techniques that can be performed with minimal equipment.

Prerequisites: advanced intermediate to expert level paddlers – Dryway caliber (solid class III-IV) paddlers with solid class III rolls and a plethora of strokes for style points.  Those in this clinic should feel smooth and efficient in all river maneuvers, but are still open to learning and refinement.  This run is appropriate for those interested in beginning to paddle Class IV.  You better believe we are excited to offer an all women Dryway River Run clinic.  Follow the locals down their favorite lines and to secret missions of twisting maneuvers.  Surf and play on one of the harder whitewater rivers in Massachusetts.  If this is your first time or you want a closer look at some rapids, their will be time for scouting and/or walking rapids as needed.

People who self identify as female and want to learn aspects of whitewater paddling.  Our minimum age for these clinics is 14.

While some of the flatwater areas we use are quite warm in June, July, and August, the Deerfield River is always cool, regardless of the time of year or air temperature. When packing your paddling clothes, please plan accordingly, especially if you are coming early or late in the season (April, May, September, and October). Our clinics will run rain or shine.

Wear items such as:

• Synthetic long underwear, garments made of polypropylene, Capilene, or some polyester/spandex blend
• Fleece or wool socks
• Bathing suit
• Fleece or wool jacket/sweater (early/late season or if you tend to chill easily)

Other items to bring:

• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Retaining strap for glasses
• Nose plugs
• Towel
• Required medications
• Extra money for snacks, T-shirts, or coin-operated showers

Zoar Outdoor will provide:

• boat
• wetsuit
• paddle jacket
• booties
• life jacket
• helmet
• paddle
• sprayskirt

If you own your own equipment, we suggest you use it in the clinic to get used to its quirks.

We provide a catered picnic-style lunch on all our clinics. Typical lunches include homemade rolls, sliced turkey, ham or other meats, sliced cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, chips, salsa, hummus, pasta or other salad, cookies or other dessert and hot and cold drinks.

The following statement is required by state law: “Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy.”

We do not use nuts in our food, but can not guarantee that the ingredients in our meals do not contain nuts or other food allergens. If you have food allergies or other special dietary needs, we strongly suggest you bring your own bag lunch in non-glass containers and we will pack it with the other lunches on your trip. Please inform our office at 800 532-7483 or [email protected] if you intend to do this.