ACA Swiftwater Rescue Workshop
September 25-26, 2010
Location: Saddler Falls, Spring River - Home of Howard Baswell
Onsite Camping Avaialable - around $5 per night payable at conclusion of course
Electricity Available for additional Fee
Instructor - Drew Armstrong and others
For those that choose to arrive on Friday evening, we will conduct an informal knot and rigging class. It will be beneficial if you are familiar with the Figure-8 family of knots prior to the course. PLEASE, practice tying these knots before the clinic: (Figure 8, Figure 8 on a Bight, Trace 8, Butterfly, Double Fisherman's, and Water Knot). All of these knots and variations on them will be used at the clinic. Each knot is well illustrated at
http://www.animatedknots.com.
The course is officially scheduled to begin on Saturday morning, September 25th at 8:00am CST and finishes on Sunday evening, September 26th. The course will begin promptly at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
You are responsible for your own meals during the clinic. Also bring plenty of energy bars and river snacks. Plan to bring lunches to the river w/you each day. I will have a refrigerated cooler for your convenience. We will want to eat lunch together at the teaching site so as to minimize lost time. We will break for dinner on Saturday night but group cooking is a good option as well. I will have a projector and screen for nightime recap of the days activities or paddling videos.
In order to participate in the class, each student will have to need to have their own personal equipment as listed below:
-Whitewater helmet
-Type III PFD (Consider a rescue PFD if you don'y already own one. You will likely want one after the class and this will be a good opportunity to practice with your own equipment.) ( I will have enough for those that do not own a rescue vest)
-Throw Rope (I suggest 70 feet of 3/8-inch polypropylene or spectra. Spectra is stronger). ACA recommendation is 70 foot length of 3/8" Spectra rope.
-One or two 12-20 foot lengths of 1-inch tubular nylon webbing
-Two 6-8 feet pieces of 6-8 millimeter polypropylene prussic cord
-Two oval- or locking D-shaped locking carabineers
-Paper and pen to take notes
-Adequate food, snacks and water for the day (bring more than you think you will need)
-Closed-toe shoes or sneakers, river booties, etc.
(Sandals are not acceptable)-Warm clothes (a semi-dry suit or wet suit is a good idea though not a requirement plan to spend lots of time in the water.) If you do not own a dry suit or wet suit, consider shorts with expedition weight capilene or fleece long johns. You will want a good barrier between your skin and rocks
-Boat - the kind you would paddle
-Sunscreen, helmet visor and sunglasses (recommended, but not required)
An ACA Waiver for this course is attached along with a course guide and registraton form. Minor waivers must be signed by a parent. I will contact any minors prior to the course to ensure they have the appropriate waiver. Please read the waiver on the ACA site. We will review the waiver and sign them at the beginning of the clinic.
VERY IMPORTANT TO READ AND UNDERSTAND PARAGRAPH BELOW:
Please recognize that this class is extremely physically demanding and involves you voluntarily placing yourself into potentially life-threatening situations. We will discuss the hazards involved and will work to minimize them. Therefore, the course will be taught in a CHALLENGE BY CHOICE format. In other words, you determine what you do and how hard you push yourself within the boundaries of the course.
The cost for the course is $125. There will be a $10 discount for ACA members. I will need your ACA number on the application prior to the clinic. All fees are due 1 week prior to the course. We will need a minimum of 8 people for this course. Check may be sent to the address on the registration form or if you prefer, I accept paypal to the email address of
jarmstro@bsamail.org.
This course will be designed based upon the skill level of the participants. If all the participants are boaters, it will be designed more towards boating rescue. Register by faxing, scanning, mailing, emailing all required forms and payment.
Please understand that the two day course is a significant investment of my time as well as those of the co-instructors. Please register promptly. All participants will receive a Course notebooks that has an outline of the course, and additional notes and information. You may want to bring a pen to take notes.
Registration forms attached
