KCCNY Beginner/Novice Weekend 19-20 September

Only for  participants who were previously registered for the Instructional Weekend on August 29th and 30th. The beginner portion had to be rescheduled due to increase in planned releases.  

KCCNY will offer one weekend of beginner/novice whitewater kayak instruction, practice and feedback by a team of American Canoe Association trained instructors, on September 19th & 20th at the Lehigh River. This includes camping Friday and Saturday nights.

This two-day clinic is designed for boaters who are beginners, or who have had some previous kayaking experience.

We will start on flat water to refine paddling techniques, underwater composure, review wet exits, introduce bow rescues, and the kayak roll. On the river we will work on eddy turns, peel-outs, ferries, and gaining overall experience with moving water. Instruction will start at 9:00 a.m. and will be over each day by late afternoon. Students can either bring their own boats or borrow KCCNY equipment (see below).

Instructors will review the following topics with students:

– Basic hydrology/river reading/rapid classification/hazards
– Five essential pieces of kayaking gear
– Kayak anatomy and basic outfitting
– River safety
– Underwater composure sequence (hand of god, wet exit, swimming with boat and gear, bow rescue)
– Posture/paddlers box
– Defensive/Offensive swimming/how to receive a rope
– Basic strokes (forward & sweep strokes)
– Edging
– Stopping
– Ferries
– Eddy turns
– Peel outs

**In the comments section, please list your kayaking experience (if any) and let us know if you need any gear. Participants must have, or borrow, the five essentials: whitewater kayak, whitewater paddle, whitewater skirt, PFD and helmet.**

Details on borrowing equipment. 

**If you need to borrow any equipment (boat, paddle, skirt, helmet, PFD), please fill out this form:**EQUIPMENT REQUEST FORM