Level 4 ACA Swiftwater Rescue Class
This class is INVITATION ONLY for 2024
This two-day class is specifically aimed at teaching Swiftwater rescue techniques to commercial raft guides.
Participants will be given a Level 4 ACA card upon successful completion of the class.
Details:
The course will be held at a location TBA somewhere in the Coloma/Lotus area. You will be sent details when we know.
Class is two full days
Meet time: 8 am
Finish Time: 5 pm
Cost: $190 per person
Prerequisites:
This course is only available to commercial river guides or river guides who volunteer for institutional/non-profit groups
This course is not available to people who are planning to attend guide school in 2024 and it is preferable that students have had at least 1 year of commercial guiding experience before signing up. Exceptions can be made for life long boaters who have newly become commercial guides, please contact us for further details.
It is preferable that everyone who signs up is over the age of 18. Exceptions can be made on a case by case basis. Please contact us for further details.
This course is not available to private boaters. We offer this course as a service to our industry which is reflected by the low cost. We are not a Swiftwater Rescue Training business, this training is outsourced to a professional instructor. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Participants are required to bring:
A suitable PFD
Helmet
Closed toe shoes suitable for walking/wading in the river environment
Wetsuit or drysuit and clothing suitable for spending extended periods of time in the water
A throw bag (boat bag or waist bag is fine)
Lunch and snacks to get through a long day of river time
Participants are encouraged to bring:
Any other safety/rescue gear you typically carry with you i.e. river knife, webbing, locking carabiners, prusics.
A whistle attached to your PFD
About Your Rescue Instructor:
Travis Cobb
Originally from Jefferson County West Virginia, Travis began his whitewater career on the Shenandoah River as a raft guide in 2001. While guiding on the Cheat River he began training river staff and in 2006 qualified to teach swift water rescue through the American Canoe Association. The following year he led the first guide school of his own creation for Cheat River Outfitters, training a number professional guides who have since paddled and worked some of the world’s most challenging waters.
Travis has worked as a rescuer for many paddling events including the World Rafting Championships, Bosnia 2008, and the Teva/Go Pro Mountain Games in Vail, CO. He organized and led the race safety team for the Gore Canyon race in both 2009 and 2010. Travis has also worked race safety for the Cheat Canyon Race since 2007. He is currently the Jump Coordinator for the Bridge Day Rescue Team, where base jumpers leap from the New River Gorge Bridge, many of whom land in the New River just below Fayette Station rapid. In addition, he has worked as a river guide and rescue instructor across the U.S. and internationally teaching to both recreational boaters and professional rescue teams.
During the off season he has spent his winters as a deckhand aboard traditional tall ships sailing in Nova Scotia and the Bahamas teaching passengers to sail. After purchasing his own boat, a dilapidated 35’ mahogany gaff rig, in 2009 he restored the craft, eventually sailing it some 1,300 miles through the Intercostal Waterway
When he’s not paddling Travis focuses on teaching. His courses are known for having realistic and practical scenarios and curriculum that changes focus to meet the different needs of students. Last year he co-wrote a manual for the U.S. Army on swift water operations. In an effort to develop and improve his teaching, Travis takes courses both within and outside of his qualifications with other instructors and schools of rescue.
Travis currently lives in North Carolina, and operates Cobb Rescue Instruction offering a variety of rescue courses.