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Beginner Package (4 Lessons + Practice)Our Level 1 Beginner Whitewater Package gives you two years to master whitewater kayaking at your own pace, and all without owning your own gear! Over the past decade, Potomac Paddlesports' award-winning instruction has has been the driving force behind the growth of whitewater kayaking in the DC area. We really care about helping everyone learn, including the "slow learners". Here's what you get when you purchase "The Package": 1. Two years of instruction (4 Lessons)Our patient instructors, learn-at-your-own-pace scheduling, and free weekly practice nights will build your confidence with each new experience. Please read the descriptions below and also read what our students have to say about the program here: LINK
Free Weekly Practice NightsPractice is an important part of whitewater kayaking and our Level 1 Package includes free weekly practice nights. Part skills development, part social scene, our Weekly Practice Nights give you more coaching with our best instructors an more time on the water. Perhaps best of all, they provide the opportunity for you to meet new people. All Level 1 Package students may attend one clinic per week. If you have your own gear, you may attend three per week!
Course 1: Whitewater FundamentalsOur five-hour Whitewater Fundamentals lesson is a fun-filled, professionally coached, kayaking lesson on flat water. We've elminated much of the technical jargon to focus on comfort in the boat, comfort underwater, and rolling the kayak. By learning these skills in flatwater first, you'll gain the confidence and control required to paddle in whitewater.
Course 2: Strokes and Rolling ReveiwThis intensive three-hour class is also on flat water and designed to hone the fundamental strokes that turn and propell the kayak and "bombproof" your roll in preparation for moving water.
Course 3: Moving WaterHere is where the fun really begins! In this challenging four-hour course you'll learn how to carve turns, manuever, and to harness the power of the river beneath your kayak! We'll teach you how to enter, exit, and cross current. Not only will you begin to develop a working knowledge of the relationship between rocks and gradient, but you will gain tremendous confidence and an appreciation for your new skills.
Course 4: Mather Gorge RunTest your new whitewater skills as you spend four hours running and playing in the class II-III Mather Gorge section of the Potomac. You'll be gripped! We'll climb up to the top of gorge, view and name the major rapids, learn river communication skills and discuss strategy. You'll also begin to understand how to read your line forty feet below but you will probably forget most of the talk the first time down. Each wide-eyed student will take turns paddling from point A to point B one-by-one under the watchful eye of an instructor shadowing your every move. The trip down Mather Gorge is an experience you will never forget. Be ready!
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