Rapid Learning
Skills Classes and Membership
Skills classes are offered every Wednesday, May through September, at Chester Frost County Park with two sessions to choose from; 6-7 or 7-8 p.m. Winter sessions are held at Southern Adventist University’s Hulsey Wellness Center indoor pool once a month on select Tuesdays, November through April from 7-9 p.m. The first session you attend is free with all equipment and instruction provided! To continue with the program after the first free session, become a Rapid Learning Member, which gives you access to all the skills classes and use of our equipment during classes and river trips, plus discounts on instructional river trips for an entire year! Cost: $75 for individual membership, $125 for a family membership.
Instructional River Trips
Put your newly acquired paddling skills to the test on moving current during instructional river trips. Kayakers are eligible to attend instructional river trips once they have attended at least one skills class and demonstrated essential skills such as confident wet exits, basic self-rescue, and effective maneuvering of the of the kayak. Instructional River Trips are offered on Sundays throughout the summer and open to Rapid Learning Members and non-members that have demonstrated the essential skills. With an emphasis on boat control, you’ll practice catching eddies, peeling out, cross river ferrying, reading whitewater, and developing river awareness. Our experienced guides will be right there with you to encourage and instruct as you test and hone your whitewater skills on the river. Instructional river trips at $35 for Rapid Learning Members, $45 for non-members per day. Fee includes equipment, transportation, and instruction on the water. Reservations and payment are required in advance.
What You’ll Learn
- How to adjust a kayak and PFD (Personal Floatation Device) to comfortably fit you
- Beginner to intermediate paddle strokes, braces and maneuvers to keep your kayak upright, and in the direction you want it to go
- Self rescue skills: wet exit, buddy rescues, boat over boat emptying techniques, wet re-entry, and a variety of kayak rolls
- Flat water kayak skills preparation for a whitewater (or flat water) environment
FAQs
When and where are the kayak skills classes offered?
Every
There are two separate sessions. 1st Session: 6 to 7 p.m. 2nd Session: 7 to 8 p.m. Equipment and instruction is on a first come first served basis.
Winter Sessions are held at Southern Adventist University’s Hulsey Wellness Center indoor pool on select Tuesdays, November through April from 7-9 p.m.
2019-2020 Winter Dates: November 12, December 10, January 14, February 11, March 10 and April 21
When and where are the insturtional river trips offered?
Instructional river trips occur on Sundays in the summer months on Class II-III rivers. Day trips go to the Hiwassee River, two-day trips got to Western North Carolina. Equipment, instruction, and transportation
2019 River Trip
June 9, June 16, July 14, July 28, August 10-11, August 25
Do I have to make a reservation?
Do I need to have my own equipment
How much does it cost?
Do I have to have experience to participate?
Events
Did You Know?
The Chattanooga region holds great and diverse whitewater paddling opportunities, for beginners and experts. To the east, the Appalachian Mountains hold iconic whitewater streams like the Ocoee, Hiwassee, Cartecay, Nantahala and Chattooga. Closer to home, the ridges of the Cumberland Plateau offer some of the best steep creek boating in the Eastern U.S.
American Whitewater offers the region’s best river database.