Position: Operation Manager/ Trip Leader/Raft Guide - Ottawa City Rafting
Home: Arnprior, ON. Canada
Places Travelled:
Luckily I've been too few place. My favorites; Sparta, Naxos....really all of Greece, Whistler, Lugano CH, Sioux Lookout- Northern ON.
Why Wilderness Tours?
The Great River and the people I meet and work with. How many people can say their office is literally on the water? I feel drawn to the river, hot days and cool evening breezes coming off it; hard to beat.
The people I work with are fantastic! I enjoy hanging out and knocking back a few pops in this amazing environment. Something develops between co-workers at WT/OCR...a camaraderie that many people don't experience in life…it doesn't feel like a job, it feels like family. When you jump in a raft, with guests you have to take care of, you look to the other guide and there is a unsaid knowledge that you have to work together or you're both going to eat S**t. When you see that person anytime after that there is a common bond that can't be broken....it's a Brother/Sisterhood that isn't affected by distance or time. To me that's the magic of white water which brings me back year after year.
Best Memory:
Like everyone who has guided on the river there are so many. My best memories involve having my close friends/ family around. Being in the Flying Elvis's Beachburg Chapter for the 25th anniversary was very cool- we bungee jumping and rafting in Elvis costumes to honour the King himself. Driving jet boats and doing the climb up the gorge at Niagara for WT's sister company Whirlpool Jet ranks right up there as well. Rafting with my brother and best friend Cliff for so many years was pretty awesome.
Best Story:
What happens on the river stays on the river…but if I had to tell a couple;
Gaye Clarke describing the Gaye Clarke get-down during the early years of running Buseater on Rafters Deck with only one sandal in hand- hilarious,
The beer chute and stripper pole at Lakeside- priceless,
Our beloved sauna…ah.
The massive beer wall we had when the Black-out happened in '03 (I had to look that date up).
Hands down best- "I would have never have believed it happened if I didn't see the feathers from the boa"..... Some things are better left as a memory!
Favorite Joke:
I don't know how I got to be a guide as I don't really have many jokes, I'm more of a chirper who throws things out there in the spur of the moment as they present themselves!!! I love laughing at them...and we've had a many good jokesters at WT over the years. If you ever were / are on a trip with the big jokesters, get them to tell you their good ones: Nic N./ Sean H.- Joe Pepsi, Julie B - Little Johnny. Any joke by Rob F. will kill you and scar your children. Alex Frigamabo D. and his Champignon joke is even ok...not the Toothbrush joke though. Of course my all-time favorite is, "Clyde's on the Loose" by my bro Cliff...too funny.
Hobbies / Interests:
I love the outdoors; hunting, fishing , ice-fishing, snowmobiling, and skiing. You can find me hanging out and coming up with schemes at the camp whenever I get some downtime. My Family is important to me and I love a good BBQ when we all get together.
Position: Operation Manager/ Trip Leader/Raft Guide - Ottawa City Rafting
