Kayak Clinics:

Dates:

Session 1: June 24-July 6 (13 days)

Session 2: July 21-26 (6 days)

Session 1 Direction Program is run in conjunction with Talisman Summer Camps.

Rates:

Session 1: $3100
Session 2: $2100

All Rapid Experiences Programs are Co-Ed for entering 9-12 grades.

What we send to you:

Registration Form
Participant Questionnaire
Medical Form
Participant Agreement Form
Release of Liability Form
Terms of Agreement
Clothing and Equipment List

What we need back from you:

Registration Form
Participant Questionnaire
Medical Form
Participant Agreement Form
Terms of Agreement

Summer Kayaking Adventures For Teens

Direction Program: Asperger's

About Us:

Green River Adventures offers exceptional summer adventures for teenagers, designed to boost self-esteem, improve leadership ability, and increase self-reliance through Whitewater Kayaking! Our trips are based in the Asheville, North Carolina area and travel to rivers in Georgia, Tennessee, as well as other areas in North Carolina.

Green River Adventures will provide everything but a typical summer experience for your child. The foundation of our programs lies in our small group atmosphere with a maximum of 10 participants. Learning and living in a small group promotes healthy communication, teamwork, leadership, and tolerance. Our main goal is that these skills last as long as the adventure filled memories of whitewater kayaking!

From day one participants are in Whitewater Kayaks learning the fundamentals required to safely excel in the sport. Small groups allow our highly experienced and certified instructors more one-on-one time to teach participants everything from a "wet exit" and "rolling" a kayak to picking a route through a class III rapid.

Experts agree that small group settings allow for more "teachable moments", paddling skills progress faster, and it is easy to relax and be yourself. From the minute our participants arrive we create a supportive, non-threatening, fun atmosphere among our groups. This allows everyone to learn at his or her own pace, appreciate others for their individual personalities, and make lifelong friendships.

No kayaking experience is necessary to enroll in a Green River Adventures program. Just come with an open mind and a sense of Adventure!

Direction Program:

The Direction Program through Green River Adventures is a Co-Ed, water-based adventure designed specifically for teens with Asperger's Syndrome. Our Direction Program provides an emotionally safe environment that promotes healthy communications, peer relationships, and independence while participating in a new exciting activity. Our main goal is to provide an environment where our participants can feel comfortable sharing their true personality with a group, while doing some exciting, cool new things.

Our Staff:

The Staff that lead our Direction Programs come to us with a great deal of experience, personally and professionally, working with young people who have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Direction does not offer "formal therapy". However, our staff have a sound understanding of the unique needs and interests of teenagers with Asperger's. Our highly structured day-to-day schedules are filled with adventure while sticking to a reliable routine. Each day our goal is to improve healthy communication skills, build peer relationships, and promote a sense of community that can be brought home at the end of a trip. Free time is built into our daily schedule to allow time for resting, reading, writing home, and making friends.

Because we are located in the "Whitewater Mecca" of the United States, we have our pick of the best kayak instructors available. From them, we hire world-class instructors that come to us with a wealth of experience leading teenagers in a multitude of settings. Our trip leaders are outgoing, energetic, and fun, just the kind of people you want to spend your summer with! Green River Adventures sets itself apart from other summer programs through extensive staff training and certification requirements. All of our lead instructors are highly qualified in emergency medicine, with certifications such as Wilderness First Responders (WFR) or Wilderness Emergency Medical Technicians (WEMT) requiring a minimum of 80 hours of medical training. In addition, our instructors are certified through the American Canoe Association as Whitewater Kayak Instructors and Swiftwater Rescue Technicians.

In addition to the extensive knowledge our group leaders have of Whitewater Kayaking, our staff are devoted to the group dynamic process. They have a sound understanding of leadership development, teamwork, and healthy communication. We are committed to providing positive role models for our participants, realizing that the adults in leadership roles are just as important as the experience itself.

Schedule:

All participants arrive on the opening day of their program (usually a Sunday) and are transported by our staff from the Asheville Regional Airport, or the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport to Green River Adventures in Saluda, North Carolina. If participants are dropped off by their parents, they will come directly to Green River Adventures. The remainder of the first day is spent outfitting participants with paddling gear, getting to know one another, cooking and eating dinner, and setting up camp for the night.

We hit the water the next morning! Starting on flat water, participants first learn how to exit an overturned kayak safely, learn strokes, and the basics of paddling a Whitewater Kayak. From there we will progress to moving water and eventually to whitewater. It is difficult to predict exactly when and where a group will be in their learning curve throughout the duration of this program. We tailor each program to the specific participants in that group, only progressing to the next level when all members of the group are ready. We pride ourselves is being able to set up a non-threatening learning environment by creating challenges for participants who are ready to move to the next level on rivers that are still well within the comfort zone of participants who still need some more time before moving on.

Each night we set up camp and sleep under the stars on the banks of the river we paddled that day or will paddle the next day. Aside from building confidence through whitewater kayaking, we are able to come full circle in achieving the goals of our program by creating a supportive community while "camping out". By eliminating everyday distractions, our participants become more comfortable including themselves in this healthy community. Cooking together, setting up tents, making group decisions about the following days activities, and having "down time" before and after dinner, create opportunities to work on communication skills, relationship building skills, and empathy.

By the end of the program, it is quite likely that all participants will feel comfortable picking routes and paddling through class III rapids. Most participants will be proficient at "rolling" a kayak. The learning curve that is created by having the opportunity to paddle every day for several days in a row is extremely exciting and easily increases self-esteem and confidence in participants. It is difficult to describe the sense of accomplishment your child will gain through this experience.

Our daily schedule is set up to meet the unique needs of teens with Asperger's. Routine is at the core of our daily schedule; we never leave our participants anxious about the happenings of the day. However, we do strive to help our participants work through the fact that we are unable to plan exactly what will happen during our trip. Even though we start paddling at the same time each day, we will be on different rivers most days. Naturally, this gives our participants an opportunity to learn in a concrete way that "plans" cannot always be set in stone! We work hard to help our participants practice the skill of blurring the distinction between black and white, something that comes so easily to others in our society and that those with Asperger's struggle with.