May 15th
Red Cross CPR Class: This 8-hour class earns you a basic CPR certification and is also taught by our Operations Manager.  Adult & Child CPR certification is mandatory to work for Ouzel, but it's not necessary to take the class through us. Current Ouzel guides who need re-certification will have priority for signing up for this class.

May 20th – 22nd
Returning Guide Training: This training is open to all Ouzel guides who have completed their first year with us; it is mandatory for those guides that wish to be eligible for our bonus pay program. All Returning Guides are strongly encouraged to attend. We sometimes invite experienced new candidates to participate in this training as well. Itinerary and location are yet to be determined.

May 28th & 29th
Pre-Training Paddleboat Weekend: This training is designed for those candidates who have limited or no experience captaining a paddleboat, but all candidates are strongly encouraged to attend. Consider the weekend to be Paddleboating 101. Both days will likely take place on the Maupin stretch of the Deschutes River.

May 30th – June 3rd
New Guide Training: This training is for all candidates. Each day we will meet at the warehouse and, after a short training session on different topics, will drive to a different stretch that Ouzel runs commercially. After running the river, we will return to Bend and de-rig the trip before you are turned loose for the evening. It is likely that we will spend 2 days on the Deschutes, 2 days on the McKenzie, and 1 day on the North Umpqua – your skills will crescendo as the difficulty of the rivers increase.

June 10th – 12th
Multi-day Trip Training: This training is designed to introduce those trainees unfamiliar with rowing a boat to the skills needed to rig and run gear boats and to the commercial camping scene. Experienced applicants benefit by becoming familiar with Ouzel gear, systems, and the 3-day stretch from Warm Springs to Maupin.

Getting Right Into Hydrodynamic Theory...

For further questions and/or information, contact John Halushka (john@oregonrafting.com) or Brian Sykes (brian@oregonrafting.com). We would be happy to talk to you about guiding in general or specific opportunities at Ouzel Outfitters.