Northeast PA Kayak School

The Northeast PA Kayak School is a fantastic way to learn the ropes of whitewater kayaking, and we had an absolute blast in the two-​day whitewater kayak clinic. Jerry and his fellow instructors are eager to share their love of paddling, and the teaching methods and class structure (first day learning skills on the lake, second day river trip on easy class I-​II rapids) make it ideal for kayaking beginners like ourselves, as well as people with some experience looking to sharpen their skills on the river. My boyfriend and I couldn’t have had a better weekend or introduction to this exciting sport.
I’ve always wanted to try whitewater kayaking since flatwater kayaking frankly seems rather boring. And not knowing what we’re doing, renting kayaks and hurtling down rapids ourselves seemed like a bad idea. In comes 2-​day clinic with the kayak school.
The first day we learned all of the basic skills and strokes including wet exit (key skill to ensure you can get out of an upside down boat hence avoiding drowning), various paddle strokes, turning, carving, paddling straight (harder than you think!), and bracing to stabilize the boat. There were 8 people in our class with 3 instructors, ensuring that everyone got plenty of practice and personal attention. Jerry, Lisa, and Bill all did a great job of teaching/​demonstrating the skills and correcting our techniques. And of course making the day fun. The last hour of the first day we had the chance to learn to eskimo roll (optional, but really fun!). Unfortunately by that time, my arms, hips, legs, and core were beyond exhausted making the roll even more difficult to pull off, but I almost got it! They use a four step assisted process to teach it, and no one in the class was completely successful, but it was a lot of fun and something to work on for next time.
The second day is the main event — they lead you down an 8-​mile stretch of the Lehigh starting in Jim Thorpe and winding through a series of mostly class I rapids. We started out paddling around on a calm section to practice all the skills from the day before and get re-​acclimated to the kayaks. (I needed this, as I had spent probably about 2 hours total in a kayak prior to this class.) Then we headed down the river! Paddling through the easy rapids and riding the wave trains was a blast. Jerry also had us try things like ferrying across the current, carving into the current, eddying out, etc. in areas where it was safe and ideal. Everyone flipped at least once trying new things, and the record was around 7 flips! (That wet exit really came in handy.) The final rapid was the most fun of the day. All of the rapids we went through (~10) were fun but not too tricky — perfect for trying out our new skills and having a good time without being fearful for life and limb. And an instructor was always right there anytime anyone flipped to guide them to shore. However, this class isn’t «let’s go down the river on fun boats and play in the rapids» — this is «you better get comfortable with being upside stuck in a boat underwater and freeing yourself, and you’ll get frustrated fairly quickly if you don’t have the right mindset to learn challenging skills and apply them in a potentially risky environment.» Just thought I’d throw that disclaimer out there — as an example, I may never have kayaked before, but I’m an avid rock climber and snowboarder and love new adventure sports.
Plenty of information is also on their website and facebook page, so I’ll just finish up with saying we had a fantastic two days and can’t wait to go back for the 1-​day river trips you can do once you’ve taken 2-​day clinic. (You skip the first day and just do the river trip.) I’ll also have to work on my roll!