Sierra Adventures

Wasted our time!!! We drove out there and when we arrived during their scheduled open hours, they were closed with fliers stating to call and schedule time to see the rental gear. 1^st of all: what store schedules time just to see rental gear? Second; why does the online information state they are OPEN. Seriously?! Wasted our time with incorrect information. Good business practice is to POST that an appointment is REQUIRED.

Oh, Jim. You should have just left the review alone and let it run its course, but you had to call us lairs over and over, so now I will respond to your lies.
Jim had the entire bus ride back to his office to apologize. We had already told them we were going to contest the charge with our credit card company if they didn’t refund us. It is true that he eventually called and offered a voucher for another trip with their company, but that is worthless since I wouldn’t trust them to guide me down a flight of stairs, let alone another river. After arguing with my wife for some time and threatening to sue us and bring criminal charges against us if we contested the charge, my wife was tired of listening to him yell at her and hung up the phone.
Jim likes to tell lies and tell stories about events that he didn’t even witness. But that is beside the point. Jim, did you read your reply before you posted? I know you didn’t spell check it. I think that if you had read it you would have tried to not sound like your true self and at least attempt to make yourself and you business sound like you give a damn. The whole point of our trip was to have fun. We didn’t ask you to take us down some treacherous section of the river where it required advanced kayaking skills. You said yourself that we were not in danger. The speed of the water and the terrain were not dangerous by themselves. But when you add the low level of the water and constantly having to stand and maneuver a large, wet, inflatable kayak with broken straps and handles, there is a danger of falling. Since the entire goal was to have fun, it was an utter failure. You knew our weights. You knew our experience. You knew the conditions of the river. You knew the condition of your equipment. The truth is you wanted our money and you didn’t care about our experience or our safety. To this day you are still pointing the finger at us, blaming us for everything that happened. You should have taken this opportunity to see what you could have done differently to enhance your customer’s experience. You should have had us point out what items were broken so you could replace or repair them. You should have offered to refund the cost without being asked because that is what upstanding companies do. Upstanding companies don’t point fingers and threaten police action and lawsuits. I hope people read this review and see you and your business for what it is… and never have to experience the TRUTH.

First, the good parts:
Our guide Tim knew the American river. He knew exactly where the rocks were, when to expect the next white water and what to expect if we fell in. The actual 3 ½ hour rafting was fun and thrilling. We had a nice lunch of cold cuts, cheese, chips, condiments and cold drinks. Even small snacks and drinks onboard the raft.
Then the not so good parts:
1. The owner Jim was a total grump. Wasn’t welcoming at all, wasn’t friendly and he shouldn’t be working the front counter. For the amount of money we paid for our trip of 6 people, it would have been nice to be greeted with excitement instead of grumpy cat at the very start.
2. While Tim definitely was the one that woke up on the good side of the bed, he was full of himself, made inappropriate comments of religion, politics and sex in the presence of our one child in our group. (Things like Hitler did a lot of good, wiping out many unnecessary people for us.)
3. Tim squeezed all seven (includes him) of us in his EXTREMELY filthy vehicle. It looked and smelled like wet dog. Good vehicle, got us there and back (2−½ hours each way) but it was covered in dog hair and obviously hasn’t been vacuumed since he got it in 2013.
4. At one point he stopped to pick up a helper, which now squeezed EIGHT of us in there. There was no room for him any longer so he sat on his center counsel, facing us in the back seat, spinning around to the front and holding on (without a seatbelt) till the next stop. Instead of doing it ahead of time, he was Ill prepared, so we also had to stop to get gas.
5. We got a briefing of how to sit, how to hold our paddles and what to do if we fell in (one in our party did fall over) but we didn’t get safety instructions ahead of time. (All boating should have safety instructions.)
6. While the lunch was great, he served it at the tail gate of his filthy car, without even covering the surface. Just opened up the bags and told us to help ourselves.
Overall:
Jim needs to hire someone else that can run the counter and be friendly. (He can stay in bed.)Did we enjoy the trip? You bet! We tipped Tim nicely for his experience and obvious knowledge of the river during the trip but he truly needs to clean up his manners (with religion, politics and off color opinions) AND his car
OR Jim can provide another vehicle.

We had a party of 6 (5 adults, 1 kid) going on the Scenic Rafting Tour. We met up at their office at 9am and met the owner Jim who didn’t help us out at all. He basically took our money and sent us off. We took off with our guide «Uncle Tim». He took us to the street where he piled our group and himself into a VERY, VERY dirty Kia Sorento with 3^rd row seating. It’s was crowded but OK for the hour and a half ride to the South Fork of the American river. He was talking the entire time about his lack of employment and how much he likes Katey Perry. We finally met up with a 2^nd guy who followed us for a few miles and pulled over… He jumps in to driver seat of the Kia and Tim tries to squeeze on the already crowded back seat. He ended up sitting on the center consul (which was totally illegal and very uncomfortable for all of us in the car) between the driver and the passenger. We finally got to the river and got going. Tim kept us safe and was a perfect tour guide! We had a great time and he really guided the perfect tour! He talks about himself a lot and drops jokes that are not appropriate for younger ears. He made inappropriate jokes to fellow rafters and kayakers on the river… He asked a female Brazilian kayaker where her thong was, we saw another female guide jump into the water and he made a comment about her weight. He joked about nazi’s saying that Hitler did great things, religion and politics and «joked» that he was high. The provided lunch was good; sandwiches, chips, cookies, sodas and waters. We trekked 12 miles down the river in about 3 hours. We all (8 people) pile back into the Kia and dropped his friend off after a few minutes. I would LOVE to raft that river again but I don’t think I would book through this company again. Tim had very little patience for my 8 year old son and was telling him that he should fight other kids at school. He was a little
odd!

Spoke with owner Jim a few times making the arrangements for an outing with a group of women. Less than a week prior to our arrival I receive a call only to find out that everyone of my details were wrong; from the type of excursion, the date, the pickup site and the number of people. I explained that I was feeling a little uncomfortable with how this was proceeding; he asked if he could call me back that day, he never did. I waited two days before leaving a message that I wanted to cancel. Still have not gotten a call back, not even to apologize.

I have to select one star because the app doesnt let me select none. Zero stars.
We made bookings for snow tubing and sleigh ride in Tahoe through Sierra adventures and to our surprise we found that this person had charged us 3 times more than actual price. Snow tubing is $ 34 per person and he charged us $ 99. For horse sleigh too he charged us three times. He offers some snacks in the car which are pretty stale. STAY AWAY!
For snow tubing you can go directly and purchase on spot tickets and for sleigh ride you can do through
. I wish I had the info earlier.

WOWOWOWOW. This was our first time rafting on the truckee river & I have to say that the guides really experienced, knowlegeable and made the whole experience just wonderful !!
Ugh, it was a bit upsetting that it had to rain & snow … LOL I guess that’s what we get for rafting towards the end of september haha but we just HAD to raft since we drove 7 hours to make a trip out to lake tahoe!
We chose to do the scenic rafting for 6 miles which lasted for about 1.5 hours. First off, their office is sooooo difficult to find lol especially for tourists like us! It took about 15 mins to find their store, which is located in this tiny office. But good thing they were standing outside so we found them haha. After gathering all the information, we walked out to their bus, which was equipped with lifesavers, boots, paddles, helmets, shoes, towels, etc. So we finally drove out to the truckee river from the starting point & headed to our adventure! They even provided waterproof pants & tops since it was about 60 degrees that day, it was going to get cold ! During our rafting adventure it started to rain & snow !!! That was pretty amazing that that happened lol funny, even. But overall it was a great time & our guide (timothy I believe was his name?) did a lot of spinning while we were going downhill to make it even more exciting and we had to dodge rocks, boulders, etc. FUN STUFF !!! We even saw a couple of people fishing, got a nice view of the houses surrouding us, and saw a lot of mallards & stellar jays! It was about $ 89 per person for the scenic route… I’m not sure about the pricing for other levels of adventures but it was well worth the money except at the end of the trip, we sat in our car with the heater on blast to defrost ourselves LOL.
OH, & beaware that there are a lottttttt of hobos roaming around the area…

I had a great experience rafting with them. It was my first time rafting and our guild really help us feel secure that we would be fine if we follow his directions. The rapids on our tour wasn’t crazy at all. Maybe level 1 or 2.
Their shuttle picked us up in front of our hotel. They brought us to their office to pay and sign some release forms then went out from there. They even provided snacks and drinks when we got back.
One word of advise… if you make a reservation for a certain amount of people and then that chages let them know ahead of time or they’ll charge you for those missing people. Other than that we had a blast.

Wow! That was an epic adventure for me — a 55-​year-​old woman who doesn’t get out into nature as much as I did as a kid. We rented tubes form Jim at Wild Sierra Adventure, and went with friends to Boca Dam area and floated down what Jim called the Floriston route. It was stunning. Some areas had fast-​flowing water over rocks for a little excitement, so you do need to use your arms quite a bit to keep facing downstream and watch for big rocks. (You gotta lift your backside up out the tube then to avoid bruising yer butt on the rocks!) Then the languid peaceful floating moments allow you to gaze up at the magnificent tree-​scaped mountain scenery all around you.
It helped that we had a friend meet us half-​way at a beach area with a battery-​powered blender for strawberry margaritas!
Be sure to wear sunscreen, sea socks or old tennis shoes, sunglasses, hat, and bring water bottles tied to your tube in a bag that drifts in the water behind you.
Go see Jim and his team at Wild Sierra for great advice and help creating your epic day!

We had a conference in April and needed a team building /​out door activity for one day. (There were 20 of us) I found Sierra Adventures on the Internet. I called and spoke to Jim the owner. He detailed many trips for our group and we choose a rafting/​horsebacking riding activity. Jim picked us up at the hotel and was right on time. The group loved both activities. Sierra Adventures provided water proof jackets, boots and pants for the group as the river runs cold in April. The horseback riding was perfect as the group rode a trail in the Sierra foothills. The staff on the river and at the ranch were professional and knowledgeable. The girls at the Sierra Adventure office in downtown RENO located on the river were very friendly and had a nice lunch waiting for the group when we returned. Both events went flawlessly. If we return to RENO we will definitely use Sierra Adventures.

My boyfriend is from Guatemala and had never seen snow. I booked a trip for my birthday to Reno and looked for something out of the ordinary to do in the snow that weekend. I found Sierra Adventures and signed up to go dog sledding in the Sierras. Unfortunately due to weather conditions we could not go dog sledding. The staff with Sierra Adventures was great. They stayed in contact with me and set us up to go snow mobiling. We were picked up in Reno at our hotel on time. The driver was super friendly and full of information. He made sure we were dressed appropriately for the weather and gave my boyfriend time to discover the wonders of snow. We never felt rushed or uncomfortable. The snow mobile guide was great too. He was super relaxed and within minutes he had us off into the mountains on snow mobiles for the first time. I can barely begin to tell you how much fun we had and how great the service was from the guys at Sierra Adventures. I’m definitely booking my next adventure in the Sierras with them.

After my girlfriend had some of the worst service at Sundance Ski and Snowboard we found Sierra Adventures. The woman that worked the front desk was super helpful and nice. Our bikes were very nice, in good condition and tuned up specifically for our height and weight. The price was very good for 24 hours and pick up and return was hassle free. The location is great if you are in downtown Reno and the trail along the Truckee River was excellent

Wow! What an incredible adventure snowmobiling in the beautiful Truckee/​Donner area. I was on a snowmobile when I was a child and didn’t get to enjoy the ride because I was so scared that I demanded to get off that machine. Today, at age 43, I had the time of my life. We had some awesome guides who knew exactly what they were doing and were a lot of fun. Snowmobiling with Sierra Adventures was well worth it and I will definitely go again. I’m excited to experience their other adventures, such as river rafting, horseback riding, kayaking, sleighriding, etc. I’m very impressed with the professionalism. Go snowmobiling before the snow goes away for the season! You will love it!

I tried to use Sierra Adventures for a tubing/​sledding trip last winter for my family.
We booked it for the Saturday afternoon, presidents day weekend. They were supposed to pick us up at our hotel lobby at 1:15. I got a phone call at 1 pm saying they were still up in the mountains and would be there closer to 2pm. So we waited and waited. I kept calling and finally got through at 3 pm. They had some sort of problem with their sled they were using the morning that had delayed them further, but they’d be there shortly. Finally, at 3:30 I called and told them we were going to try and salvage what was left of our day and were going to go ice-​skating downtown instead.
My children were incredibly disappointed. The company did not charge us, but they did not offer a reschedule or any sort of compensation for us.
I would not recommend using this adventure company.

This review is for an old experience as I’m relatively new to Unilocal and just got experience with a better operator, California Canoe and Kayak which I will review separately.
After researching and deciding that their location on the Truckee River in Reno was convenient, I purchased a white water kayaking package for 2 roll classes and 2 river sessions.
The first 2 classes went as scheduled but the 2^nd time I went, they screwed up my river trip despite my call to confirm. So I showed up and they basically didn’t want to do anything but said I could wait around for an employee who was also an instructor to show up «anytime». So I waited around but after a while, I told them I was going to get something to eat.
When I returned in about 30 minutes, the instructor was there and told I was late so she gave me a rushed 30 minute lesson as they didn’t want to hold up the next group even though they had screwed up my lesson. I didn’t bother to complain to «management» as he was there and didn’t seem to care about customer service. Since I don’t live in Reno, I thought it was pointless as I would never use them again anyway.
As far as the lessons were concerned, now that I have had real lessons, I would compare theirs to how a friend might teach you. They know how to do it but aren’t real good about giving you firm basics and picking up on your flaws. The roll classes, which were given by someone whom I’m sure is an excellent kayaker, employed the «hand of God» technique which meant I could have done nothing and still ended up on top. The river lessons were basically «follow me» while he had a good time, but didn’t teach me how to ferry, eddy out, peel in, read the current, execute a bow-​assisted rescue, etc.
After taking classes with CCK, I can see the big difference. Too bad I didn’t know about Unilocal before.