The Lee Valley White water centre is a fully man made whitewater park and in fully I mean it is built from the ground up without using any sort of previously existing waterway. There is a base pond reservoir for the swimming poolish water from which 13 m3/s volume is made to circulate around by electric powered pumps in a 300m long with 5.5m drop concrete channel full of obstacles to create optimal waves, safe whitewater features mainly to host slalom canoeing events and do rafting, kayaking. Sounds fun? Well in my experience for a regular nature person and most real river guides, the idea to work in such a place is not so appealing. I spent 10 month working there in 2017 so let me tell you about my insights and maybe widen your perspective on the subject. Raft flip in the last big rapid of the course. Rafters are being washed out immediately to be rescued by the bank safety team from the mellow flat section To be fully honest I have never imagined myself working in London as a rafting guide but my financial situation dropped significantly after my 2nd chilien guiding summer when I got significantly less trips working for a smaller, unpredictable company in the short, 6-8 week long main Pucon rafting season and I had to find a new job in March with less uncertainties and more reliability then what a usual rafting outfitter can offer. Long story short, after my good friend Toni Demarco's recommendation to work together, I signed probably one of the longest raft guide contract in the world, in London. To get a raft guide job in Lee Valley one required to send previously filled forms, pass an interview, hold minimum an IRF guide 3 certificate and a CPR/First aid
The Lee Valley White water centre is a fully man made whitewater park and in fully I mean it is built from the ground up without using any sort of previously existing waterway. There is a base pond reservoir for the swimming poolish water from which 13 m3/s volume is made to circulate around by electric powered pumps in a 300m long with 5.5m drop concrete channel full of obstacles to create optimal waves, safe whitewater features mainly to host slalom canoeing events and do rafting, kayaking. Sounds fun? Well in my experience for a regular nature person and most real river guides, the idea to work in such a place is not so appealing. I spent 10 month working there in 2017 so let me tell you about my insights and maybe widen your perspective on the subject.
