FAQs
What is We Love Whitewater ?
We Love Whitewater (WLW) is an organisation that runs whitewater trips. It provides the best of both worlds: high quality professional whitewater coaching on the water and a supportive and sociable ‘club trip’ atmosphere off the water.
Most of our trips are weekend trips. The minimum requirement for these trips are 2 star/Explore Award or of equivalent standard*. Subject to that minimum requirement we are happy to accommodate paddlers peope who have never been on any moving water before up to and including experienced grade 4 paddlers.
These trips provide an excellent opportunity to meet fellow paddlers from all over the UK.
* as a guide as a minimum you should be happy on flat water staying upright in all conditions, paddling in a straight line and using techniques such as edging to turn the boat. If in doubt contact us to check 🙂
Do I need to have my own kit ?
Yes. We do not provide any kit and participants will need to bring their own boat, paddle, spraydeck, helmet and buoyancy aid as well as appropriate clothing (i.e. wetsuits or drysuits). Helmets are mandatory.
Most participants belong to a club who can let them borrow kit. Where helpful we are very happy to speak to club equipment officers and/or chairpersons to explain what the trips are, and reassure them that club equipment will be used in a supervised and responsible way.
What about meals ?
Participants organise their own breakfasts, lunches and also dinner on Friday night. Lunch is usually a stop on the riverside. Snacks throughout the day are highly recommended !
On Saturday night volunteers from the participants on the trip will organise a communal meal for everyone in the bunkhouse.
Do I need to stay in the bunkhouse and/or eat with everyone on Saturday night ?
No. The organised accommodation and Saturday night communal meal are both optional.
If you are staying elsewhere you will need to meet us at the bunkhouse at 8.30am each day for the daily briefing.
When calculating costs, the fact that you did not stay in the bunkhouse and/or eat at the bunkhouse on Saturday night will be taken into account.
How big will the groups be ?
Our target coach:participant ratio is 1:3.
We split into separate groups that reflect the different abilities and/or objectives of the trip participants. The objectives might be for example to concentrate on skills and drills, or river leadership, or to undertake a longer trip.
As such the groups may be as small as 1 person, or as large a 6 people. The 1:3 ratio reflects the number of coaches on the trip: it does not necessarily mean groups of 3.
How are the groups organised ?
We will meet at the organised accommodation at 8.30am each day and layout a series of options. This will always include a grade 2/easy option and wherever possible a grade 3/medium option and a grade 4/hard option. The coaches will talk through the different options, describe the rivers, and answer any questions the participants have.
Participants will then be asked to choose which option they would like to do, and we will then assign the coaches.
The coaches will gather up their participants and talk through in detail the plan for the day, answering any further questions, checking that everyone is happy with the plan and organising logistics for getting to the river.
How do the costs work ?
The cost of the coaching is fixed at £60 per person per day.
The exact cost of the Saturday night food and the accommodation will not be known until the weekend itself. This is because the volunteer cooks will often not buy the food until the weekend, and the accommodation is often a fixed cost for the whole bunkhouse: the final cost will therefore depend on how many people stay there.
The ‘deposit’ is designed to cover the cost of the coaching, Saturday night food and accommodation +/- £10. Where the actual cost is less than the deposit, participants will be refunded; where it is greater participants will be asked for a ‘top-up’ during the weekend.