“Watch out for the eddy line on the other side of that hole once you pass the strainer and the laterals.”

Did you catch any of that? Neither do most people, which is why we leave it up to the rafting professionals.

Fourteen members of the International Rafting Federation (IRF) recently gathered for a one-day conference at the Costa Rica Outward Bound base in San Ramon de Trés Rios to discuss standardization of rafting certification guidelines.

The IRF is an assembly of associations and organizations dedicated to harmoniously developing, organizing and assuring the future of rafting and rafting competitions.

Among those in attendance were IRF president Rafael Gallo, Costa Rica Outward Bound School Executive Director, Jim Rowe and a range of operators and guides from several major Central American rafting companies.

They spent the day reviewing and updating the training, certification and safety procedures among all rafting companies to ensure that all people rafting with IRF-certified professionals get the same safe and exciting experience.

IRF Meeting“This meeting gave us the chance to see how other guides train instructors for this sport and how we can use these ideas to make all of our systems standard for all rafting groups,” said Carlos Grenados, a Costa Rica Outward Bound School rafting instructor from Costa Rica. “It’s really a great thing.”

In addition to standardizing the instruction, steps were taken to ensure that the IRF builds upon its existing credibility. As a result of the conference, all rafting guides will now share how they teach their Swift Water Rescue and Rafting Rescue courses in addition to becoming stricter with the certification process. Instructors will be required to sign off on specific skills, number of days rafting, and experiential tests.

The standard for Costa Rica OB rafting training is a rigorous 20 days of instruction which includes four days of Whitewater Rescue Training (WRT) through Rescue III International and 16 days on rivers all over Costa Rica for more extensive training and experience. In addition, Costa Rica OB requires all instructors to earn their CPR, WFR (Wilderness First Responder), and TRRO certifications. It is because of Costa Rica Outward Bounds high training standards that the IRF has sought the school’s involvement in the new structuring of guide regulations.

For those in attendance, it meant a lot to have Gallo present at the meeting. IRF Meeting

“Seeing his ambition for improving IRF’s standards and the direction of rafting as a recognized sport really helped motivate us to take some action,” stated Joe Ewing, a rafting instructor for the Costa Rica Outward Bound School.

Gallo, too, was excited to begin these meetings, saying “We are trying to focus on certifying people as guides because the focus currently is on rafting competitions. Now it’s getting back to the basics and the important parts of rafting and instruction.”

One of the goals for the next meeting is to begin to specifically document the standards for raft instruction through which all guides must pass as official IRF instructors.

But this isn’t to say that rafting competitions are not going to be a focus in the upcoming year.

Costa Rica Outward Bound employees are already getting a team together for an IRF competition this coming summer. All OB instructors who attended the seminar – Daniel Jimenez, Felipe Lopez Salazar, Joe Ewing, and Carlos Grenados – left the meeting excited about the school’s strong team of rafters.

If you would like more information about the International Rafting Federation, visit their website at http://www.intraftfed.com.