What kind of rolls do they have, or do they not have rolls they could likely pull off on the river?  If they are likely to swim then that is cold for wetsuits in my opinion, I was on a run like that with newer people last weekend and I have to say those girls were as tough as nails - it was windy and snowing and some people who swam were in neoprene and they toughed through everything but it is iffy.  The other thing is if you're wearing pogies and swim and have to walk a long way to get to where your boat ended up your hands are frozen by the time you get there, so maybe back-up mittens or thin gloves to wear underneath pogies would be helpful, if possible?


Edited by irenen - 27 Feb 2014 at 9:18am

Agree with SH - your goal should be to ensure (most) everyone has a positive experience, as that is what leads to continued interest in paddling.  If the PH would have been an appropriate location with warmer conditions, step it down a notch and find a stretch where students can fell confident that they won't likely flip - if they don't want to.  In such conditions, its usually wiser to challegne the better students on easier water than it is to babysit the less confident students on more challenging water.  If the Fall City / Snoq below the falls section is the only location option, skip the PH section and put in at Tokul Creek for a longer river tour down to Fall City.  There are still good eddies / eddylines on which to practice (especially in the upper part of the run), and those that want to push their limits can challenge themselves silly at the wave drop below the David Powell road access.  Those that don't can be conservative or even walk the drop on RR.       

Why does someone get thumbs downed just for asking for advice?  How lame is that?  Rhetorical question, to be clear, I know the answer.


Edited by irenen - 27 Feb 2014 at 2:15pm

Thanks ya'll.  good to have some experts say what I was feeling.  We're gonna cancel the class this weekend, and reschedule to our next available weekend which is in about a month.

That said, anybody wanna donate a drysuit or three? :)

The Nisqually will be somewhat warmer but also longer. We'll (UKC) probably be there Sunday where the forecast is 44 degrees with 70% chance of rain. But we are taking a select group of students who (except for one) have a roll of some kind, tho some will be in wetsuits.