SWCC RAFTING
YOUTH ON WATER WOMEN ON WATER
2025 Rafting season – stay tuned!
River Guardian Program
meet the guides
Our mission is evolving! 🌿
We’re passionate about preserving the beauty and power of the Skeena Watershed, and we’re crafting something new to connect even more people with this incredible place. Stay tuned as we explore new opportunities for education, action, and community-building on the water.
Look back on the amazing journeys we’ve had with our past programs. From teaching youth to paddle, to empowering women on water, the community we’ve built together will carry forward as we embark on this new chapter.
Thank you for being part of this journey!
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition’s flagship program is so much more than an outdoor recreational experience!
Shaping the Future of Our Watershed
We believe to protect the Skeena watershed, we need more than just knowledge, we need skilled, compassionate guides. This year, we’re introducing a new curriculum focused on guide training, community engagement, and skill-building, all with an emphasis on personal and the sustainable stewardship of our environment.
The program will engage youth to:
- Develop technical river guiding, swift water, and field technician skills.
- Embody, develop, and share their unique strengths, knowledge, and leadership skills.
- Build healthy connections with each other, the river, land, culture, and communities that sustain them.
SWCC is dedicated to ensuring that YOW and WOW remain free to participants. This is made possible through the support of our funders at: MakeWay, Patagonia, re:Wild. Thank you, also, to our community partner Power To Give.
spring 2025
Stay tuned for updates!
Click the arrows on either side of the photos to look through the gallery.
EDUCATION. Participants are introduced to swift water rescue training and they get to practice their new skills on every raft trip. They youth learn river and rafting skills that not only teach the how to be sage in moving water, but also help the build their skills to gain employment in the rafting or swiftwater industry. Local experts, elders, or conservationists occasionally join the crew to teach youth about salmon, their habitat, and their importance to our ecosystem. Experienced guides and facilitators capitalize on the many learning opportunities out on the water!
CULTURE. The YOW program is developed in partnership with local communities and First Nations. Participants learn about the history and culture of this region and how we connect to the watershed and to each other.
LEADERSHIP. Our goal is that each participant makes new friends, connects with positive role models, learns new skills and becomes empowered as leaders! Can you imagine just how incredible it would feel to learn all the skills that would allow you to safely master a raft of your peers through a whitewater canyon?
CONNECTION. Learning, failing, succeeding, and reflecting together to build connection to land, culture, and each other. Healthy recreational opportunities help participants make lasting connections to the watershed. Some of the inspiring connections made through YOW have brought youth into other SWCC projects, such as CLAW (Conservation Leadership Action Workshops), and youth mentoring.
STEWARDSHIP. With the help of local fish biologists, YOW participants gain a rare glimpse into the life cycle of Skeena salmon and trout. They learn how to identify and sample fish and understand the role of salmon and wildlife in the watershed. SWCC also educates participants about ecosystem management, and how we all play a role in stewardship.
SAFETY. We believe that youth who understand river currents, hydraulics and navigation will be safer in and around the Skeena watershed. Participants learn how to read currents, recognize danger, choose the best line through rapids, and identify which skills are needed if you fall out of the raft in the rapids. Participants learn basic skills of self-rescue and how to rescue others. By the end of the program, each student comes away with real whitewater skills to apply on any river in the world and stay safe.
FUN! It’s exciting to learn and connect with tons of fun in one of North America’s most extraordinary regions while rocking on the river!
SWCC Rafting Team
Shawntei Michell
Shawntei is a new member to our team. A past YOW participant and inflatable kayak support human, this is Shawntei’s first season on the oars with us. Shawntei is a member of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, of the Tsayu clan. She is a mom of two amazing humans, a food harvester and provider. Active in her community, fishing site, and smokehouse-we are excited to have her joining our team this year!
Nika Ayensgar
Nika is from Telkwa, a long time resident of the Bulkley Valley. She came out in a WOW program years ago and took it upon herself to extend her training in Swift water rescue and through volunteering for Women on Water as a safety kayaker. This is Nika’s second season as a guide for the WOW programs, she is steadily increasing her skill level and experience on the water and will be training as a trip leader this summer. Aside from being on the water, Nika is active in food security work and is a wild harvester.
Nova Hutchings
This is Nova’s second year working with SWCC as a Senior Guide and part time program manager. Nova is a Bear Clan member of the Ojibway Nation. Nova recently completed her Wilderness Advanced First Aid First Responder course and has already tested her skills on our Trip Leader after a Chaco Soccer on the beach incident.
Make a Donation Today
Can’t donate financially? There are many other things the program needs.
- Equipment repair & maintenance (rafts, wetsuits, spray jackets, etc.)
- Program organizing: helping set up gear, washing gear, putting gear away, inventory equipment, etc.
- Be a guest speaker – do you have an area of expertise that relates to our program? We host guests on the water who can talk about salmon, cultural history, conservation, biology, ecology, leadership, etc.
- Email us if you have any other ideas!
LOCAL GUIDES AND FUTURE LEADERS
SWCC Guides are certified in Swift Water Rescue and Wilderness Advanced First Aid. As facilitators and informal educators on the river, SWCC Guides offer meaningful and safe trips for every Youth and Women on Water participant. Our guides are previous YOW/WOW Participants and graduates of our YOW/WOW Guide training mentorship program. Our river guides reflect the diversity of communities in the Skeena Watershed, consisting of Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, Gitanyow, and Settler guides.