SWIFTWATER RESCUE TRAINING

RIVERBOARDS AS A RESCUE TOOL: Montana River Guides has been Montana's regional leader in Swiftwater Rescue Training since 1995 and offers a variety of river rescue classes every year for private boaters, professional rescuers and river guides. Riverboarding is an integral part of many of the rescue classes we offer. In fact the reason we started guiding riverboard trips is because we were having so much fun with them in our early rescue classes. Riverboards are a flexible and, in the right hands, an invaluable rescue tool for many river rescue situations.

While the additional power of fins makes a rescue swimmer faster and more mobile, the additional floatation of the board makes the rescuer safer and more versatile in virtually every river rescue situation. Riverboards can be utilized as a way to access someone in trouble on the river, help swimmers get to safety, they can be a chase or downstream safety option, they can be used for hasty searches and much more. Riverboards are also a great way for people to get comfortable swimming in whitewater and help them learn how to read moving water, how to recognize and avoid hazards, and how to manuever in current and whitewater. More firefighters and search and rescue teams are recognizing the value of incorporating the boards in their swiftwater team training because of their flexibility and convenience. In our swiftwater rescue technican classes we encourange students to try the riverboards and incorporate them in scenarios for additional practice.

Swiftwater Rescue Technican/ Riverboard: Designed for people who have already received swiftwater rescue training, this one day class is an intensive primer on riverboarding and its rescue applications. Tuition: $129. Call 406-722-7238 for more information.