Glacier Outdoor Center Blog

An overnight rafting or fishing adventure is a great way for families to bond.  Let a guide cook your meals, guide you down the river, set up the shuttles, so you and your family can enjoy time together without the stress of everyday life.  Spend your days sitting back enjoying the scenery and sun.  Spend your evenings enjoying the campfire, fishing or just plain relaxing.  July and August are beautiful months with consistent warm and sunny weather patterns.  Get out and play, without over exerting yourself.  This is summer time in Glacier National Park.

Join Glacier Raft Company’s River School for exciting whitewater rescue courses and general river skills courses. We’ve added another whitewater rescue technician course July 17-19. We also still have an introduction to river skills course July 25 & 26. Call us at 406-888-5454 to get signed up! See you on the river.

Glacier Outdoor Center’s annual Down River Demo Days is scheduled for July 11th and 12th.  Reps from Aire & Outcast will be on hand as well as our knowledgeable staff.  There will be some great discounts on rafts, kayaks and whitewater canoes as well as all the paddling accessories.  Our Boat Barn will be stocked full of demos, rentals and many new boats on display.  On Saturday we will have a scheduled demo departure and shuttle for those that would like to try one of our many boat options.  Come out for the free BBQ both days.  Call us with questions or inquiries.  See you July 11th and 12th!

Check out footage of everyone swimming in the notch. These are students in Glacier Raft’s Whitewater Rescue Technician course for May. Try not to get sick watching. Next time I’ll try to keep my head still while swimming. Check out the classes at http://glacierraftco.com/guide-school.htm#river%20skills. Hope to see you on the river!

On Saturday May 30th, eight current and former Glacier Raft Company guides completed the first single-day navigation of the Flathead River from the Schafer Meadows Ranger Station, located deep within the Great Bear Wilderness, to the Sportsman’s Bridge, just north of Flathead Lake.  The journey, completed as the river neared its peak flow, took just under 18 hours.  

The first 28 miles of the trip, known as the Upper Middle Fork, is located within the Great Bear Wilderness and is home to consistent class IV and V whitewater at high flows.  The two four-person crews put 14 ft AIRE rafts on the river at 5:10 am and exited the wilderness at 10:00 am, covering nearly 30 miles, that normally takes two to three days to navigate, in under five hours.  

After completing the wilderness section the paddlers still had to cover over 40 miles of class III-IV whitewater above West Glacier and nearly 50 miles of flat water between West Glacier and Flathead Lake.  The incredibly demanding trip began before sunrise and ended after sunset as the crews pulled into the take out at 10:54pm.  

Thanks to everyone who helped make this trip happen and allowed us to kick off the summer of 2009 with such a fantastic accomplishment!  

For more detailed play-by-play from the expedition check out this article from Thursday’s Daily Inter Lake.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2009/06/04/sports/outdoor_life/outdoor_life_8755908154_01.txt

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful weekend here in West Glacier.  Memorial day tends to be a little rainy, but not this year.  Wow!!  We are running whitewater trips every day now and are still waiting for the peak of the runoff.  With the cool spring we should see some great water levels throughout the summer.  Employees are starting to show up and West Glacier is buzzing with early visitors.  Glacier Park is open to Avalanche campground on the West side and is open to foot and bike traffic for a few miles beyond. 

Spring has finally sprung here in West Glacier.  Our first rafting trip was on 5/7.  The weather held out and the sun shined.  Spring is a great time to hit bigger volume/larger rapids.  The weather can be unpredictable, but that is why we dress everyone for the occasion.  Free use of wetsuits and booties as well as splash gear help to keep out the cold. 

Here we go.  Even though it snowed 2″   here in West Glacier last night it is time to start rafting.  May 7th is our first trip of the season.  Spring rafting is normally a little cold, but the BIG whitewater is well worth some cold toes and fingers.  Lots of water, crashing waves, and some great scenery make up for it.  Mark your calendars: Mothers day to Fathers day we offer 1/2 price rafting if you book and go between those dates.  Happy rafting!

It is never too early or too late to take a river trip.  River rafting is a great recreational sport for the whole family.  Glacier Raft for example has scenic trips for those just wanting to get their feet wet of sorts.  There are also whitewater trips for the whole family and for mom and dad who want to get a little more into it, hop in a inflatable kayak for a great ride.  Glacier also offers wilderness adventures for people who want to get away from the hussle and bussle of everday life and 0n these trips lets throw in a little Class IV whitewater for a thrill.  This year we are offering river education and guide training classes.  If you have kids that are becoming interested in river rafting, introduce them to the sport thru our river sense programs.  For all these adventures and classes as well as an update on specials we are running for the summer visit www.glacierraftco.com .  Get on the river with your family this summer and enjoy Glacier!

It still might be snowing on occasion and the temps are hovering around freezing at night, but Glacier Outdoor center is busily checking in and getting out new merchandise for the upcoming summer.  We built a new boat display warehouse last spring.  We now have the space to display our Aire, Tributary, Outcast, Fishcat, Liquidlogic, and Esquif canoes, kayaks, rafts and a miriad of other inflatables.  Check them out fully inflated and set up just like they would be to go on the river.  Glacier Outdoor center also carries boating supplies from Northwest river supply, Stohlquist, Kokatat, Cataract, Carlisle, Sawyer, WRSI, and others.  We love to get people on the water to demo many of the things we sell.  Our rental department offers a variety of river rental gear.  Check it out a www.glacierraftco.com just click on our rental page.  With a great snowpack in the mountains we are looking forward to a great season of boating.