Glacier Outdoor Center Blog

This is huge, folks! We have partnered with Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air’s “Explore National Parks” program to offer 20%-off flights to and from Glacier National Park Internatinal (FCA) airport in Kalispell, MT. You read right, TWENTY PERCENT OFF!

Call your friends, call  your family, or, if you don’t live here, book your flight now because it’s time to visit Montana!  Just for example, a round-trip flight from Los Angeles to FCA during the first week of June was UNDER $300 with this promotion.  This is only offered as part of the Explore National Parks program that we’ve partnered with, so you can’t find it on the airlines’ website.    Instead, visit Glacier Raft Company’s Specials and Promotions page for the discount code and link to the booking page. You’d better hurry because the tickets must be booked by May 1st for travel dates between May 1st to June 30th, 2011.

To sweeten the whole shebang even greater, Glacier Raft Company is offering 2-for-1 half-day whitewater raft trips. You need to mention that you are traveling with Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air when you book your raft trip, and bring your boarding passes when you check in for your float. This deal is good for raft trips between May 15th and September 15th, 2011 and works for flights into and out of Kalispell, Great Falls, Helena Bozeman, Billings, Calgary, AB or Spokane, WA.

We’ve got the goods, so come and get ya some!

See you when you get here.  And locals, call everyone you know and tell them that the time for that Glacier getaway is now.

One of our fearless leaders, (and our oldest guide) Darwon, and superguide Marc, are heading up the booth at The Bighorn Outdoor Adventure Show today through the weekend.  The Big Horn Show is one of the oldest and longest continually operated sports and recreation shows in the United States

It’s going on at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, and is a total drool-fest for folks who are checking out outdoor oriented vendors, guides and non-profit exhibitors. More than 300 exhibitors come from all over the lower 48 States and Alaska, Canada, Mexico, South America and Africa.   Approximately 28,000 people are expected to attend the four day event.

As you can see from the picture, Darwon and Marc have a pretty attractive display set up.  So with a great booth and their sparkling personalities, we’re sure that no one will be able to resist booking their summer adventures with Glacier Raft Company.

If you’re in the Spokane area, stop by and say “hi” to Darwon and Marc.  If you’re not in the area, book a trip online here and come visit us in West Glacier.

See you soon!

The Glacier Raft & Outdoor Center website is new and improved!  For all things adventure-related in Glacier territory look no further than www.glacierraftco.com.

We’ve updated our site to make it easier than ever to book an exciting rafting trip, stay in one of our cozy log cabins, get the latest Nordic ski snow reports or find the hottest trip deals with our E-newsletter.  You can also see live web cams from inside Glacier Park, watch a beautiful video showing what your next great adventure will look like, and learn about fly fishing trips, extended wilderness trips and family-friendly floating.  You can even purchase photos from your whitewater trip, sign up for Glacier River Schools classes, and get driving directions to our location here in West Glacier. Finally, be sure to click on our social media links at the bottom of the home page.

We hope you’ll consider our website your one-stop source for creating the best Glacier experience you can ask for.

Recently we helped pack in a few duckies to the Upper Middle Fork of the Flathead for our friends (former guides) at Outside Media and their friend, professional skier and Salomon athlete Cody Townsend.  Since we hold one of the coveted river permits for the upper sections of the river, we are well practiced at packing in gear and taking folks on multi-day, epic excursions in the Wilderness. So, a few of our mules and willing guides made the trip into Granite Cabin to see our friends off to a great trip.

Cody's new poster--signed!

As a thank you, Cody sent us this signed poster for the Glacier Outdoor Center and a few pics of their amazing trip! Glad to help out guys and thanks for the signed poster Cody!

Also, we shot some sweet video of Cody at Castle Lake! An epic day of fishing with beautiful weather, good company and plenty of Cutties!

It’s September. The leaves are turning. The kids are heading back to school. And it’s time for us here at Glacier Outdoor Center to stow away our boats for the summer season.

With 30-some boats to store every fall — we’ve worked out a pretty good system! If you’re packing up your raft and looking for a few tricks, check out our Five Steps for End of Summer Storage.

Step 1 — Wash your boat thoroughly

Step 2 — Dry the boat completely; any wetness in the fall means mildew in the spring

Step 3 — Wipe down the raft with a cleaner such as 303 Fabric/Vinyl Cleaner. This product contains no soaps, detergents or solvents. It’s biodegradable and rinses residue free.

Step 4 — Deflate the raft completely. Use a shop vac to get all the water out of the inside of the raft.

Step 5 – Store deflated rafts flat. Do not roll or fold, which may cause cracking.

It’s time once again for Glacier Outdoor Center’s annual Cutthroat Sale. Starting today, July 28th, and going through the beginning of August, we’ll be cutting prices on items throughout the store. You’ll be able to find all kinds of summer essentials at ridiculously low prices. Check out just a sampling of our sale items below and stop by the Glacier Outdoor Center at 12400 HWY 2 E to check them out for yourself! See you soon!

Darn Tough Merino wool Micro Crew Socks

Regular $17.00 Cutthroat Sale Buy 2 pairs get 1 FREE

30% off Drysuits

NRS Inversion Kayak Drysuit

Regular $694.95 Cutthroat Price $486.47

20% off all dry bags and boxes

Witz Sportcase 8 inch by 5 inch

Regular $17.95 Cutthroat Price $14.36

20% off all kayak and canoe paddles

Werner Player Paddle

Regular $305.00 Cutthroat price $244.00

20% off all PFDs

Stohlquist Women’s Kitty PFD

Regular $109 Cutthroat Price $87.20

Thanks everyone for turning out for an amazing day last Saturday for the first annual Middle Fork Marathon–A Downriver Race for the First Best Place.  With just a few weeks to prepare, Glacier Raft Co guides and managers hit the street to drum up support from many area businesses.  We were blown away by how receptive the local community was, and we are beyond grateful.  Glacier Raft Co managed to raise nearly half of the total fund raising amount–wahoo! We won the award for “Most Money Raised” and we couldn’t be more pleased.  So, here’s a special THANK YOU to all of our $100, $200 and $400 sponsors.
Edward Jones

Glacier Bank

J.A.T. Electric

Big Horn Divers

Newman & Buffington

West Glacier Merc

Whitefish Credit Union

Freedom Bank

Historic Tamarak Lodge

Belton Chalet

Glacier Grill

Three Forks Grill

Fashion Finds

Napa Auto Parts

Ogle & Worm

Western Building

Brian Caroll

The Shops at Station 8

Eagle’s Nest Antiques

We came in second in the race–and while we were gunning for the win, we would like to whole-heartedly congratulate our friends over at Montana Raft Company for their triumphant first-place finish.  They hauled butt the entire time and had us working to keep them in our sights.  Well done, guys!

From the First Best Place Press Release:
Montana Raft Company paddled away with 1st place at the inaugural Middle Fork Marathon downriver race on Saturday June 12th. Rafters and guides from Great Northern Resort, Montana Raft Company, Glacier Raft Company and Wild River Adventures participated in the event, with a total of 13 rafts racing the 27 miles from Moccasin Creek to the Historic Red Bridge in Columbia Falls.

With donations from Flathead Valley businesses and community members, the Middle Fork Marathon raised more than $7,000 to benefit the First Best Place and its efforts to rehabilitate the Historic Red Bridge over the Flathead River in Columbia Falls. The bridge would be a pedestrian walkway and part of a proposed county park, including a possible whitewater kayak wave feature at the bridge.

Guided by Keith Meehan, the 1st place team paddled 27 miles from Moccasin Creek to the Historic Red Bridge in 3 hours 5 minutes, beating Glacier Raft Company by two minutes. Team members included Eric Boyd, Kelly Ruffato, Ben Ruffato and Dan Block. The Montana Raft Company team was presented with a handcrafted medal trophy created by local blacksmith and long-time river guide Rick Schmidt.

Rick is, as many of you know, a legendary fishing guide for Glacier Raft Co.  Seriously, this trophy is amazing–thanks so much, Ricky Ray!

Rick and his masterpiece

Following the race, First Best Place hosted a barbeque and awards ceremony at Glacier Discovery Square in uptown Columbia Falls. With burgers and brats donated by Perfect Cuts (and a grill from Cimarron Deli) and beer from Tamarack Brewing, more than 200 paddlers and community members enjoyed dinner and music by the Flip Wilsons.

Some hearty guides stayed at Discovery Square after the BBQ for some good ‘ol fashioned tug ‘o war.  Our “everything guy” Colt, actually pulled two guys his size across the center line all by himself.  He’s a one-man army.

Thanks guides, thanks families, thanks business community–and thanks First Best Place.  Looking forward to next year.

And, if you’d like to get involved in working on a whitewater park in Columbia Falls with the Historic Red Bridge Committee of the First Best Place, send an email to hilary@outsidemedia.com.

We’re putting together our “dream teams” of paddlers for the Middle Fork Marathon–A Downriver Race for the First Best Place

Take a look at the event poster below.  And for more details see the Facebook event page here:

Be sure to take note of the specifics of the race–you have to sign up with one of the local raft companies, you can’t have more than five people in the boat including the commercial professional guide from the raft company, and one of the paddlers has to be a woman.

Get your teams together and we’ll see you on the water.  Actually, we might not see you since you’ll be behind us–haha–had to get a little trash-talking in there to get the stoke up, right? It will be a great time for an important cause–we want to save the Historic Red Bridge in Columbia Falls and secure its spot as a county park, complete with a kayak play feature.