Interview with Charlie Walbridge
Interview with Charlie Walbridge This is a fantastic interview with Charlie Walbridge by Chris Preperato, which shares insight...
Swiftwater Rescue
Charlie Walbridge has 45 years of experience with swiftwater rescue, and is ready and eager to share.
Decades of Publications
From outfitting kayaks to canoes, river safety and swiftwater rescue manuals to put in maps to creek runs, Charlie Walbridge has shaped the culture of paddling on the East Coast of the United States.
Charlie Walbridge
Boating is only part of the passion. Dedication to paddling enough to make the boats, gear, maps to the put ins and take outs, improvements on throw bags and creating a swiftwater rescue curriculum is Charlie's legacy.
Supporting Links
NRS, American Whitewater Association, American Canoe Association Mowglis Summer Camp for Boys and Friends of the Cheat are just a few of the sponsors and supporting foundations that Charlie volunteers and works with.
Mowglis
Mowglis is a seven-week overnight camp for boys aged 7-14 in Central New Hampshire. Founded in 1903, everyone who goes to Mowglis remembers the fun they had and the friendships they made.
Consulting
Charlie Walbridge has 40 years of experience on whitewater with many publications on the topic. He is extremely knowledgeable, professional and approachable.
Download Resume
Download Charlie Walbridge's Resume He's been active in the whitewater industry for 45 years as a racer, equipment and safety technique innovator, business owner and much more.
Swiftwater Rescue Course Outline
Download this swiftwater rescue course outline. It covers group management, rescue strategies, orgainiztion, personal gear, throw bags and much more.
Friends of the Cheat
Friends of the Cheat is a watershed organization formed "to restore, preserve, and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat River watershed."
2007 Hall of Fame Award from National Safe Boating Council
The National Safe Boating Council honored American Whitewater Board Member, Charlie Walbridge, for his exemplary leadership and outstanding service on behalf of safety.
"Charlie Walbridge's work has saved countless lives and kept rivers open and accessible to those who wished to assume personal responsibility and risk. His work, while focused predominantly in the U.S., is imitated and known worldwide."
International Whitewater Hall of Fame nomination 2005Swiftwater Rescue Articles and Posts
"The freedom to take calculated risks, in business, love, or whitewater, is one of the most cherished prerogatives of a free people. I don't try to discourage knowledgeable people from willingly assuming risks; but I do work to educate inexperienced paddlers so they don't get into trouble inadvertently."
Whitewater Articles
(Hover over different pictures to select articles.)
Hand of God Rescue with Charlie Walbridge
Hand of God Rescue is an important rescue for kayakers to learn. This technique will allow a fellow kayaker to...
Live Bait Rescue Using a Rescue PFD
This is a great example of how to use a Rescue PFD during a first person rescue scenario. This technique...
A Rescue Arrested – How It Happened and What We Can Learn
A Rescue Arrested – How It Happened and What We Can Learn Although outfitters know how to deal with anything...
Kick Back in a Failed Z-drag
Catastrophic Failure of a Z-drag Z-drag haul systems create a tremendous amount of force and can put a major strain...
Racing Through the 70’s
During the late 60’s and early 70’s whitewater kayaks were hard to find and kayak schools didn’t exist. You learned...
Near Miss in the Watauga Gorge
The Watauga River west of Boone, North Carolina is one of the best technical river runs in the Southeast. I’d...
Working for NOC in ’74 – A Yankee Paddler Goes South
In the winter of 1973 I found a help-wanted ad for river guides and kayak instructors in the American Whitewater...
The Glory Days of Cheat River Rafting
In the 1970’s, long before anyone was a sponsored paddler, the only way to make money by paddling was to...
Gauley Season- The First Ten Years
I’ve always enjoyed other people’s stories of their first runs of the Gauley River, but they’re very different from the...
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