Assembling Your Team for a Private Grand Canyon River Trip

Note from Audrey and Michele at RiverBent: David Harwood is a friend of ours and a longtime private boater based in Colorado who has led many multi-day river trips in the Rocky Mountain West. He is currently in the throes of planning a 16-person Grand Canyon trip that launches in April. And we are invited (this will be our first foray on the Grand). Although David has done the Canyon a few times before, this time he is master-minding all the logistics—including food buying, prep, and packing. This is the first in a series of posts where he’ll share his tips for organizing a private Canyon trip. Once we’re back from this epic journey in May, he’ll follow up with a post or two on how it all went down.

Securing a permit for a run through the Grand Canyon is literally a case of holding the winning lottery ticket. But before you can cash in that ticket and put your boats in the water, there are scores of things to think about about, do, and consider. Where to begin?

The RiverBent team asked me to put together some thoughts on pulling together a private Canyon trip. I have participated in numerous trips on stretches of the Colorado River, including through the Canyon, but I am in the advanced stages of my first run at planning, preparing, and provisioning for a 16-person, 23-day private as trip leader. This trip is scheduled to launch on April 22.

*From a distance, it might look easy … but a successful Grand Canyon trip is all about the details*

In a series of posts, I will be exploring some of the major issues and considerations that go into putting together a non-commercial trip. At the outset, a disclaimer: I do not have all the answers and can’t claim to have figured out every issue. It’s also important to know that my knowledge and experience is built on the foundation created by others—observing expert trip leaders from past trips, and gleaning outstanding guidance and checklists from the extensive amount of information to be found online. There is a ton of information, and I hope these posts will streamline some of the wisdom gathered and help other groups get started.

Grand Canyon vista — *For many, running the Grand is a once-in-a-lifetime trip*

Start by assembling your team

With your permit lottery ticket punched, the starting point is pulling together a roster—the team of people you will be boating with, camping with, and sharing fun and responsibilities with over the course of two to three weeks.

Selection of a roster might seem straightforward, and for those who have created rafting “pods” or “families,” it might be. But for many, filling out a roster will be an important, challenging, and consequential undertaking.

*Will your crew agree on decisions like where to stop and scout?*

At the outset, it will be important to consider what size of group to assemble. This will be guided, of course, by the group size allowed by your permit—eight people for a small group, 16 for a large group. Some swear by smaller groups, others will prefer a larger group because they have lots of boating pals, like the energy of a large group, or want to spread the gear burden across as large a universe as possible. Regardless of the final group number, there are a few considerations you might want to bear in mind in putting together a final roster.

1. Skillsets

First and foremost, you should make sure your group is populated by individuals with certain basic and diverse skillsets. Having enough experienced oarspeople for your group size is an obvious consideration. There are numerous examples of people taking the oars for the first time on a Canyon trip. (Some wags offer the following: Why does the Grand Canyon have a 10-point scale for its rapids? To hide the fact that it’s a class III river.)

Raft in Grand Canyon rapid — *Choosing your Grand Canyon crew for a private trip starts with identifying people who are comfortable rowing big gear boats*

True, it is not the most technical of runs, but the size and volume of certain rapids are impressive, and most will prefer experience on the oars. But there are other skillsets to consider as well:

Who has a medical background or is certified in wilderness first aid?
Does one or more participants have experience with river rescue in the event of an emergency?
What about engineering skills or other practical expertise that might come in useful for gerry-rigging gear, camps or boats?

Not to be forgotten are people with sharp senses of humor, conversational skills, and even musical ability (which is wonderful—especially for those of us who can’t sing or play a lick). In short, think about assembling a group with the broadest possible set of expertise as possible.

2. Interests

The canyon trip involves a wide variety of choices—how far to go each day, whether and where to hike, when to launch each day, when to get off the river in the afternoon, and how much partying people are interested in. For some, the rafting journey is paramount. Others might see the raft as a tool for deliverance to otherwise inaccessible hiking spots. Some view the entire experience as a once-in-a-lifetime vacation—a time to maximize relaxation and the enrichment that comes from turning off devices and checking out from civilization.

Hiker at Grand Canyon waterfall — *How many spectacular Grand Canyon hikes will your crew be up for?*

Given the diversity of potential interests, it’s vitally important to assemble a group that is more or less on the same page in terms of interests and values. If a substantial number of your group wants to party into the wee hours and the rest are early-to-bed, early-to-rise types, you are going to have a problem.

Similarly, if some want to maximize hiking/climbing opportunities and others don’t, the group might find itself at loggerheads with each other and/or the Park Service, which wants groups to stay together throughout the journey. As you put together your group, try to make sure there are shared interests and values across the roster.

*Avid photographers will want ample time to document the beauty of Grand Canyon*

3. Compatibility

Getting along is essential during a three-week excursion in which everything from cooking meals to using the groover is a shared experience. Compatibility certainly begins with having the kind of shared interests and values described above. But even where there are common interests and values, incompatibility can arise. You might want to consider whether compatibility is enhanced by having folks of similar backgrounds and experiences.

Personally, I like having a mix of younger and older people, women and men, etc., for the different skills, energy, and experiences they bring to the group. By all means, make sure that everyone on the trip wants to be there and are not joining simply because their best friend or spouse is on the trip. My experience is that people who are uncomfortable or isolated on a long river trip—because of risk aversion, discomfort, or incompatible temperaments—will stand out like a sore thumb and put a damper on the group experience.

The same thing happens with non-team players. Unfortunately, misbehavior, unhappiness, and personality quirks get magnified on a long trip, and conflict and resentments are likely to emerge and fester.

*Assembling a group that agrees on basics like the daily schedule is critical to a successful Grand Canyon trip*

Getting the river band together

As much as—perhaps more than—any other issue, the issues and considerations associated with putting a river band together will shape the quality of trip everyone experiences. It is absolutely essential to maximize capabilities and minimize liabilities. Wherever possible, selecting individuals with prior shared river experiences and demonstrated synergies is desirable. In any case, choose carefully, and have a good list of back-ups for invitees that cannot make it or must bow out along the way.

In the next post in this series, we’ll explore issues related to coordination and planning for a Canyon trip. Central to all the extensive coordination is good communication, which also is vital to group cohesion. At some point prior to launch, it will be important to foster communication within the group about planned activities and core values. This will ensure that everyone arrives at the river with a shared understanding about how the trip will unfold.

A little forethought in pulling together a group will go a long way toward ensuring that everyone looks back on a Canyon run in the same way—as one of the most memorable experiences in one’s lifetime.