Riverboarding and River Fun near Missoula Montana

Spring Riverboarding & Rescue Training in Montana

Every spring we travel throughout  Montana  and Idaho teaching rescue classes and having fun along the way.Then we head back to the Alberton Gorge with Montana River Guides offering Missoula Raft Trips and guided riverboarding trips daily all summer long.

Riverboard Guide: Josephine Johnston

Montana River Guides has been one of the few companies in the world guiding river board trips since 1996...year in and year out we start river boarding rivers throughout Montana in our Swiftwater Rescue classes during April and May.  Usually in June our dedicated return customers come out for  high water river board trips and we start guiding on the Blackfoot River and Alberton Gorge.
Our lead guide the past few seasons has been longtime river boarder Jo Johnston.  Jo started river boarding Montana when she was five (about 16 years ago) and has probably guided more river board trips than any woman in North America.  Jo is certified in whitewater rescue and is a wilderness first responder, and in her senior year at Willamette University where she plays basketball and studies Environmental Science...When she's not leading river board trips , she either guides raft trips or runs safety for our raft trips, ready to give our rafting guests a helping hand if they take an unintentional swim at Tumbleweed or Fang.

Incredible Surfing Footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U4CeE26AOI&feature=share

Riverboarding with Friends and Family

The Missoula Noonball Guys

While another great summer of river boarding is winding down, there is still great surf in the gorge and the water levels have held up great. Here a couple of photos from two trips with special significance.
The top photo include a few the guys I've played pickup basketball with for years at the Peak in (From right to left) Jason Pounds runs the graphic design and marketing company River Designs  and is a top level web page and graphic designer ( see our brochure and website!).
Michael Downs (aka 'the professor) is a creative

Me and Rey, My Five Year Old River Runner

writing professor at Towson Universityand author of The Greatest Show, Troy McDonough, a former all-american decathlete, used to guide for us, John McNulty ( aka Artest)
is a longtime Missoula pickup ball legend, and Jim Cearly (aka Railroad Jim) has a mean post game. We were missing a few key players such as the Mule, Pearl Jam Jeff (aka Big Sandy), Big Bob, Tim Hunter, and most of all Pat Glennon, who passed away this summer.

We are so lucky to be out here on this beautiful river. I am reminded that as much as possible we should all try to do what we love to do with  the people we love the most during the short time we are here.

In the spirit of that--in the lower photo, my five year old boy, Reynolds, is running the gorge with me just emerging from what he would call " the meat and potatoes" at Tumbleweed. Yahooo!
More on Riverboarding at www.montanariverguides.com

XSPORTS4Vets Riverboard Trips

For the past few years we have been lucky to participate in a program with Xsports4vets. Once a week during the summer, combat veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Campaigns come out to go river boarding and surfing on the gorge. We provide the guides and gear and they provide the guts and glory.
No matter how you feel about American foreign policy, once you spend a little time with our veterans you cannot help but appreciate their character and admire their sacrifice.  They are great people and we are lucky to run the river with them.

Yankee Jim Canyon-the Yellowstone River

We riverboarded Yankee Jim Canyon in May with the new raft guides of Paradise Adventure Company. The river was flowing at 14,000 cfs and we had a blast running features that normally flip rafts down there. A beautiful river with great people makes for a fine day. Thanks to Sarah from PAC for the photos. Find more info about our guided riverboarding trips at www.montanasurfco.com

Whether you surf or not, this is one of the most entertaining documentaries out there. "Riding Giants"
If there's a better surf movie, we haven't seen it.