I am in the midst of taking OKS's 5 day Beginner Whitewater Kayaking class. Unfortunately, I have learned that OKS is not an appropriate whitewater kayak school for beginners. I have taken beginner kayaking courses at Zoar, NOC, Wet Planet and CWC in the US and this company performs at a substantially lower level.
First, they use kayaks that are not appropriate for beginners as they are way more easily tipped than the standard creek boats that the other companies use. This makes it hard for beginners to learn techniques as you are regularly flipped upside down in the water. I have never seen in a class so many people flipped as I did today and my past classes have run much harder sections of water.
Second, they have a culture that highly discourages pulling your kayak skirt and swimming. This culture combined with boats that flip easily makes the environment unsupportive for students to try hard and learn. I have never before been in a beginner class where I have been told that we are expected to learn how to roll in a week.
Third, my instructor was supposed to work an evening shift in the kitchen between his day with us today and tomorrow teaching us whitewater kayaking. Instructors need to be not overly tired so they can perform well in a high consequence environment. Additionally, on day 1 we saw the instructor of another OKS group struggle to get his students back upright during roll practice. It was terrifying.
Fourth, the company doesn't not manage its logistics effectively. After running a section of river today, we were supposed to be picked up at 3pm. Instead, we sat wet and cold until we were picked up at 5pm which probably only happened because I kept begging the instructor to call and find out where our pick up was. When I tried to walk around while we waited so that I could keep warm, the instructor told us we couldn't as OKR management doesn't like when guests walk around unattended and he didn't want to get in trouble. So we sat for 2 hours wet and cold.
Finally, the company's communication is highly lacking. When we called in advance of our class to confirm they had wet and drysuits for us to use, we were told they had both and we could borrow them. Therefore, we didn't bring our own. It turns out the staff who answered our questions didn't even know what a drysuit is and they were wrong. Thus, we had to pay to rent their wetsuits. In addition, we had to ask our instructor to procure sandwiches that met our dietary constraints despite those diet requests being listed on the receipt that we got from the front office when we checked in. We also had experience with them changing the start time in the morning and not communicating it to us. All issues that other companies have solutions to prevent happening.
Thus, I highly recommend that beginner kayakers look for another company that will provide both a safer and more enjoyable experience. read more
