Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t really allow us to continue rafting in December. In my lifetime, I’ve only experienced the sections we raft commercially in December twice, and both times were incredibly special for me, they offered a chance to help ground me and provide a sense of peace that only comes with a quiet winter’s day. However, they were also bitterly cold. Snow and ice adorned the riverbanks, and the shaded areas were downright freezing, creating a striking but chilly atmosphere. Which isn’t typically what comes to mind when most of our guests are looking for white water rafting.
For Shane and myself, running a rafting company in December means a lot of housekeeping. It’s a time for me to catch up on our (blog) and other admin tasks I’m not great at prioritizing during the heat of summer.. The last 5 years I’ve needed fairly intensive surgeries (not rafting related) that required long recoveries. This year I had hardware replaced in my cervical spine. I also sell my handmade merino wool knitwear pricklypearknitwear.com during the winter months & typically work other service related jobs. For Shane, December means working an incredibly grueling schedule to make snow at Steamboat Resort for ski season.
Over the holidays I always like to look back on the summer and reflect on how grateful I am to all of our guests, especially our return guests that remember us year after year. I know it sounds cheesy, but I am truly honored to meet each and everyone of you. You have given us the opportunity to help support our local community in ways I couldn’t imagine. We are able to help our favorite non profits https://brighterworldcac.org/ and donate trips for fundraising events https://yvcf.org/funds/south-routt-education-endowment-fund/, we’re able to help organize wounded warrior rafting events through https://www.steamboatstars.com/ and we’re able to help students in our community experience the river for the first time with their classmates. For Christmas I usually ask Santa to be lucky enough to see our return guests out on the river next summer, and obviously the finest box of Kirkland brand wine.
Looking forward – one of my long term goals is for Colorado River Guides to sustain us in a way that allows Shane and I to take some time together during the off season of December. For me, the off-season is synonymous with healing—both physically and mentally. While I myself, am lucky enough to take this time to address injuries(surgeries), I wouldn’t be able to do so without Shane’s help & hard work. I would love the ability for Shane & I both to use our off season to focus on restorative activities, and learning how to embrace a few rest days without guilt.
Thank you for helping support our small business
Chelsea & Shane
