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Aaron Pruzan - Jackson Hole Kayak School Owner and Instructor
Aaron Pruzan is the owner of Rendezvous River Sports and Jackson Hole Kayak School. As an instructor and coach he has introduced thousands of people of all ages to the sport of kayaking since 1993. In 1996 Aaron founded the Jackson Hole Kayak Club to promote youth kayaking in the Jackson Hole area. In 2009 he began working with Teton Adaptive Sports to provide adaptive paddling opportunities in Northwest Wyoming. This also includes working with Honoring Our Veterans and Rivers of Recovery who help provide outdoor experiences for returning veterans.
Over the past three decades Aaron has been deeply involved with many whitewater expeditions, exploratory descents and kayaking competitions. This includes exploratory descents in Wyoming, British Columbia, Chile, Argentina & Siberia and numerous victories at regional kayaking races.
In addition to his activities on the water Aaron has worked tirelessly for river stewardship as a founding board member of the Snake River Fund and a board member of American Whitewater. This includes being one of the leaders of the Campaign for the Snake River Headwaters – one of the largest conservation measures in Wyoming which was signed into law in 2009. His river stewardship work continues with the Wilson & South Park Beach Parks Project.
Aaron is currently at the forefront of the river stand up paddling scene and in the winter tries to ski as much as possible. Aaron lives in Wilson, Wyoming with his wife Tamsen and their kids, Noah, Nate & Neve.
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Aaron Pruzan on local Bitch Creek, ID
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Jonathan Souter - Jackson Hole Kayak School Head Instructor
Jonathan started paddling in Vermont when he was 8 years old. At age 12 he made the US Cadet SL team, 15 the Junior US Slalom Team. He spent the next 4 years traveling around North America and Europe racing and competing in freestyle events including the Jr. Slalom World Championships in Bratislava Slovokia and the Men's Freestyle World Championships in Ottawa Canada. At age 15 Jonathan also found his passion for teaching kayaking at the local camp Adventure Quest. He took his first ACA Instructors course at 1998 when he was 16 years old and used his skills to teach kayak lessons and coach Slalom and Freestyle through High School. After Graduating High School Jonathan went to Colorado College in Colorado Springs where he found his niche in the Outdoor Recreation Committee (ORC) teaching kayaking, backcountry skiing, and backpacking to his colleagues. For Jonathans Senior Project for his Environmental Science Degree at CC he travelled to Chile and studied the Environmental and Economic impacts of Hydroelectric Power on the Bio Bio and Futaleufu rivers.
In 2002 during summer break from CC Jonathan moved up to Jackson WY to teach Kayaking at Rendezvous River Sports/Jackson Hole Kayak School. He continued to work there during the summer seasons until 2004 when Jonathan graduated from CC and moved to Jackson full time. In the fall of 2004 Jonathan travelled to Costa Rica to coach freestyle and teach Math and Science for the New River Academy's Huge Experiences program. He returned to Huge Experiences for the fall semester 2005 as the Associate Head of School, Head Math Teacher, and Freestyle coach. He travelled around eastern North America and New Zealand teaching, coaching, and kayaking. In the Spring of 2006 Jonathan took a Professional Instructors Course with The National Outdoor Leadership School and over the years has worked several kayak, raft, canoe courses in the Rocky Mountains with NOLS.
Jonathan currently lives in Jackson WY. He is a manager for Rendezvous River Sports/Jackson Hole Kayak School, the Head J4/5 ski racing coach for the Jackson Hole Ski Club, and sits on the board of the local non-profit Jackson Hole Kayak Club. He is a Wilderness First Responder, ACA Certified Level 5 Swift Water Rescue Instructor, ACA Certified Level 4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor and Instructor Trainer Candidate. When not paddling Jonathan enjoys skiing, mountain biking, sailing, and hiking.
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Jon looping at Burrito, Snake River Canyon WY 3,000cfs
Jon paddling one of his favorite sections of river in the world, the "Box" section of the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone, WY
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Will Taggart - Rendezvous River Sports Store Manager
Bio coming soon...
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Will Taggart looping huge on Camel Humps, Snake River Canyon WY 18,000cfs
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Andy Lex - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Bio coming soon...
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Andy Lex works with a group of kids from City Kids Wilderness Project on the Snake River WY
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Dan Abraham - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Bio coming soon...
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Dan testing out a rope system on a Grand Canyon trip 2007
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Libby Crowley - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Libby Joins the JHKS from New Zealand Libby is chasing the endless summer and has been paddling since 2000. Libby Holds NZOIA and ACA Kayak awards and enjoys all types of Whitewater paddling pursuits. When Libby is not in Jackson she is a freelance Kayak Instructor in NZ.
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Libby Slalom Racing in Durango CO
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Elliot Jacobs - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Elliot Jacobs has been teaching kayaking--both in whitewater and on the sea--since 2003, and working at Jackson Hole Kayak School since 2007. A native of Washington State, he learned to kayak in Maine, and has since left the coastal waters behind to live in Ketchum, ID. His favorite places to paddle include the Clark's Fork River, Deception Pass, and the Hoback River. During the school year, Elliot teaches 6th grade English and History in Ketchum, ID, while finding time to ski, read and bake bread.
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Elliot Jacobs Surfing on the Murtaugh section of the Snake River ID
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Emily Powell - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Emily grew up in Richmond, VA, and has always spent much of her free time outside and on the water. She learned to paddle at a local summer camp, Passages Adventure Camp, and spent many of her summers in high school teaching kayaking for Passages. While at the University of Virginia, she instructed for the Outdoors Club, and ultimately led the Club as President during her senior year. Emily spent one summer during college teaching at the Jackson Hole Kayak School, and, having fallen in love with Wyoming summers, moved to Jackson full-time after graduating in 2010 with a degree in History. Emily is an ACA Whitewater Kayaking Instructor, as well as a Wilderness First Responder. Outside of a kayak, she loves spending time on the water fly fishing and stand up paddle-boarding.
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Emily Guiding a Lewis/Shoshone Lake overnight trip
Emily Powell on House Rock Rapid on the Grand Canyon
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Brent Tyc - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor & Director of the Jackson Hole Kayak Club
Brent originally hails from the flatlands of Montgomery, Alabama. While studying at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, Brent began to explore all that the outdoors had to offer – biking, skiing, boating, disc golf – all while in school and working for an organization doing forest ecology research. After receiving a degree in Physics, Brent moved to Jackson in 2007 to explore more mountains and rivers. He became an ACA certified instructor in May 2008 and since then has been teaching and guiding kayaking trips for Rendezvous River Sports and the Jackson Hole Kayak Club. Brent is also Swiftwater Rescue certified and is a Wilderness First Responder.
Just recently he became the new Executive Director for the JHKC and is excited to carry on the tradition of safely introducing youngsters to the thrill of kayaking. He now lives on a ranch in Wilson where he tends to his chickens and plays with a chainsaw in the woods when he’s not too busy kayaking, skiing or riding his bike, depending on the season.
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Brent Tyc on the Murtaugh Section of the Snake River ID
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Brady Johnston - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Bio coming soon...
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Brady paddling Z-Slot rapid on Bitch Creek, ID
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Jon Wiedie - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor
Bio coming soon...
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Dane Stevens - Jackson Hole Kayak School Instructor Alumni
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Dane testing out a new shuttle driving device
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