Kootenay River Runners — Attraction in Radium Hot Springs

I’m headed to BC on a 14 day road trip From Calgary all over BC and then back through jasper!

Everything is meticulously planned and even printed out with our adventures ( over 15 other things booked ZERO ISSUES)

First stop Golden and whitewater rafting!!!!!! I booked online with kootenay river runners plenty in advance.

They have camping included for Thursday evening and a 9 am start with lunch ending around 1! PERFECT, so I thought... We had a very long drive to Lac La Hache and needed to make a stop on the way. This timing would be excellent.

I had several Phone conversations with the corporation between when we booked and last Friday, when it all turned for the worst.

Friday July 27, 2:56 pm - I get a phone call saying can I switch our trip to the next day or afternoon trip ( keep in mind, we leave Thursday Aug 2nd @ 3:30 ) No, of course we cant?!

I’m then told they don’t have enough staff to accommodate the trip. Excuse me? A white water rafting company that only operates seasonally?!? After trying to keep my cool and try the old “not shoot the messenger” technique, the lady on the phone then says she will call the owner and see what she can do. I do not receive a call back until Saturday July 28th at 7:43 pm ( the next night) to tell me that they are refunding me for sure and we won’t be able to raft.

How is it possible that as a rafting company: A) don’t have staff on the scheduled dates B ) It takes until 6 days before to call someone

While I’m thankful they didn’t understaff us in whitewater, they left us without the first and most exhilarating part of our trip. Needing to either find somewhere to camp or camp at a base camp with no rafting.

I am so disappointed and I strongly urge people to look into other companies that actually care about keeping business and plan for business...

The river and views were beautiful, of course.. it’s the Kootenays. The staff were polite and made the experience fun. However, they were not trained, they did not know the area or any information about the mountains, the river, history of the landscapes, etc. and although they did pretty good at being guides, many of them had no raft guide experience. There were no wet suits provided, which was a first for me. We were rafting in glacier waters and were told that we wouldn’t be cold. We froze, everyone on the rafts were complaining about being freezing cold. Wouldn’t recommend going unless it is 30+ temps or you will be so cold that it’s not enjoyable, specially a full 8 hour day! Communication between customers and the company was poor to none… Photos are provided for free because majority of them are terrible quality, however, we did get a couple of good ones, and I guess any photo is better than none! We did our best to have a good time and enjoy the trip since we paid for it and the guides were good people. We will raft again, but definitely not at this location and possibly not with this company again! Hard to write a mixed review, explains the 3 stars. If it wasn’t for the guides doing their best to make it a positive experience and the location, then it would have been less stars.

Edit: Increasing the star rating due to thorough and kind response from...

My family had the best experience with Kootenay River Runners. We did the classic half-day trip on the Kootenay and enjoyed every minute.

It was a bit rainy but we were kitted out in light rain gear and my young daughter got a wetsuit. We all had helmets and were fitted properly with life jackets. There was also a safety briefing before we got into our raft.

Carter was our guide and I absolutely recommend her if you get a chance. Try to get on her bus, too--and with Russ as the driver. Their engagement with us tourists made the ride feel a little bit shorter. :) Carter is a wonderful young woman with a wealth of knowledge about the river and an expert captain of the raft. Our whole family enjoyed being with her. My youngest daughter, who I was a little worried about, now wants to go again but on a river with more rapids. Who knew?

I almost forgot. The half-way break with coffee, hot chocolate, etc. and cinnamon buns and other snacks was fantastic. It was especially nice to stop for a hot drink on a cool day. What a nice idea to pack some snacks on a white-water rafting trip!

Thank you Carter, Russ, and everyone at Kootenay...