Safety First
At ARO the safety of our guests and our employees has always been our top priority. Thirty years ago we lead the effort to develop a whitewater guide training and licensing program in New York State and we have continued our focus on safety ever since.
We provide our guests with the best equipment available, but more importantly our guests are lead by the most experienced guides in the state. Experience is what allows our guides to avoid most problems and to make the correct split second decisions necessary if a problem arises.
What constitutes an experienced guide? Meeting state licensing requirements, including river skills, first aid, and CPR are just the beginning. Our guides must meet ARO’s standards before we entrust them with your safety.
ARO’s Experience
ARO has over 33 years of experience and a safety record that is second to none. We’ve been running the Moose River longer than any other outfitter. We guided our first boats down the river in 1979. Our guides have more experience than anyone else on the river.
The Spring Moose is considered the highest intensity river in the Northeast. It is a proving ground for our guides. The skills and decision making abilities that ARO guides develop on the Moose, is one of the many reasons that they are among the top guides in the country.
ARO was a pioneering outfitter on the Upper Hudson River. We helped form the Hudson River Rafting Association and lead the effort to establish the New York State guidelines for licensing whitewater guides.
The Black was ARO’s final discovery. The whitewater of the Black River had never been run before 1982 when one of ARO’s owners guided a raft from Watertown to Brownville. The next year ARO’s guides established the routes and safety procedures which are now considered the standards.
Our new guides benefit from being trained by trip leaders with an average of over 25 years of experience.