Whitewater Rafting with Aspen Whitewater Guide Team

Aspen Whitewater Rafting Team

Aspen Whitewater Rafting was started by a small group of local guides. We are extremely proud of our staff of outdoor professionals. Our core groups of guides take whitewater rafting seriously and strive to provide each guest with a fun, safe and exiting day on the river. Below you can meet a few of the people that make AWR an easy choice when looking for a great river experience.

Jim Ingram Jim was born and raised on the east coast, and stumbled across Aspen, Colorado on a cross-country bike tour. After guiding and managing a raft company in Aspen for 9 years, Jim decided it was time for him to start his own company—AWR. The company is in its 5th season now and Jim is still enjoying guiding whitewater in the summer and ski patrolling in the winter.
Dan Leuschel Dan, a South Carolina native, began following his whitewater dreams with his older brothers at an early age. When he turned 18, he moved to Aspen, and found everything he’d been looking for—big mountains, great rivers, great trails, and lots of other people looking for adventure. Dan is now the head boatman for AWR and heads up the class IV/V operation. He enjoys seeing the world from the deck of a kayak and has done so most recently in New Zealand, Chile and Ecuador.
Darcy Gaechter Darcy grew up in Aspen, and started rafting after her first year of college on the recommendation of her high school track coach. Twelve years later she has racked up an impressive whitewater resume including a 2nd place finish in the women’s National Rafting Championships and a 1st place finish in the Women’s Gore Canyon downriver kayak race. When not guiding for Aspen Whitewater Rafting, Darcy enjoys studying Environmental History and guiding kayaking trips in Ecuador for Small World Adventures.
Don Beveridge Don has been guiding raft and kayak trips for almost half his life now. He started guiding on the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River when he moved to Colorado after graduating from St. Lawrence University. He has worked as a guide in Norway, Honduras, Costa Rica and Ecuador. In addition, his personal kayaking pursuits have taken him all over North and South America. For the past 10 years, Don has been spending his winters in Ecuador guiding whitewater kayaking trips for Small World Adventures. When he is not on the river, Don tries to ski as much as possible to make up for all those wintry months he misses while in South America.
Hank Hank was amongst the first generation of commercial raft guides in the Aspen area and helped pioneer runs such as Slaughterhouse on the Roaring Fork River and Pine Creek on the Arkansas River. These are classic whitewater runs today, but 20 years ago they were just obscure stretches of river. You can ask Hank about the "good old days" while he is guiding you down the river. You know you are in good hands with this guy.
Shannan Osburn Shannan began his guiding career in Idaho, guiding both day trips and multi-day trips on various sections of the legendary Salmon River. In search of new rivers, Shannan moved to Colorado five years ago, and it seems to be a good fit. He has been with Aspen Whitewater since the beginning, and both his work ethic and his sense of humor have become invaluable assets to the company. In his spare time, he enjoys climbing, biking, kayaking, and vacationing in Ecuador.
Luke Scheiler Luke, an Indiana farm boy turned mountain man, discovered skiing and rafting in Colorado four years ago, and has shown no intentions of turning back. He has found raft guiding to be a great way of meeting his goal of spending more time outdoors than indoors. Luke also enjoys fishing, backpacking, biking—pretty much anything that keeps him from sitting on his couch.
Ross Hart: Ross was born and raised right here in Aspen. His parents have been rafting aficionados for years, and Ross got an early start in the whitewater world. He has been guiding for Aspen Whitewater Rafting for 3 years now. He spends his winters in California hand crafting counter tops and enjoying beach volleyball by the ocean.
Jessica Smith: After deciding that her marketing job in New York was too sedate, Jessica moved to Colorado and became a raft guide. Being a former ski racer, athleticism came easily to Jess and she made a smooth transition to being a trip leader for AWR. Now Jess likes to spend as much time on the water as possible, taking full advantage of this new (to her) medium for enjoying h20.
Kate Austin After receiving her BFA in Art from Cooper Union in New York City, Kate moved out west to experience a different kind of living. She grew up canoeing in the harbor in Long Island, but soon discovered that whitewater was more her speed. She has been guiding in Colorado for 4 years now, and still loves every minute of it. In her spare time, she plays dodge ball and travels to Ecuador to get in more time on the rivers.