2007 BPS Roll Sessions

Learn How To Eskimo Roll With The Beartooth Paddler's Society...

Learn the proper technique to eskimo roll a kayak and get a head start on boating for the 2004 season! BPS conducts weekly instructional pool sessions during the months of February, March and April. These classes offer great opportunity for beginners to get the feel of a kayak and learn the Eskimo roll. The sessions are also beneficial to experienced paddlers for fine tuning their eskimo roll and bracing techniques. Boats and equipment are available for those without. These sessions are open to BPS members as well as the public. All instruction is provided on a voluntary basis by members of BPS.

Our Instructors:

All instructors are volunteers who have a passion for kayaking and the desire to share that passion with new potential boaters. Some have been kayaking for many years and others are new to the sport. All instructors have been instructed in teaching the sweep roll but will possess different teaching skills. Usually our instructor to student ratio is fairly low, but since we operate with volunteers and never know how many students we will have, the ratio will differ from session to session. It always will vary but you will not get the individual attention of an instructor for the whole two hour session.

What We Teach:

There are two different eskimo rolls, the C to C and the sweep roll. We teach the proper techniques for the sweep roll. Proper execution of the sweep roll does not require lots of strength, muscling your way through a roll usually causes problems. it is much more of a finesse thing. For this reason an average woman can sometimes master the proper technique much quicker than a very athletic male. This technique consists of the following steps:

• An education about the parts of a kayak.
• How to wet exit an overturned kayak without skirt and paddle.
• How to install and remove a sprayskirt properly.
• How to wet exit an overturned kayak with the sprayskirt in place.
• How to perform the hip snap.
• How to properly hold and use the kayak paddle.
• How to properly perform the individual components of the roll. (setup, sweep and hipsnap).
• It's now time to put all these techniques together in motion.
• Practice, practice & more practice.

Additional Learning Tools:

The Kayak Roll-DVD by Kent Ford
Grace Under Pressure Learning The Kayak Roll-VHS by Rapid Progression
The Bombproof Roll and Beyond-Book by Paul Dutky

Items You Need To Provide:

• Swimsuit, towel and lock - A swimsuit works for most but if you are prone to getting chilled bring a tee shirt or paddle jacket for additional warmth. The locker rooms are available for changing and showers. Valuables should be locked or left with the BPS Pool Commador.
• Wet shoes - Kayak footbraces can be very abusive on bare feet. At least wear a heavy wool sock if you do not want to invest in wet shoes.
• Snorkling mask - A snorkling mask allows you to keep water out of your sinuses and your eyes wide open while upside down. This greatly reduces most students fear of being confined in a kayak while upside down.
• Nose plugs - If you opt to not purchase a snorkeling mask at least purchase nose plugs which can be purchase at Sunshine Sports for $10 or less. Being upside down in water causes sinus discomfort for most people. 
• Kayak and equipment - Sunshine Sports provides some boats, paddles and skirts if you have not purchased your own. If you are bringing your own kayak, it must be completely washed inside and out before bringing it to the pool. We will not let any dirty boats into the pool area!
• Kayak storage - If you are bringing your own kayak it can be stored in between sessions in a secure area for the duration of the roll sessions. We recommend marking all gear with permanent marker for identification purposes. All stored gear must be removed from MSUB on or before the last session.

Costs:

• $8.00 per session for club members.
• $15.00 per session for non members.
• $20.00 anual dues if you opt to join BPS. As a BPS member you will recieve bi-monthly newsletters which have great articles by local paddlers.
• ACA insurance must be purchased by all participants. This can be satisfied by purchasing event insurance from the American Canoe Association for $6 (good for 4 sessions) or by joing the ACA for $25. The $25 includes a years membership and a subscription to Paddler Magazine. Paddler offers some excellent reading.
• An ACA liability waiver must be signed by all participants.

Dates & Times:

The uncertainty of location and lack of volunteers to staff pool sessions has caused us to possibly cancel pool sessionsl this year. If anyone would like to volunteer to help with pool sessions we can get them back on the schedule again.

No dates are scheduled.

Location:

MSU Billings Physical Education Facility (North and East of 27th Street). Use the Southeast entrance of the building for access to the pool.

Contact Sunshine Sports at 252-3724 or email bps@bresnan.net for more info.

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