Azz Azzarello

Adventure Consultant For: Idaho

Azz had grand times, and was an unforgettable guest, on many of our trips - no one had the heart to tell her to leave. So we hired her! Despite the occasional appearance in a chicken costume at office functions, it didn't take us long to discover why Azz was voted Most Resourceful Female in her high school graduating class. Although she claims to live by an August Frugé quote, “When your spirit cries for peace, come to a world of canyons deep in the old land, feel the exultation of high plateaus, the strength of moving waters, the simplicity of sand and grass, the silence of growth,” she really practices her favorite motto, “Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!”

Eve Barnett

Guide for: Idaho & Grand Canyon

Eve grew up on rivers in a river-running family. She speaks Spanish, is certified in First Aid, EMT, CPR and Wilderness First Responder. She also plays piano but hasn’t figured out yet how to use that skill on the river.

Quotable –“My favorite feature on the river is the way the canyons are constantly changing with the light and the season.”

Bill Bruchak, AKA: Bronco

Guide for: Grand Canyon & Idaho

Bronco says he has a B.A. in History and a Ph.D. in Life. He’s made more than 100 trips down the Grand Canyon; in the off season he’s a ski patroller in Colorado.

Quotable – When asked what he loves about his job, he says, “Living in the outdoors. Sharing the magic of beautiful places with others. Laughing and being happy every day.”

Basilio Cakaunivalu

Guide for: Fiji

Basilio is immersed in the island and its flora. Along with his degree in tropical agriculture, he’s made more than 200 trips on Fiji’s Navua and 'luva rivers. In his off times, you’ll catch him on the rugby field..

Quotable – Basilio’s motto: “With patience and hard work I will reach far-away places."

Cindell Dale

Guide for: Grand Canyon

"I truly enjoy a moment at the end of the day in which the sun fades away off the rim of the canyon. It is usually dinner time so I like to ask for a moment of silence. This gives our small community time to reflect on the day and an opportunity to listen to The Canyon's heartbeat. The 'moment of silence' seems to be what touches those who embrace it. In our world of constant motion, noise pollution and small talk we sometimes forget to listen to the natural world." The woman behind these reflections is Cindell Dale, or Dellie as she affectionately called, a 21-year veteran of the Grand Canyon, as well as wife and artistic partner of Roger Dale. When the two of them are not guiding Dories through The Canyon, they can be found on their 22-acre property in Colorado or telemark skiing in the gorgeous backcountry that surrounds their home.

Ote Dale

Guide for: Grand Canyon

Over 30 years ago a smiling, petite young woman with a joyful zest for life, began guiding passengers on whitewater rafting trips throughout the western United States. Now, hundreds of trips and thousands of new friends later, Ote still "LOVES HER JOB, and is proud to be a part of the Dale dynasty in the Grand Canyon and on planet Earth".

Guiding for Grand Canyon Dories allows her to actively experience the special things that make her heart happy: "Pushing off at Lee's Ferry. Spring bloom. April is my favorite time of year in The Canyon then September. I love all the rapids especially the gorge days! The end of each day and the glow on the canyon walls, the early morning hours first light, and the canyon wren's song!! Hiking up any side canyon, but especially the up and over in the spring at Tapeats!"

Ote plays the piano, xylophone, and guitar, but is perhaps most well known for her beautiful watercolor paintings of the Grand Canyon and other scenic areas of the American west.

Regan Dale

Guide for: Grand Canyon

Over 35 years and 35,000 river miles since he first started boating, Regan still loves the satisfaction he gets from working in the Grand Canyon and the unforgettable, unparalleled adventure of running a dory on the Colorado River.

Quotable – From a guest: “Our Grand Canyon trip lead by Regan and Ote Dale was The BEST RIVER TRIP EVER. In fact this just might be the best vacation I have taken in my entire life.”

Roger Dale

Guide for: Grand Canyon

After more than 120 trips, Roger knows the ways of the canyon. He’s a boatman’s boatman. He says his motto is “Work hard, play harder,” so it might surprise you to learn that he’s also a master of the delicate art of blowing glass.

Quotable – “Every river trip is different. Every client is a new relationship.”

When Roger is not rowing a Dory through the Grand Canyon, he can be found creating colorful, contemporary fine art glass in his studio located in southern Colorado. www.rogerdaleglass.com

Christian Dean

Guide for: Utah

Christian was raised on rivers. He knows their ways and their environments. The National Park Service has recognized Christian for his detailed documentation of wildlife sightings along the river corridor.

Quotable – From a guest: “Christian is an absolutely perfect guide and leader. He’s patient, knowledgeable, fun, a consummate professional, confident, and hard working. He was a joy to be around.”.

Mike Fabry

Guide for: Grand Canyon

Don’t mess with Mike, not only does he have a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology, but he’s also a demolitions expert. Tucked away in his duffle bag is a Buddy the Gorilla suit.

Quotable – “No one leaves a Grand Canyon trip without a life-altering experience.”

Kim Freeman

Adventure Consultant For: Colorado, Utah & Wyoming

Although Kim is pretty new to the O.A.R.S. office, she has already gotten her feet (as well as some of her other body parts) wet on a few whitewater rafting trips this past year, including her favorite so far, the Green River through the Gates of Lodore in Colorado and Utah.

Outside of work, Kim is a very busy young woman who loves to play and coach basketball, run, hike, play with her dogs, and spend time with family and friends.

Quotable – “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13”

Bill Erickson

Manager for: Wyoming Guide for: Grand Canyon & Idaho

A guest once called Bill, “a Class VI in a world of IV’s.” He has a deep appreciation for the beauty of the river and how it begins to center everyone who spends time there.

Quotable – His motto is from Nelson Mandela: “There is nothing like returning to an unchanged place to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”

Michael P. Ghiglieri

Guide for: Grand Canyon

Michael grew up at Lake Tahoe, Nevada as the great grandson of a forty-niner, served as a US Army platoon sergeant during the Viet Nam era, and then earned his Ph.D. in Ecology in 1979 from the University of California at Davis for his pioneering research on wild chimpanzees in Kibale Forest, Uganda. In addition to teaching university courses in primate behavior and ecology and in human evolution and ecology, he has directed several semesters-overseas centers focusing on sustainable resource management (in Kenya, the Turks & Caicos, Palau, Far North Queensland, and on Vancouver Island), and has worked as a wilderness river guide and EMT. Since 1974, he has run more than 660 commercial whitewater trips and also treks in Ethiopia, Java, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Rwanda, Sumatra, Tanzania, Turkey, and the USA. These include 145, 2-week rowing or paddling trips through Grand Canyon and more than 44,000 miles of river overall on 40 river runs, a few in the Canyon as an NPS ranger. He has made several Kilimanjaro ascents and Kenyan foot safaris. Ghiglieri lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, is happily married, has three children, and has authored documentary screenplays and six books (two on wild chimpanzees) with his wife Susan, is a volunteer for the Coconino County Sheriff Department’s Search and Rescue Team.

Visit our Artisans of O.A.R.S. page to find out about First Through Grand Canyon, Michael's saga of John Wesley Powell's explorations, as well as a list of his other works.

Mindy Gleason

Reservations Manager

Named one of Condé Nast Traveler's Top Travel Specialists of 2007, Mindy is not exactly a behind-the-desk kind of manager. She has rafted or kayaked on more than two dozen rivers, lakes and sounds, from Chile to Alaska. She’s also a trained goldsmith and has made more than 50 skydives.

Quotable – Her motto, from Marcel Proust: “Let us be grateful for the people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

Tony Gower

Designer

Canuks Rock! Well this one does anyway. For six years now Tony has been designing our website, catalogs and brochures, and says, “I love presenting what O.A.R.S. offers to the world.” When he's not working at his computer Tony enjoys cooking and mountain biking or skiing in his beautiful homeland of British Columbia.

Quotable – “Keep an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out.”

Nick Grimes

Guide for: Idaho & Grand Canyon

Nick’s special passion is Idaho’s Frank Church Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 States. He began working summers there 15 years ago on a Forest Service trail crew.

Quotable – “The key to preservation is education; part of education is being out in wilderness.”

Lars Haarr

Guide for: Utah, Galapagos & Ecuador

Lars is a rafting, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking guide trained in wilderness medicine and swift water rescue. He’s also a bit of a wiz in the ecology, culture and history of the Desert Southwest, the Ecuador Highlands and the Galàpagos.

Quotable – From a guest: “Lars was very knowledgeable, extremely entertaining, helpful and you have what we feel is one of the best guides ever.”

Deb Hausler

Guide for: Utah, Oregon, Colorado, & California

"A near death experience in the desert converted me from Senior VP at a Top 10 ad agency to a living river guide!," shares Deb who has been guiding for O.A.R.S. for the past three years. Although her Master of Science Degree in Advertising may not be needed on the river, Deb is definitely not out of her element on the water, and in fact has accumulated nearly 150 rafting trips on rivers in Utah, Colorado, California and southern Oregon. She enjoys the impact she is able to make on others by helping expose people who are out of their regular element to new experiences and ideas, and delights in the simplicity and satisfaction of living in the moment that her summer job on the river provides.

Debbie Howard

Adventure Consultant

Debbie knows about O.A.R.S. vacations, she’s been on more than a dozen of them herself. Here’s how one guest described her: “Debbie, who helped us plan our family trip a year ahead, was fantastic, even offering personal trip email to our daughter. That was absolutely outstanding service and greatly appreciated by all eight of us.”

Quotable – “Live each day as if it were your last; you never know what the future holds.”

Steve Kenney

Guide for: Utah & Colorado

"The waning sunlight is hitting the canyon walls, camp has been set up, and you look at a guest's face and realize you did your job that day ~ you created magic." This is what great guides are made of: the true appreciation for what they do on the river and how it affects those who travel with them and rely on their expertise. Steve loves the relationships he forms while on the river, both with his fellow guides and with those who are just there to spend a few days. Whether he is expertly guiding a raft through some huge rapids, preparing meals on the river or hamming it up in one of his lovely articles of feminine apparel, Steve loves what he does. He shares this quote from John Muir as food for thought, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the universe".

Elena Kirschner

Guide for: Grand Canyon

From the Alsek in Alaska to the raging Colorado through the Grand Canyon, Elena has traveled numerous western rivers during her 22 years spent as a guide for O.A.R.S. Some of the things that stand out about her job include, “spring bloom in the desert, successfully navigating Hermit rapid, living out of doors, sleeping on the Dory and working with good friends.” When she is not on the river, Elena can be found skiing or working in the emergency room as a trauma nurse.

Tyra McCart Swanson

California Adventure Consultant

After a year of around-the-world travel, Tyra returned to California and found a home at O.A.R.S. With boisterous energy and a loud, infectious laugh, she likes to spend her time outside the office donning outrageous costumes, climbing, skiing, paddling, refinishing furniture, thrift store shopping and cooking for her friends.

Quotable – “I am not a big fan of flat water…in the rain”

Brian McCutcheon

Guide for: British Columbia & Alaska

Brian McCutcheon founded Rivers & Oceans (now our partner operator in Canada, ROAM) in 1985 and has been operating rafting and kayaking trips in British Columbia since the late eighties. Brian has operated in the Chilcotin for two decades and has been down the Chilko River over 100 times, with first descents and epic adventures on rivers and coastlines throughout the northern continent. When not out on the water, Brian is the Managing Director of ROAM from our offices in Nelson, British Columbia.

Billy Paul

Guide for: California

What Billy enjoys most about guiding is taking people safely out of their comfort zone into an exciting, unpredictable environment of pure elemental power.

Quotable – From a guest: “I just returned from a Tuolumne rafting trip and wanted to pass on my Kudos for our guide Billy Paul. I’ve done a fair amount of rafting and would rank him as one of the top guides I’ve traveled with. He made us feel safe and informed while mixing in humor and lots of great history, geology and wildlife stories.”

Bram Role

Guide for: Utah, Idaho & Colorado

A native of Idaho, like the Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bram says he thrives in the state’s “clear mountain-fed rivers.”

Quotable – “Every river displays its own unique splendor and sings its own special sweet songs." Speaking of songs, Bram is one of the featured performers on the O.A.R.S. DVD soundtrack.

Zak Sears

Guide for: Grand Canyon, British Columbia & Idaho

They call him the “Zaction Figure.” When everybody’s gathered around the campfire, Zak is always the first to pull out his guitar for a singalong.

Quotable – “What I love most about my job is how good it feels to be around such genuine people all day.”

Scotty Stevens

Guide for: Grand Canyon

With over 200 trips through the Grand Canyon and 28 years of guiding behind him, Scotty has become a modern day rafting icon. He readily shares his humor as well as his opinions with those willing to lend an ear. Although many situations on the river inspire Scotty, in his own words, "When the crew is really a team, and the folks see it, and the energy is so good it's contagious," is when he realizes what makes him truly love his job.

"Scotty Stevens is the perfect River Guide & Trip Leader. He is extremely knowledgable & experienced, so you feel very safe. But so much more than that, he is FUN & Witty & charming & cares about every part of the trip...from the hikes to the meals to the location of our camps. We felt very very fortunate to have him as our leader." Susan Stair, St. John, Virgin Islands

Matt Tolley

Guide for: Idaho

Kayaker and serious environmentalist, Matt’s already got a BS degree in Environmental Science and is working on his Masters in Hydrology.

Quotable – Matt’s favorite feature? “Sunrise on the Snake River above Granite Rapid because of the orange light on the frothy waters.”

Mark Trueman

Guide for: British Columbia

If you visit beautiful British Columbia to raft the Chilko or one of it's other scenic waterways; you may encounter a man with a big red beard reciting Monty Python. It is certain, then, that you have found Mark Trueman. Here is a man who loves to share his love of rivers with others who would likely miss out on all they have to offer without the knowledge of an expert guide. "Leaving Chilko Lake in the fall because of the changing colours of the leaves and the fact that you could walk across the lake on the backs of the salmon," according to Mark, is a most memorable occurrence.

Matt Zeugin

Information Technologies Director

Matt loves working for a company with family values and friendly people, and is extremely excited to have completed the Online Reservations system for our clients - now it is easier than ever to book an O.A.R.S. trip over the web! He also maintains our client database and is in charge of all things related to technology. Matt is not strictly a behind-a-desk guy though, and enjoys watching and playing sports like baseball, football and bowling - he has a 192 average - as well as music, law enforcement, and getting away on the occasional O.A.R.S. trip.

Quotable – “To all those who feel helpless to improve the situation, please signify by maintaining your usual silence.”