Charlie Walbridge

Charlie Walbridge learned to canoe at Camp Mowglis in New Hampshire and started paddling whitewater with the Bucknell Outing Club in 1967. He was an active C-1 slalom and wildwater racer who worked as a river guide on the Cheat, Nantahala, and Chatooga rivers in the 1970s. His mail order company, Wildwater Designs, was known for the HiFloat Life Vest and the Throw Line Rescue Bag. In 1995, he closed the company and moved to Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, with his wife, Sandy. For the next 20...See more

Charlie Walbridge learned to canoe at Camp Mowglis in New Hampshire and started paddling whitewater with the Bucknell Outing Club in 1967. He was an active C-1 slalom and wildwater racer who worked as a river guide on the Cheat, Nantahala, and Chatooga rivers in the 1970s. His mail order company, Wildwater Designs, was known for the HiFloat Life Vest and the Throw Line Rescue Bag. In 1995, he closed the company and moved to Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, with his wife, Sandy. For the next 20 years, he worked as a sales rep for Northwest River Supplies in Idaho, serving whitewater outfitters from Maine to Georgia. A longtime member of the American Whitewater Board, he maintains their accident database and produces a bi-annual report of US whitewater fatalities. As one of the first American Canoe Association trainers of swiftwater rescue instructors, he helped develop the program. He taught classes regularly for almost 30 years. Charlie is the author of several books, including the Whitewater Rescue Manual and A Canoe and Kayak Guide to West Virginia, a revised edition of the publication that first brought him to the Mountain State. See less