Dave Berrisford
Dave’s love for paddling kayaks and canoes began before the age of 10. Following his brother into the sport of white water slalom racing.
In the early days it was all about racing through white water slalom courses as a member of the British Junior National Team, travelling and racing throughout the UK and Europe.
Looking for adventure, Dave travelled to Canada in 1987. He landed in the Ottawa Valley to teach kayaking, canoeing and to guide on the Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers. Dave spent the next 5 summers working for MKC and OWL on the Ottawa. Throughout these years he spent his winters gaining experience teaching and guiding for some of the best outfitters in Central America, Eastern US, New Zealand and Australia.
In 1995, lured by it’s close proximity to the ocean, surrounded by mountain peaks and world class rivers, he settled in Squamish BC. He started exploring the areas many white water runs and realized it’s potential. He worked as a local guide and instructor for years and knows the waterways around Squamish intimately.
Dave is a certified instructor in both sea kayak and white water kayaking.
He is the founder and president of the Squamish Paddling Club. He is well known and respected in the local paddling community. His friendly, relaxed method of teaching has introduced hundreds of paddlers to the sport. After 35 years of paddling in anything that floats. Dave has not lost any of his enthusiasm for introducing new paddlers of all ages to the sport and helping existing paddlers improve their skills and knowledge, creating life long paddlers.
