On a day that threatened to be wet and miserable a group of brave Extreme Outdoor Education students loaded up on the bus and headed out to the local treasure that is Cultus Lake. Normally a zoo filled with an excessive number of boats in the summer months, this work day trip saw calm waters and barely any other people out on the water. The weather even cooperated and students spent the trip basking in sunshine, while they learnt paddling techniques and used these to navigate the Lake. Highlights included students attempting to switch stance while paddling (which resulted in an instructor in the water), backflips from boards into the water, and the end of the paddling portion of the trip where participants left out on the water spent more time in the water than on their boards as their balance was sabotaged by their peers. Overall a great day at the Lake, an awesome introduction for many to the sport or paddle boarding, and smiles abounding throughout the group. Kudos to Main Beach Boat Rentals for their awesome job making the day memorable for the class. Outdoor Education students please leave a 100 word blog response below.
Mouat Extreme Outdoor Education 
I have never been paddle boarding before and it was one of the funniest trips! It was supposed to be a downpour that day but it ended up being really hot and sunny out! The water was just right we all ended up in the water at one point lol! We didn’t seem to be on the water for a long time like kayaking but with the time we had it was fantastic we learned some new tricks and we paddle bored around and under a bridge and the funny part is I forgot to duck and hit my head in the bridge which hurt but swimming helped over all I recommend going in this trip!
Lesson number 1-when someone says duck you DUCK!!! LOL
Last Tuesday for my very last Extreme Outdoor Ed trip, we went paddleboarding at Cultus Lake. Luckily, the weather was in our favour; it was warm and sunny while we were on the water, but became stormy just as we were leaving. My family owns a cottage on Okanagan Lake and we have our own paddleboards, so I knew I wouldn’t have any troubles. Knowing that I would be cold (because I’m always cold) I wore my hoodie out on the water. Although people doubted me (Mr. Rahe), I didn’t fall in and I stayed perfectly dry. After paddleboarding, Keira and I took a walk down the beach, and we stopped to look at my grandparents’ old summer cabin. It was nice to see it again after so long. This class was so much fun, thank you for all the adventures Mr. Rahe!
Clea I am so grateful to be able to interact with all of you outside the classroom. Thanks for joining the program and making it fun!
The day turned out amazing. Paddleboarding wasn’t even that hard for a beginner. Had a great time laughing when we all went out on the paddle boards. A couple times I almost fell off, but I. managed to keep my balance the whole time and stay dry. The food at the concession at lunch was super good and also the ice cream was amazing. Just as we left it began to rain so it was perfect timing to leave since for the rest of the day it was pouring at cultus.
Yep we definitely were lucky with the weather! Glad you enjoyed the trip.
I never thought I was ever going to do stand-up paddle boarding in my life. My family and I were planning on going paddle boating this or next summer, but not stand-up paddle boarding. I thought stand-up paddle boarding would’ve been scary, but it was totally opposite of what I thought. It was calm, peaceful, and enjoyable overall. After I told my family about this experience, they said that we as a family might go to Cultus Lake sometime this summer and try this for ourselves. Overall I really enjoyed this trip and I got a new experience with stand-up paddle boarding.
That is great to hear. I’m so happy that you’ve brought this experience home to your family!
Life can not be lived in a bubble. This statement is definitely true in the bigger sense but also quite commonly in the smaller sense in many ways. The definition of a bubble that is relevant in this statement is a place or position that is protected from danger or unpleasant reality. In combining these statements you get that regardless of how dangerous or unpleasant the reality of the situation is, the concept that there could be total issuance from that is difficult in the small scale and impossible in the large scale. There are several different perspectives on a statement of that sort. On one end there is the safety perspective in that it is impossible to have a 100% safe state for people to be in which is typically quite noticeable on the large scale in that there will always be people who are getting hurt while it being impossible to make sure that no one gets hurt. Probably the most pressing example of this in modern times is the fact that if people lived in total isolation from one another COVID-19 would have been over in the matter of weeks. But the reality is not that simple as the amount of damage that would accrue would be unfathomable from the hospitals being shut down, food plants not operating and the nuclear bomb sites not being maintained. But on the other hand there is the adventure perspective in that in order to have an enjoyable and fulfilling life there are going to have to be risks that are taken. It is always important to midget those risks but in order to be able to see what is truly out there is going to have to be at least a little bit of risk that has to be accepted. Typically this refers to the possibility of encountering different types of animals or the possibility of having an accident when tying something out whether it be for the first time or it be for the 1000th time. Things that are done to midgat this is for example bringing a bear bag or having the skills to use first aid and a first aid kit. By now you may be wondering what any of this has to do with the trip. The thing that ties the trip and all of this together is that I had to inorder to go on this trip. This risk being the fact that I currently have to take and at the time had to take Radio-Ectosone Regular Cream which is a strong antibiotic that reacts strongly with water. The reason for why I have to take this medication is that I have cellureredeoda that being the finitc way of pronouncing it which is a condition where the body has a allergic like reaction to what it thinks is a virus but is not actually a virus which for me was quite likely caused by the pfizer vaccine to the point where i will odds are not get the pfizer vaccine and if the situation goes well I will end up getting moderna vaccine which points out the safety perspective but the things is though the medication had has to be put on all infected areas which as at the time was all over my body and given the fact that the activity was paddle boarding there was differently only to be time that i got wet. Which meant that I had to be as prepared as possible for that activity. In that case it meant bringing towels, extra clothes and a few other things. But when I was on the water it meant staying on my board as much as possible. The two times that I fell into the water head to toe it hurt like hell and my body had a light red tinge to it but there were no long term side effects in those cases. But had I not been as prepared things would have not gone as well this points out the adventure sides of things. If you were to have asked me if I overall would be willing to do paddle boarding even under those conditions my answer would be yes I would do it again. As in line with all that was brought up in this blog and I would hope you understand at this point as well “Life can not be lived in a bubble”.
Interesting…I don’t think I would have gone on the trip if I were in your shoes but glad you came!
This was definitely one of my favourite trips i’ve gone on with the school. Luckily it wasn’t the first time i’ve been paddle boarding so I had a somewhat idea of what I was doing. I feel like the start and end time was the perfect amount to be able to get out on the water and also having time to hangout and eat with friends afterwards. On the water it was very entertaining, at the start it was good and did not end up in the water but near the end other people had different intentions. Ended up going in a couple times but was able to push them back in the water. Would definitely recommend it to others and I hope to be able to do it next year!!!
I was a simple bystander and was shocked at the attacks on my board. Shame on you all!!! 🙂 LOL
I had lots of fun on the paddleboarding trip. I had tried to stand up on the board, but I kept falling into the water. The one thing that I didn’t like was the fact the water was super cold. The best part was either the one where I flipped the whole class into the water or the special $0.50 waffle cone. I would definitely go there again with my friends in the summer. It took me a long time to stand up, but after I was able to stand, I decided to flip everyone into the water. This was by far the best trip.
Again, as I’ve said before I enjoyed having you on the trips and in my program. I’m especially glad that you want to try some things on your own now!
When our class first arrived at Cultus Lake, it didn’t seem like it was going to be a very nice day out. However, as soon as we hit the water the sun finally beamed through the clouds and warmed us all up. It was a surprisingly calming adventure, and I’m happy I was able to take part in it. Although I’ve been paddleboarding on my own before, I never learned the proper techniques until this trip. The instructor taught us how to properly hold the paddle which helped maneuver the board at a faster pace. The instructor also taught us different stances for different water conditions. After paddling around the lake, we were able to enjoy lunch at the concession stand and treat ourselves to ice cream. Overall, this trip was a fantastic experience and a memory I will hold on to. I would strongly recommend others to try paddleboarding at Cultus.
I’m glad you liked it. I thought Main Beach rentals did a great job with the instruction portion and I also learnt some new things!
This trip was super fun! When we first arrived at the lake, the weather was perfect and sunny! We started off by doing an on-land lesson on how to do different paddle strokes. I have a paddleboard so I go paddleboarding a lot so I had previous experience. The lesson was a good refresher on the proper techniques and I enjoyed the on-land part. What was even better was when we got out there on the water. I have never seen the lake as dead as it was and we had it practically to ourselves which was amazing and the water was so calm. Since I learned in past trips, I wore lots of sunscreens and wore a long-sleeve shirt in order to keep myself from burning. I wouldn’t do anything differently next time except maybe try out a few new tricks. All in all, I had a very fun day and this will be a good memory to keep.
The two times I’ve brought a group to Cultus have been on days like this. We are incredibly lucky and spoiled most of the time when it comes to the weather!.
i had a really good time at cultus it was my first-time paddle boarding and I absolutely loved it. i thought I wasn’t gonna be able to do it because I don’t have the best balance. i learned how to do a switch stance while I was on the board it was tricky at first but after a couple tries, I finally got the hang of it. it wasn’t too busy so I didn’t feel like I was going to cut someone off or get thrown off my board. I only lost my balance one time the whole trip, not including the 3 times jimmy flipped my board and Mr Rahe diving at my board…
Oh come on-that wasn’t a dive, it was a massive wind gust that propelled me in the air and accidentally onto your board. LOL
The date was June 8 Sunny little breeze blowing in Abbotsford and we were off to Cultus Lake for a nice joyride of paddle boarding.The weather was pretty chilly but I was dressed for the weather.Once we got in the water it was so cold, but once I got myself settled on the board I was great it took a little bit to get used to handling paddle but then once I got the hang of it I was golden and honestly the view was just amazing, breathtaking, and man it was the most amazing thing in my life. I would definitely go again
Glad you enjoyed it. Paddle boarding isn’t a sport, it’s a way of life!
This was my first time going paddle boarding it was one of the best trips I’ve went on. The weather was just right and it was sunny, we got to learn how to hold our paddles and the simple ways of standing on our boards. I would definitely do this again you can sit, lay, jump, and kneel on your board I like that you can do so much. I would love to have my own paddle board they are so fun especially with your friends, I ended up in the water a few times but that was the fun part.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I had lots of fun paddle boarding and it was my first time and for sure won’t be my last. I loved going under the bridge and just everything about it.
Good!
for this outdoor activity we went paddle boarding at cultus lake. We learned how to like jump into a surfing stance and then went for a trip as a group far from the beach. I learned that paddle boarding is actually very easy and enjoyable because unless someone throws you off your board its very hard to fall off, its also very calming and relaxing. I wish we were able to rent the boards for longer and stay out there, it also could have been better if it wasn’t a rainy day but we cant really control that. next time I would probably pack and prepare the same because it went really good and was fun.
What are you talking about??? The weather was awesome while we were on the water!
Paddleboarding with outdoor education was amazing! We learned how to hold the paddle correctly and stand up on the paddleboard. The weather was just right and it was such a calming and amazing experience that I hope to do again.