The first surprise was that you have to wear their life vests and wet suits. No mention of the ice cold water or the requirement to wear a used wet suit in the registration process. Oh well, no big deal. After a safety briefing which stresses the many dangers of the river and the no camera policy, the trip begins. You quickly realise that your guid is aiming for the deepest holes and biggest waves which is nice but makes all the talk about avoiding dangerous spots seem like a show. Whatever, you think, I’ll enjoy the rafting. As you go down the river your guid makes you do silly things like stand up and wave, splash each other, and chant. At this point it starts to seem like you’re on a Bachelor party at a bar or some game show. Basically, the guid makes you do things that will make it look like you’re having fun in a picture. At this point it starts to seem clear you are on a touristy activity and not the organic experience you were led to believe this would be. During the day you are strongly encouraged by your guid and the company photographer to pose for pictures in different ways and at different times. This is extremely annoying and demeaning but you think, oh well, at least I’ll get some pictures. Then at the end of the day, without a single prior mention, they tell you you have to spend another $70 to see your pictures from the trip you paid for.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Aug 2022
Hi Alona,
We appreciate you taking the time to write a review and provide feedback. At Glacier Raft Company our biggest priority is safety so we require all our guests to wear life vests, we only require wetsuits when hypothermia might be a concern, and our rivers' main water source are glaciers and snowmelt, so the highest temp it usually reaches is the mid-50s. All guides are required to discuss safety precautions at the beginning of the trip, and we do allow cameras at your own risk; we do offer a photo package so you are not in danger of losing your phone, but we do have floating aqua cases made for different types of phones so you can bring them out.
All of our guides were trained to run the best and safest lines. While our guides have their own styles in how they engage with their crews, I'm sorry to hear that you did not feel like your guides style fit your expectations. We only have one spot where photos are taken—our second rapid which is named Bone Crusher—our guides inform you there is an opportunity to pose, but the choice is yours. I'm sorry to hear you felt pressured and demeaned to pose for photos and I'll make sure that message it passed along to the right channels. Our price point for our photos depends on the time of booking, if you add the photo package beforehand it will be $39, but if you decide to wait till after your trip, the photos will be $51. If you believed you were double charged, please call us and we would be happy yo look into that for you.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to provide feedback and if you can think of any other way we can improve our services, please call us at (406)888-5454 and request either Natalie or Brandon. We hope you'll give us another chance to take you out on the water again in the future.
- Natalie Burton
Reservations Manager
Glacier Raft Company