Clapper review
We had such an amazing experience with Even Clapper and his crew of guides. There was a group of about 25 of us (on a work trip) and we split up into 3 different groups based on the experience that we wanted to have. All of our teams had the most amazing time and consider our half day trip to be a bucket list item. Our group had 6 climbers plus our guide, David David David.
When David David David introduced himself to us he said his name three times repeatedly so we would not forget it and we appeased by calling his name 3 times when we needed to grab his attention.
David was the right amount of humor to ease our nerves group with the perfect amount of seriousness to let you know that safety was still his main priority.
David was filled with knowledge about the area along stories that really kept our group engaged.
In David’s off seasons he spends his time traveling and rock climbing around the world. His passion for the environment and what he does for both his job and his hobby really comes through as he leads groups.
At the beginning of the hike we jokingly asked David if he ever had people who won’t rappel once he gets to the top and he explained that although it happens on occasion, more often he has people that he has to coach through the process and talk them through their fears.
Although our team was relatively fit, in shape and eager for the experience of canyoneering, there were several us us who had major nerve as we approached that first drop and were visibly nervous. We joked later that half of David’s job description should be “shrink” as he talked each of us through the process and helped us feel comfortable with walking backwards off a cliff (lol!) I laughed with others in the group that Clapper should charge more because this was as much a self learning and betterment exercise as it was a hike and canyoneering experience
As we were hiking up (at a pretty good clip) we had a group of about 10 people pass us at almost a slow jog carrying their harnesses and helmets in their hand. We all commented about how glad we were to be with our guid David and not the shotty group that passed us. When we had arrived by van at the bottom of our hike, David pulled out a bin that had a backpack for each of us with our helmet, harness, gloves and several bottles of water. We all noticed how the other group seemed so unorganized… about 15 minutes after they passed us, we found a harness laying on the trail that had obviously been dropped by this other group. It drew a stark contrast between Clapper and the other guides that you might find out there. (We picked up the harness and we’re able to get it to the other group when they turned back and we ran into them 20 mins later)
I know that this post is long, thank you for getting this far, but I feel so strongly about Clapper that I wanted to share the specifics as to why I give them a 5 star review. This was a trip with my sister and her work crew but I cannot wait to bring my husband and son back to Moab and share this experience with them.