Meet our Guides and Staff
Our professional whitewater raft guides at Adirondac Rafting Company strive to provide the best possible experience for you and your family.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation maintains a program for the licensing of outdoor guides. From rock climbing to fishing, this program serves to ensure that outfitters provide their guests with talented and professional guides equipped with the skills necessary to provide a fun and safe whitewater rafting experience. Adirondac Rafting Company guides are the best on the river with vast whitewater and wilderness experience.
The award-winning Adirondac Rafting Company guide team are the 2019 reigning champions of the Hudson River Raft Guide Olympics. We have won the event four times out of the five years it has been held.
It’s a great event for the guides to exhibit their rope work, paddling ability, and whitewater safety skills. You can be sure that there are equal parts camaraderie and competition. We welcome the opportunity to show off our skills and show our support for local businesses and the Hudson River whitewater community.
It’s all good family fun, but make no mistake: We come to win!
Brad is the son of Bob & Kerry, he was practically born in whitewater and when he is not busy guiding trips he is busy teaching Math, Physics, coaching, etc.
They say that behind every great man is a great woman, and so it is the same for our great rafting company.
Bob started Adirondac Rafting Company back in 1997 and has been guiding trips through the Hudson Gorge since the mid 1980’s, yikes.
Bob’s wife, is the nice gal you meet at the River base and most likely chatted with you on the phone. She has a fine collection of Adirondac Rafting items in the store.
Alissa Rafferty, daughter of Bob & Kerry grew up with big brother Brad on the river, she is quite busy with The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservacy.
Carrie is a well-traveled Adirondack mountain woman with a very wide variety of interests and expertise. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone with a wider breadth of knowledge regarding the Adirondack region. She knows every wave in the Hudson Gorge.
Guide TJ is the King of whitewater surfing. TJ spends his winters on Ski Patrol at Whiteface Mountain.
Dan is our go to family Specialist River Guide and once in a while one of his own lucky kids jumps in a raft with Dad. He also does some great work on the digital end of things here at ARC. Don’t let Dan know I edited his info in.
Guide Willoughby is one of these guides who thought they had a real job, then realized that rafting was his real job. It’s fun to see former accountants, pharmaceutical reps and insurance agents put on the Tevas and leave their Oxfords behind forever. Now his office is in the back of the raft.
Sandy is an Adirondack Renaissance woman! She works as an art teacher, coach, photographer, and raft guide. She‘s easily one of the most experienced guides on the river. When she’s not guiding in the back of a raft, you can usually find her floating alongside in a kayak providing safety and support for the trip.
Big Wheels has achieved Celebrity Guide Emeritus status at ARC, returning periodically as a special guest star! After guiding with us for many years, Billy founded the Experience Outdoors zip lines and ropes course near Lake Placid. We encourage you to check it out!
Jeff is the ultimate all-season back-country Adirondack guide. As comfortable behind the controls of his plane as he is with a paddle in his hand, Jeff runs the river with the best of them. Rafting the mighty Hudson with Guide Jeff is half party, half adventure, and 100% whitewater fun.
Len is one of the original guides from the beginning of recreational whitewater rafting on the Upper Hudson River. His experience literally traverses five decades. When Len was a rookie guide the glaciers were receding and there were still mammoths wandering about. He knows the botany of the Hudson River Gorge better than anybody due to his role as a Head Forester formerly managing the woods around the river.
Greg is a champion ski racer and works as a ski patroller nationally. His keen eye and attention for detail makes him a valued and integral member of the ARC family. His positive energy, tremendous river knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport of rafting is legendary. His guide spiel is a master class in whitewater paddling and river lore.
Mack is an extraordinary outdoor educator and guide, renowned for his exceptional leadership in the realm of outdoor adventure sports. Armed with a bachelors in Expeditionary Studies from SUNY Plattsburgh, he has unleashed his insatiable thirst for excitement through a captivating odyssey of work, travel, and exploration. His daring escapades encompass invigorating sea kayaking escapades in the untamed Pacific Northwest, as well as the heart-pounding role of a masterful whitewater kayak and rafting guide on a multitude of the exhilarating rivers that crisscross our remarkable nation. Notably, his expertise also extends right to our own backyard, the awe-inspiring Adirondacks!