Ricky
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Raft Guide & Manager
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Office Staff
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Owner
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Coming all the way from Orlando, Florida, Ricky joined Echo in 2015. He came to Colorado after working as a cook in Alaska, in order to be outside and out of the blazing hot kitchen! Ricky thoroughly enjoys travelling; he has visited many places including Australia, Thailand, Japan, Columbia, and the Caribbean. Ricky’s favorite part of the river is the noise the water makes, as it ebbs and flows and becomes incredibly enchanting. Ricky plans to continue rafting and travelling in the future, he hopes to eventually run the Futaleufú in northern Patagonia. In the winter, Ricky works as a dog sled guide and his favorite dog and best friend is Dragon.
Riley trained in 2019 at Echo Canyon and is from all over the United States. Being from a military family, Riley had lived in 16 different houses in 16 different cities by the time she turned 18. She is currently about to take on her second year of school at Colorado College, studying Environmental Studies and Education. Some of Riley’s favorite activities include snowboarding and backpacking, her favorite place being Havasupai Falls in Arizona. Riley’s favorite part about rafting is seeing the facial expressions coming from her guests’ faces and hitting BIG waves.
Alfredo is from Beaumont, Texas. He currently attends Lamar University, is a member of the University Cheerleading team and is ultimately pursuing a career in physiology. Rafting has been a passion of his ever since he went for the first time with his Boy Scout troop over a decade ago. Now Alfredo is one of our trainers here at Echo! One fun fact is that he is fairly fluent in Spanish. So if you want to come rafting but are more comfortable in that language have no fear! In his free time he enjoys fishing, cycling, working out and Disney movies.
Matt is a Cañon City native currently working at Cañon City High. He teaches U.S. history, woodshop and coaches football. He has been rafting on the Arkansas River since 1999, making him one of our most senior guides! Matt especially enjoys the massive waves that inhabit the Royal Gorge during our high water season, and come low water season he fly fishes his way through the sheer cliff walls. He enjoys other rivers in Colorado as well including: the Animas, the Blue, and of course the Colorado River. In his free time you’ll almost always find Matt outside, skiing, fishing, mountain biking or spending time with his wife, son, and dog.
Asa is from Belton, Texas, and is currently enrolled in his second year of college at Texas A&M. While attending this university Asa likes to keep himself buried in extracurriculars like, ULTIMATE FRISBEE!!! He is actually a part of a minor league team and has played against several famous athletes, one being Tony Romo! When Asa isn’t out boating he loves to go explore new mountain biking trails with his Echo Canyon biker gang, and also really enjoys playing the guitar. His favorite part about boating is the changing river and the fact that it’s never the same.
Thor has been here at Echo since before most of our guides were born. He’s known for his impressive trailer backing skills and his awesome handlebar mustache! He’ll always volunteer for the longer drive assignments and he can’t wait for the next river season to start. Thor lives in Cañon City and is a proud Dad and Grandpa. We hope he sticks around Echo a long time.
Hailing from Boise, Idaho, Erica is a part of the 2018 training class here at Echo Canyon. Erica attended Boise State University and graduated with a degree in Hydrology, but now plans to move out to Hawaii and find a job on the big island. When she’s not rafting, Erica finds herself dreaming about the boats, laying in the boats, and sometimes even wanting to be the boats. Why raft with Erica? Because she is quite literally the bomb.com.
Stemming from Silver Spring, Maryland, Joey is another member of our 2019 class of raft guides. Joey is a traveler and has been to over 10 different countries within the last 6 years! He is really into hiking from dawn to dusk up Colorado’s most famous 14’ers, he also really enjoys fishing in the deep blue sea with his friends and hopes to someday be lucky enough to meet The Little Mermaid! Joey’s other hobbies while he’s not rafting include backpacking, learning more about outdoor education, and occasionally participating in eating contests with his best friend Bill. His favorite thing about rafting is that he gets to make families smile all day long:)
He’s been guiding rafts for over 30 years! That’s not a typo, folks; more than 30 years of guiding experience! There’s no place he’d rather be than rafting the Royal Gorge with a paddle crew. As Berto says, “It just keeps getting better every year.” Believe it or not, he has other interests aside from rafting. He enjoys going for hikes with his dog while camping in the Cañon City area, and during the heart of winter he heads to Arizona where he and his parents search out and map Native American ruins. He’s also an avid reader and makes weekly trips to the library to feed that passion. He’s a talented and very knowledgeable senior guide and we feel fortunate to get to boat with him.
Kaycee is from Lake Forrest Washington and attends CU Boulder. She is currently studying Sociology and hopes to make the outdoor industry more accessible in the future. KC became a guide to spend all summer outside, but one of the best parts was the fantastic group of people she got to spend it with. While her future is currently open ended she does plan to go back to school, and wait until next summer, where her only responsibility is to go rafting.
Ben is a Guide and General Manager of Echo Canyon and began working with us in 1994 as a first year raft guide. He keeps busy at Echo with staffing, marketing and social media, but his favorite part of the job is guiding rafts. His home town is Omaha, Nebraska. And in his free free time he likes spending time with his wife, two sons and furry canines. Ben feels very lucky have been able to take so many wonderful rafters down the river, and also that he gets to work with a great group of people.
Originating from Hingham, Massachusetts, Caroline joined our Echo family in 2019 after her debut dancing career was put on hold. Caroline is a previous Dancing With the Stars competitor and her partner Ashton Kutcher is still in contact with her to this day. For school, she attends Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and she is majoring in neuroscience! In her free time here at echo Caroline likes to go hiking, spend time with her friends, and of course go down the Royal Gorge!
Jaime grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, splitting time between his love of the outdoors and cooking in his family’s italian restaurant. In 2018 he went on a rafting trip on the Kennebec River and that sealed the deal – he wanted to be a raft guide. Jaime trained to guide here at Echo in 2019, and loves making sure his rafting crews have a great experience on the river. In his spare time he enjoys rafting with his buddies, making a mean sushi roll, and Patriots football.
Charlie is from Miami, Florida, attended Florida State University and graduated with a degree in Sociology. He was inspired to be a River guide on his very first rafting trip on the Inn River in Austria while on a backpacking trip through Europe; after which he knew he would be a raft guide. He came to Colorado to train with Echo in 2012 because he had read so much about our superior safety standards and intensive training. Charlie loves rafting because of the challenges it presents. He is a huge chess fan and it turns out you can use many of the same skills in both avocations. Both rafting and chess require you to think several moves ahead, if your opponent unravels the puzzle before you, you lose. Charlie enjoys exploring these challenges. He is also passionate about Political Science, cats, and skiing – he spent a recent winter living and working in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Catherine is originally from Sandpoint, Idaho, but has been living and going to school in China for the past few years. She is studying Biology and decided to head to China for better global understanding and the fact that the trip was free helped push her in that direction as well. In her free time Catherine likes to read different books, chat with her friends, and of course having wine and cheese nights with her fellow pink wine enthusiasts.
Freddy is originally from Brookfield, Wisconsin and loves cheese. He has been a guide since 2015 and his favorite part of the river is getting to meet people from all over the world. In his free time, Freddy enjoys hanging out with the boys, playing poker, watching baseball, and wine tours in the Catalina. Freddy is one of our most creative guides and loves to plan activities for the Echo family. One day, he hopes to see world peace.
Spencer has been guiding for the last two decades. He is an eccentric renaissance man, artist, painter, illustrator, poet, playwright, actor, writer, director, MC, photographer, and all around creative whirlwind. Spencer is also an accomplished Eagle Scout, mountaineer, chocolatier, rock climber, mountain biker, snowboarder, skier, and whitewater ninjedi lunatic. When in the real world, Spencer lives and works in Cañon City, Colorado. Spencer is always hard at work and play.
Michelle is our most experienced reservationist at Echo Canyon. She’s worked here since 1996! Michelle can help a guest with questions and complete a phone reservation faster than the average raft run through Sunshine Rapid (average Sunshine run time is 16.9 seconds with a light breeze and moderate river flow). Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating a little, but she’s pretty fast! She’s a teacher at RE-1 School District when not at Echo. She also likes to travel, spend time with her niece and she’s a huge fan of anything Disney.
Jac is from Columbus, Ohio, and studied Social Work at Capital University. Her mom took her on her first rafting adventure down the Gauley when she was 16 years old and ever since she was hooked. She came to Echo in 2015 to train, and earned the nickname “Corndog” after eating 38 corn dogs after a particularly long day of training. One day, Jac hopes to climb all of Colorado’s 14ers, powered exclusively by corn dogs.
Andy is our fearless leader and owner of Echo Canyon. He grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and started guiding rafts while in school, just like a lot of our guides today. Now let’s not do any math on his age, but he’s been working in the rafting industry for the past three decades years, the second half of which as the owner of Echo. He’s very active and dedicated to the industry as a whole, involved in the Colorado River Outfitters Association, Arkansas River Outfitters Association, Pikes Peak Country Area Attractions and Colorado Springs Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, just to name a few. He absolutely loves floating rivers (he picked the right profession, right?), and he gets on the river every chance he gets. He and his wife, Karen, have three kids who all play a role in the business as well. They love being able to raise their kids in the fun environment of a rafting company. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with family. All of us here at Echo feel fortunate to work with Andy.
Don worked for the federal government for 22 years, retired, and then he realized that he’s not very good at being retired. So he got his Commercial Driver’s License and started driving buses for Echo Canyon in the summers and for the school district the rest of the year. Before and after work, Don enjoys riding ATVs, checking out old ghost towns, and visiting his four daughters.
From Akron, Ohio (home of LeBron James), Craig trained at Echo Canyon in 2015. He has previously taught history at Northwest High School in Ohio. Craig loves history; he feels the greatest thing about it is that it’s made everyday. His favorite historical event just might be the Cavaliers 2016 NBA Championship run, we aren’t sure we’ve ever seen someone more excited! Craig enjoys rafting because he gets to crack jokes with the boys while also crushing big waves. Eventually he dreams of going down the Grand Canyon and the Congo River. Craig also wants to eventually visit all the National Parks, he has already knocked out 17 of them! DOWN WITH THE DAMS! FREE THE RIVERS!
West is from Richmond, Virginia, and oh man, that southern accent makes it pretty obvious that he’s just a good ol’ country boy. Currently, West is enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University and is getting his major in Recreation and Park Administration with a concentration in Natural Resource Management. As all good ol’ country boys do, West spends his free time hunting and fishing with his buddies. West decided to come out and be a guide because of the fact that he loves Colorado and he loves to spread his knowledge of fish/animal species with his guests!
Josh has been a guide since 2016, hails from Cañon City and is attending University of Colorado, Boulder. When training at Echo we spend a substantial amount of time swimming and cultivating the skills to flip boats over that occasionally capsize. Josh found this component of training to be especially exhilarating! Travelling will likely be a big part of Josh’s future; until then if you’re lucky enough to have him as your river guide you’ll see that he has the biggest dimples on the Arkansas River.
Jenny graduated from Kansas State University where she ran cross country and track. She is from Fulton, Missouri, and has been guiding at Echo since 2016. Jenny had been studying all night and at 3 am in the morning googled cool jobs in Colorado; the rest is history! She loves being outside all day and can’t wait for the upcoming summer!
Coming from Edmond, Oklahoma, Stew is yet another one of our Oklahoma boys.In the off season, Stew attends the University of Central Oklahoma and is majoring in Outdoor Recreation. Some of Stew’s favorite activities include, mountain biking, climbing with his buddy Peter, and of course boating. Stew previously worked for Northstar in Tahoe as a ski patroller and fell in love with the sport itself. His favorite part about boating is pushing himself to new limits and constantly improving! Stew likes to say “a calm sea does not make a skilled sailor”.
Morgan Truelove is from Traverse City, Michigan. He attended Central Michigan University and studied Secondary Education, English and Math. Truelove works as a teacher in Loveland at Lucile Erwin Middle School and has been guiding since 2010. When he isn’t rafting you can probably find Truelove rock climbing, ice climbing, or drinking copious amounts of coffee. Rocky Mountain National Park is his favorite place in the world, he could spend an infinite amounts of time there with his wife. When it comes to rafting he of course loves all the big waves during our high water season and the family aspect the river community lends.
Bridget is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She majored in psychology in school and plans to get her master abroad in Ireland and then teach. Bridget had never done anything like raft guiding before coming to Echo Canyon River Expeditions in 2017 and she was ready for a new adventure. Being able to learn new skills during the summers is probably her favorite part about her time here. Aside from rafting, Bridget also plays lacrosse, field hockey, and the guitar. Eventually she wants to hike the El Camino trail through the entirety Spain! Her advice for those of you looking to come train, “use your fear to fuel you!”
Grant is originally from Chicago but spent most his childhood in Utah. He studies film at Utah Valley and ultimately would like to direct movies. Grant has always liked movies, especially the artistic side. Grant was inspired to be a raft guide after going on a class V rafting trip in New Zealand. His guide’s name was Ants, which is short for Anthony in Kiwi. Grant decided right then and there that he wanted to be doing the same thing, and trained at Echo in 2017. In the future he wants to go to Gauley Fest and Gore Canyon. His favorite movie is No Country for Old Men and if you hop on his boat you can discuss all the great movies with him!
Nick is a Canon City local, currently attending Colorado Mesa. He studies Radiologic Technology and hopes to work in a hospital after he graduates. Nick has a brother that was a guide on the Animus in Durango, which was a large contributing factor in Nick wanting to be a raft guide; that and the fact that he gets to spend all his time with his best friends Phil and Josh. Nick loved growing up in Canon City and it’s even better when he gets to take people out on a trip and show them the beautiful area he grew up in. He will be back in school this winter, and then back to rafting in the summer!
A native to Cañon City, Gillian is the youngest guide at Echo Canyon! She is going into her first year of college at the University of Denver and is going for a major in international studies. Gillian was the valedictorian at her high school and has been playing soccer for as long as she can remember. She has a special place in her heart for Cristiano Ronaldo and hopes that he’ll see this and give her a call. In her freetime, Gillian likes to hang out with Rosa, her best friend in the entire world, go rock climbing, and go hiking.
Karlyn a.k.a. Karl comes straight outta Wisconsin and is a huge advocate for everything in her state. She’s studying nursing and loves to treat everyone’s booboos here at Echo Canyon. While on the boat with Karl you’ll notice her very strong accent, so be sure to have her say “bag” for you at least 5 times. She loves to give speeches about her favorite foods like cheese curds, yogurt, and the fact that she loves eating bread in the mornings. As Karl likes to say, WISCONSIN OR DIE!
The Karson Kosanke is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has lived on a big ranch with his 7 siblings his whole life. Karson was homeschooled by his beloved mother from 1st grade all the way until high school. You’ll usually recognize him based on his one of a kind fashion sense. He is a huge jorts and cowboy boots fan and if he had it his way he would wear them down the river. Karson is taking a gap year to “find himself” while working at Keystone doing Mountain Safety. He can play four different instruments: the flute, the french horn, the guitar, and the classic piano.
A Colorado native, Ritchie is from the Denver area and has lived in the mountains for her whole life. She attends CU Boulder and is working on getting her degree in Biology. She enjoys long walks in the park with her pet pig, Pig Floyd. Her most recent hobby has been partaking in basket weaving at the local community center. She hopes to one day get good enough to be able to underwater basket weave.
Jef is a first year guide at Echo Canyon and is going into her last year of school at the University of Michigan. She studies Behavioral Neuroscience and uses that knowledge to attempt to communicate with the bighorn sheep. She decided to become a raft guide because she believes splashing and laughing soothes the soul. In her free time Jef likes to go on long drives through the mountains by herself to see if she can find the bighorn sheep to test her magical powers.
Colton “the man” Kirschbaum is from the beautiful state of Minnesota, but he spends ¾ of the year surrounded by corn fields while he attends Iowa State University, majoring in Floral Studies. He’s a HUGE frolfer guy and loves to throw disks around with his totally rad brother, Dillon. He loves going on long walks on the beach, especially when the sun is setting over the tall stalks of corn in the distance. He likes ice cream cones and enjoys a nice pair of slacks.
Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater is from California and is a teacher when he’s not taking families down the Arkansas River. You’ll notice that he is a very active guy and can balance on things that very few people can. Peter is one of the best rock climbers that we have here at Echo Canyon, but that’s not all that Peter does. Some other activities include surfing in CA, hiking, hitting the skatepark with his buddy Keiran, and doing random things with his bestie Wilco.
Coming from the peach state, Wilco is a student at Georgia Tech when he’s not splashing his way down the Arkansas River. He’s studying Mechanical Engineering and is going into his junior year of college. He has many hidden talents up his sleeve and enjoys playing chess and rock climbing with his best friend Peter whenever he has free time. Wilco is also in a band at school and has BIG dreams of becoming a famous musician. Don’t be afraid to ask for a private concert – Wilco loves to sing to people as they go down the river!
Baker is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and attends the University of Central Oklahoma. He is in his third year of studying Outdoor Community Recreation, and plans to someday become a motivational speaker to outdoor enthusiasts. Some of his favorite activities include picking out new short shorts at the mall, running, and biking up and down 8 mile hill. Baker wants everyone to know that if you get on his boat you’ll be crushing big waves and laughing all the way down the Arkansas River.
Hailing from the big city of Los Angeles, Bill is another one of our guides who trained in 2019. When he’s not rafting in the summers, Bill attends Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. He is currently studying Mechanical Engineering and hopes to someday build a rocket ship and make it to the moon! One of Bill’s greatest achievements here at Echo is becoming the all time eating contest champion. Bill’s goal is to eventually someday become a rubber raft mechanic and his favorite part of rafting is keeping the people wet and himself dry.
Coming from Holland, Michigan, Sara is another member of our 2019 training class. For school she attended the National Outdoor Leadership School (AKA NOLS) and is now planning on working with kids nannying and managing the local ice cream shop in her town for the off season. In her free time Sara likes to channel her inner Dora the Explorer and go climb and search for historical sites around the areas close to the river with her BFF Charlie. Sara is a black belt in karate and has the dream goal of someday living the #vanlife.
Ramzi, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, trained to guide in 2019 at Echo but had guided previously in Wisconsin. In Ramzi’s off-season he likes to hike around Boulder losing himself in the trees. Some of his favorite things besides being on a raft are, mountains, feeling the breeze through his hair, hanging out by the beach, and in the winter he thrives while snowboarding and skiing. Ramzi’s motto is to take everyday one giggle at a time, go boating with him and you will have the best time EVER.
