Essential Eligibility

Our number one goal on trips is to ensure your safety. To help you identify the skills you will need to successfully and safely participate in a guided overnight canoe trip with Border Lakes Tour Company, we have laid out the following Essential Eligibility Criteria. 

If you are unable to meet any of the criteria below, please get in touch with us. We are eager to work with you to make accommodations! We may be unable to make an accommodation if it would change the trip's fundamental nature, compromise your safety or the safety of other participants or guides, or place an undue financial or administrative burden on Border Lakes Tour Company.

General Eligibility Requirements

After instruction, with the assistance of a parent or guardian on the trip, each guest must …

  • Be able to understand verbal and/or visual instructions.

  • Be able to understand basic safety instructions or directions in English in an emergency.

  • Be able to communicate personal distress, injury, or need for assistance. 

  • Be self-sufficient in basic self-care and hygiene, such as hydration, nourishment, bathroom use, and dress. 

  • Be able to adhere to medication and treatment plans outlined by parent/guardians and medical professional(s) if needed.

  • Be able to refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, controlled substances (including THC), and misuse of prescription or OTC drugs. 

  • Be able to understand environmental and equipment-related risks when explained and follow instructions related to those risks even if guide is not present.

  • Be able to contribute to and maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for self and group members.

  • Be able to respect the wilderness environment and adhere to Leave No Trace principles. 

  • Be able to walk unassisted or minimally assisted over uneven terrain.

Additional Requirements for Canoeing

After instruction, with the assistance of a parent or guardian on the trip, each guest must:

  • Be able to wear a Personal Flotation Device and maintain a face-up position in the water while wearing a PFD.

  • Be able to sit in a canoe for up to 3-5 hours a day with stretch breaks as needed.

  • Be able to grip and control a paddle.

  • Be able to enter and exit a canoe with minimal or no assistance.

  • Be able to re-enter a canoe from the water with minimal or no assistance.

Additional Requirements for Overnight Trips

  • Be able to adapt to the physical and emotional rigors of a wilderness environment, at minimum a day from advanced medical care, for the entire length of the wilderness trip.  

  • Be able to spend the night in a wilderness environment without basic amenities, sleeping on variable surfaces in a tent with an inflatable sleeping pad and sleeping bag.

  • Be able and willing to contribute to group tasks and responsibilities. 

  • Be able to carry packs and other gear items weighing up to 20 pounds or more over rough terrain for up to 1 mile with rest breaks as needed.


Additional Requirements for Overnight Backpacking Trips

  • Be able to carry a 30 pound pack over uneven terrain for 3-5 hours or a distance of at least 5 miles.