Sam Milne (Head Instructor)

Position:: Instructor, Transport Co-ordinator, Repair Technician, Store Assistant
Length of service:: Since 2010
Favourite trip:: The Styx River on the West Coast because you can walk rather than pay for a chopper, and a range of difficulty exists so everyone can come along.
Favourite boats:: Large nomad – for creeking and doing scary stuff. Has loads of volume, and it's light, fast, and helps keep you the right way up most of the time.; Dagger RPM – Hands down the best boat for learning in and progressing through intermediate river running. Learning to roll is made easy with low sides allowing even the smallest or most inflexible kayaker to wrap around the boat, they have a rounded hull making resistance very low. They are also fast and with defined edges so they're great for learning to carve, eddie turn, and surf waves.
Favourite paddles:: Adventure Technology – AT2
Countries paddled:: New Zealand
Qualifications:: NZOIA Kayak 1, Degree in Outdoor Recreation & Adventure Education, Level 7 White-Water Kayak, P-Class Passenger Drivers Licence, Pre Hospital Emergency Care & Outdoor First Aid, Mountain Safety Council: Stage 1 Avalanche.

I learned to kayak at high school and was hooked right away. I then did my Outdoor Education degree at CPIT in Christchurch and paddled hard for three years as often as I could. Most of that paddling was around Murchison, The West Coast, Hurunui, and Rangitata.

Through the winter I still kayak, but I also do lots of skiing and have my patrollers ‘Avalanche 1’ award. I spent countless hours studying weather maps for the Avalanche award - it comes in handy for planning kayak trips as well.

In the summer you’ll find me: driving multi-sporters around Canterbury as they train for the Coast to Coast; at Living Springs teaching rolling, in the shop, or out on the water.