Thanks for watching my video and I appreciate the comments. I am a former Outward Bound Instructor and I made this video in 2005 but just posted it on You Tube on May 1, 2012

I had a chance to make a demo with a filmmaker. I had this idea to create a public TV show that was kind of like Rick Steves in the backcountry. It was to be the antithesis of all the fake adventure shows on Discovery channel.

We shot this segment without a script or a lot of preparation. He turned on the camera and I just went into OB instructor mode.

I certainly agree that the video needs to be tightened up, nevertheless, it's still better than any other river crossing instructional video I've ever seen on TV or online.

The technique I demonstrate is the standard technique taught by NOLS, Outward Bound, and the Mountaineers.

When I took my NOLS course in 1974 we would just cross in our leather boots and walk until they were dry. The problem with this is twofold. One, this kind of ruins your boots and makes them wear out a lot quicker. Second, let me give you a for instance. You are hiking the AT and it's been raining for seven days straight and you've been hiking in soaking wet boots all week. Now the weather has cleared and last night you finally got your boots dry at the campfire. This morning you have to ford a river. Do you really want to get your boots soaked again? Finally, walking in your boots until they dry is not a viable option for winter trekking.

Back in the seventies I carried a humongous backpack weighing 55-70 pounds on most adventures. Now I carry more like 20-25 pounds. So while my pack is indeed small in the video I would have to say my long-distance backpack is not much larger than the one in the video. No doubt a heavy pack makes everything harder including fording a river. I enjoy "extreme backpacking" these days which I define as a combination of backpacking and class 3 mountaineering. In order to enjoy this sport I have learned I must pack very light. It's hard to self-arrest on a spring snow slope with a large pack.