Meet Our Adirondack Guides & Staff

Pete

The man, the myth, the legend! Pete grew up along the Hudson River, and he’s managed to work on it for over thirty years, thus avoiding the pitfalls of a real job. When he’s not running BBO you can find Pete perfecting his golf game, flying small planes, and playing the dobro in the widely acclaimed “dad band” Kringewurthy. He unwisely relinquished control of the website to his daughter, who can choose whatever pictures she likes for the staff page.

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Bone

No last name needed. Bone is co-owner of Beaver Brook and is the general manager at Gore Mountain. Make sure to contact him directly with any and all questions regarding winter, skiing and how the heck chairlifts stay in the air. Along with being an exceptional outdoorsman and guide, Bone plays a mean guitar and is one half of the world renowned duo BoneDoctor, #BoneDoctorworlddominationtour He is also one heck of a story teller and clearly figured out the slideshow feature. Ask him about the time he played harmonica at the opening ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.

Cassandra

Cassandra is daughter number one in the Burns family.  She manages BBO alongside Pete and they try to finish the father-daughter bickering before anyone else gets to the office. Cassandra is the lunch lady, HR department, and tech support  — sometimes all at once. Cassandra has 15 seasons of guiding under her belt and while she loves whitewater, she doesn’t really like getting wet. But as you can see here, she doesn’t have a problem dosing her crew with water.

Diana

Hey, you don’t think Pete could have done this on his own, do you? Pete’s wife Diana (aka Queen Beave) pitches in all over the Beaver Brook empire, making tasty food, giving our gardens love, and jumping into whatever tasks need doing. She’s also a physical therapist, which is definitely handy to have around. When she’s not at the Beave, you can find Diana painting, kayaking with her rat pack of kayaker chicks, or checking in on one of her many gardens.

Autumn

Bone’s wife, librarian, part-time whitewater guide, and full-time fun-haver. Autumn is a heck of a whitewater guide, a tubing pro, and one of the funniest people at the Beave (which is saying something). When she’s not guiding or at the library, you can find Autumn learning the ins and outs of graphic design and creating hit products like Buck Bait, which is clinically proven to attract only deer with more than 26 points.

Buzz Saw

We truly don’t know how he got his name, but Buzz is always dressed for success. Buzz has been guiding the Hudson for as long as we can remember and is one of our most requested whitewater guides. Buzz is also the inventor of the Ocho-Opener, (patent pending). The Ocho 4.0 is at the Beave right now, come give it a test run. Buzz is quick to smile and his guests always have a great time. Just don’t look the dragon in the eye.

Marnie

Marnie is a Peace Corps vet, Special Ed teacher, and a longtime Hudson guide. She has a long list of badass credits to her name but is too humble to brag about them. At the Beave, she keeps us laughing, makes sure our lunches are in order, gives a darn good safety talk, churns out happy customers, and pumps everyone up for Dress Up Day on the river. Marnie loves a good Dress Up Day, and if you’re lucky enough to be in her boat that day, you will too. Marnie met her husband Mikey (see below) on the river and together they’re two of the best guides (and cat owners) on the water.

Chad

Chad has 20+ years of guiding experience on the Hudson Gorge (maybe more?? we can’t count that high). He’s also a high school science teacher who taught about 10 of our other guides while they were in school. Luckily, he doesn’t make guide trainees dissect frogs as part of their training. Chad is also the bass player in Kringewuthy and he takes requests, make sure to yell Freebird at their next gig.

Mikey

Mikey contains multitudes: he’s Marnie’s husband (see above), an excellent cat dad, a top-notch realtor, a VW enthusiast, and a longtime whitewater guide. Mikey is also singlehandedly keeping the whitewater canoeing tradition alive and can roll one of those crazy crafts if you can believe it. At the Beave he guides whitewater trips and fixes all the boats that need fixin’, so thank Mikey if you make it to the bottom still afloat.

Mel

Mel is the Hudson Gorge photographer extraordinaire and the mastermind behind Dress Up Day. With over 35 years of whitewater photography under her PFD, you can bet she’s going to get some good action shots of your crew. Mel is also a silversmith, potter, and all-around badass. When you see the lady in the tree it’s not a mirage, it’s Mel capturing your good side.

Siobhan

Siobhan is Mel’s right-hand woman and an excellent river photographer. She spent many years guiding before switching to taking photos, so she knows how hard it is angle your boat the right direction for photos and takes pity on us. If the photographer on the side of the river is managing to take your picture while wearing a baby and keeping tabs on a toddler leashed to a tree, you’ll know it’s Siobhan.

Marko

Once upon a time, Marko ran a competing rafting company. He “retired” but, luckily for us he just can’t seem to let go of his guide stick. Pete and Marko have lived across the street from each other for decades, and have been known to terrorize their neighbors by talking to one another other using megaphones. If you’ve met Marko before, you know he’s got plenty of volume without a megaphone. If you’re lucky enough to spend the day in a boat with him (or have him officiate your wedding) you’ll also be yelling “BEST DAY EVER!”

Emily

Emily is Burns daughter number 2. Even though she lives in Maine now and doesn’t get home to guide that often, she has taken up winter surfing to fulfill every raft guide’s need to be wet, cold, and covered in neoprene. Emily is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and can yell paddle commands at you in whatever language you choose! She’s also in law school which should make translating our waivers from legalese to raft guide speak easier for us.

Sam

Sam is Burns daughter number 2.5 and twin sister to Emily. Sam splits her time between New York and Idaho, only coming home to guide once the water has warmed up to a balmy temperature and all the bugs are gone. She spends the rest of the year working as an editor for an education tech company, coming up with one-liners, and sitting as close to the heater as she can get without burning herself.

Paul

Paul is a full time professor at Siena College and prefers to spend his free time outdoors. He’s a ski instructor at Gore in the winter and enjoys rafting, hiking and fishing in the summer. A long-time customer, Paul made the excellent decision to take the guide stick into his own hands.

The Brothers Harrison

With a combined height of appx 16 feet and an extremely high center of gravity, we’re not sure how Liam and Patrick manage to stay in their boats. Liam and Patrick are second-generation Hudson River guides and pretty darn good ones at that. When they aren’t guiding rafts you can find Patrick working in the forestry industry and Liam working as a mechanical engineer. They are an entertaining pair — if you hear two eerily similar booming chuckles don’t be alarmed, it’s just the Brothers Harrison.

Dave

Dave left a job in corporate America behind and moved north to live the rural dream up here with us. Looks like he’s adjusting well although he may want to not use this as a LinkedIn photo in the future. Dave guides Hudson River Gorge and overnight trips for us regularly and works full-time running his lodge, The Llama House. If you’re looking for someone who can guide your boat while giving corporate consulting advice in a coconut bra, Dave’s your man.

Madeleine

Madeleine “Fastest Saw in the East” Desrochers comes to us from the great state of Vermont by way of SUNY ESF where she was MVP of the Woodsman Team. Here at the Beave, Madeleine jumps in doing whatever needs doing, from answering the phone, to guiding trips and packing overnights. She may have one of the broadest skill sets here since she can make you a curried chicken salad wrap and then chop down a tree with an axe in under two minutes. She’s currently working on her Master’s and keeping us all organized, which is easier said than done.

Pat

Pat likes rafting and Pat likes Phish. Sometimes Pat takes other people who like Phish rafting. Pat is also an excellent guide and a very nice human being. He works during the school year as a history teacher. If you need to brush up on US History or forgot the lyrics to Sample in a Jar, Pat’s your guy.

Leon Scott

A few days a week, the migratory path of the Eastern Sasquatch happens to bring Leon Scott from Killington, VT to the Hudson River Gorge. A little-known fact is that the Eastern Sasquatch is equally at home in the water as it is on land. Leon Scott guides day and overnight trips on the Hudson Gorge and leaves terrifying footprints on the riverbank. Supposedly he also is a mountain bike guide at Killington but we’re unsure how the laws of physics apply there.

Clayton

Clayton is a second-generation guide with the best collection of Hawaiian shirts this side of the Mississippi. He spent his younger years going on rafting trips with his dad Marko (see above) and like most of us who grew up around rafting, can’t seem to escape its pull. When Clayton isn’t guiding whitewater, tubing, and kayaking trips, you can find him at SUNY Cortland where we’re pretty sure he’s majoring in frisbee.

Frank

Frank is a man of many talents — during the summer he guides whitewater, during the school year he teaches Science, during the fall he guides hunting, and he flies planes all year round. Frank’s a regular Renaissance man.

Brendan

Yes, Brendan is tall. Brendan is also lots of other things! Here are some of the other things Brendan is good at besides being tall: guiding boats, picking things up and putting them down, drinking capri sun, playing rugby, digging holes and telling half-true guide stories. Also reaching things on the top shelf. He is tall, after all. During the spring and fall, you can find Brendan guiding boats at the Beave, but then he heads west during the summers to guide multi-day trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

Andrew

We’re fairly sure Andrew has more fun than pretty much anyone else on the river. If you end up in his boat you will definitely be giggling with him within 5 minutes. Andrew guides Hudson and overnight trips here at the Beave and we hear he can start a campfire MacGyver style with whatever you hand him. In the off season he works construction and should look into teaching laugh yoga classes because he could make a killing.

Aaron

If you look closely, you might be able to spot part of Aaron in this picture. Aaron spent over a decade safety kayaking and guiding whitewater all over Idaho before becoming an RN. At the Beave, he pitches in to row overnight gear, deliver boats, and back up a trailer when things get a little dicey. If you want to see what his top half looks like, check out Marko’s picture where you can see him getting hitched to Cassandra.

Jake

When Jake gets tired of the city lights and fast-paced life in his hometown of Newcomb, he comes to the Beave to guide whitewater trips on the Hudson. Jake is a SUNY ESF grad and manages outreach at the ESF Newcomb campus, putting together science programming and workshops for all sorts of groups. When he’s not guiding, you can find Jake paddling, running, and working on that righteous mustache.

Mike

Some guides may lie to you and tell you that they’re doing a geological survey when they find themselves stuck on a rock, but there’s a good chance that Mike might actually be doing one. He’s a geologist with the DEC and knows his schist (sorry). In the summer, Mike guides whitewater trips on the Hudson and he spends his winters hunting for the perfect pow stash.

Benny

Benny’s name is a lot like his haircut — business in the front, party in the back — Ben in the front country, Benny in the backcountry. He guides all sorts of trips here at the Beave including whitewater rafting, tubing, and canoeing. Benny is a college student at Paul Smiths and is originally from Norway by way of New Jersey. When he’s not guiding, you can find Benny whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, eating his weight in yogurt, and teaching us Norwegian curse words on the deck after work.

Therese

Therese is an ADK native who guides whitewater rafting and tubing trips at the Beave. You may also catch her in the office where she answers the phone and helps keep the organizational ship upright. Therese has degrees in sustainable design and she is also a graphic design whiz who whips up fun artwork for us at the drop of a hat. On her days off, you can find Therese paddleboarding, skiing, and trying her best to keep her bossy old dog Gracie and her puppy Nova in line, which is easier said than done.

Bean

Bean spends most of their time at the Beave in Tube Town where they guide trips, manage the logistics of the day, and look like a boss while driving the minibus. Bean is originally from Pennsylvania, but has lived in Upstate NY for the past few years. On days off, you can catch Bean exploring new parts of NY, biking all over the place, and cultivating the best earring collection the Beave has ever seen.

Erin

Erin works at the Beave as a tubing guide and all-around go-getter. Erin is also an illustrator and hones their craft by drawing the day-to-day events at the Beave. Erin has a particular knack for doodling the hilarious moments of tubing trips and leaving them in conspicuous places for us to find later. Erin is headed to RIT in the fall to continue their art education and to let their ears have a break from the sound of the tube blower.