Meet Leading Lines’ equipment manager, DJ Thomas!
To say DJ likes gear is an astronomical understatement. He’s got more canoes and kayaks in his garage than you have fingers to count them, he’s a whitewater dragon sitting on a hoard of gore-tex and neoprene, and he’s the team’s number one choice for someone who knows their Royalex from their T-Formex. As the trip’s equipment manager he’s in charge of organizing, collecting, and inspecting all the equipment that is necessary to complete the trip, from canoes to AAA batteries.
DJ is more than just a one man paddling encyclopedia however, and he also has the skills to back up his gear recommendations with years of cold water paddling experience on rivers across Ontario and Quebec. His resume includes the French River in Georgian Bay, Rivière Chochocouane near La Verendrye, and Moose River near Moosonee, just to name a few, with the Moose being his favourite trip to date.
DJ surfing on Hero Wave on the Ottawa River.
His personal goal for the trip is to end the Outdoor Adventure program (ODA) on a positive note with an awesome trip and a group of his friends. DJ’s team goal is to reach Montreal as smoothly as possible with minimum hassles or snags and to efficiently deal with any problems that might arise to keep the trip moving.
Following high school DJ desired to pursue his passions of whitewater canoeing and kayaking on a professional level and following the advice of friends who had already completed the program he chose to enroll in Algonquin College’s ODA program. Since then he’s continued to hone his whitewater skills through laps of the Ottawa River balanced with laps of the classroom.
After graduation DJ plans to spend his summer working at Wilderness Tours as a raft guide before heading to BC to work as a tree planter with Wyatt and Lucas. In the long term DJ aims to travel to New Zealand and Mexico to further his career as a whitewater rafting guide and chase summer around the world.
Read more Leading Lines team bios HERE.
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