River Guides

Sierra Mac Crew, 1972 Marty McDonnell, Dale Cunningham, Bill Hannah, Chris Condon, Bob Perdue

Our guides are the best on the river—hands down. No company has more river miles and expertise on the T than the Sierra Mac crew. All are exceptional navigators and have advanced certifications in river rescue and wilderness first aid. Sharing their love for rivers and providing a thoroughly enjoyable experience is their number one priority.

—Marty McDonnell, Outfitter

Aaron Cavagnolo	Chris Condon
Adam Crom	Alitia Danciu
Ben Fadely	Jeff Hall
Will Lundy	Andrew McDonnell
Tom McDonnell	Zoë McDonnell
Gil Phelps	Danny Salazar
Olga Shevchenko	Forrest Stanley
Clint Weakley

Aaron Cavagnolo Coach of champion women's water polo team at University of Michigan River Expertise: professional guide since 1993 Guide Class: V+ Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Salmon; Elsewhere—Grand Canyon (Arizona), Middle Fork Salmon (Idaho), Rogue (Oregon). Colca (Peru), Futaleufu (Chile), several in New Zealand Off-Season Employment: civil engineer, high school math teacher Home Base: Los Gatos, California ↩

Chris Condon SMRT Operations Manager; has navigated Cherry Creek and the Main Tuolumne more than anyone River Expertise: professional guide since 1967 Guide Class: V+ Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Yuba, Stanislaus, Merced, Salmon; Elsewhere—Grand Canyon (Arizona), Nenana (Alaska) Off-Season Employment: builder/landscaper Home Base: Columbia, California ↩

Adam Crom Revered by peers as being the best navigator in the business River Expertise: professional guide since 1982 Guide Class: V+ Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Merced; Elsewhere—Owyhee (Oregon) Off-Season Employment: builder/contractor Home Base: Modesto, California ↩

Alitia Danciu Only woman currently certified to guide on Cherry Creek River Expertise: professional guide since 1997 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Merced, Kings Off-Season Employment: currently studying to be a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner Home Base: Portland, Oregon ↩

Ben Fadley Has done several first descents and pioneered new rafting runs in Asia and the Eastern Himalaya River Expertise: professional guide since 1988 Guide Class: V+ Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Merced; Elsewhere—Futaleufu (Chile), Nile (Ethiopia), Grand Canyon (Arizona), Yangtze and Mekong (China), Korah (Turkey) Off-Season Employment: year-round guide Home Base: Chico, California ↩

Jeff Hall River Expertise: professional guide since 1991 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Stanislaus Off-Season Employment: landscape contractor Home Base: Modesto, California ↩

Will Lundy Scuba instructor, ballroom dance instructor, banjo player River Expertise: professional guide since 1995 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Scott, Trinity, Klamath; Oregon—Rogue Off-Season Employment: disaster relief Home Base: Chico, California ↩

Andrew McDonnell Sierra Mac's web master River Expertise: family guide since 1998 Rivers Navigated: Tuolumne, Grand Canyon of the Colorado Off-Season Employment: computer systems engineer Home Base: Oakland, California ↩

Tom McDonnell 6'7" tall and can juggle 7 balls at once River Expertise: professional guide since 2004 Guide Class: IV Rivers Professionally Navigated: Tuolumne, Merced, Kings, Grand Canyon of the Colorado Off-Season Employment: yoga Instructor, caretaker Home Base: Sonora, CA ↩

Zoë McDonnell Extraordinary ballerina River Expertise: professional guide since 2004 Guide Class: III Rivers Professionally Navigated: Kings, Green, Yampa Off-Season Employment: dance and art student Home Base: Amherst, MA                                                                                                                         ↩

Gil Phelps Extraordinary wilderness chef, artist, utopian therapist River Expertise: professional guide since 1978 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: California—Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Merced; Oregon—Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua, John Day Off-Season Employment: year-round guide Home Base: his pickup truck ↩

Danny Salazar Kayaks Cherry Creek every chance he gets River Expertise: professional guide since 2002 Guide Class: IV Rivers Professionally Navigated: Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne Off-Season Employment: environmental Consultant Home Base: Fort Bragg, California                                                                                 ↩

Olga Schevchenko Former member of national Soviet women's rafting team River Expertise: professional guide since 1984 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: numerous throughout former USSR, Asia, Europe, Central America and the United States Off-Season Employment: civil engineer Home Base: Santa Rosa, California ↩

Forrest Stanley Photographer River Expertise: professional guide since 1988 Guide Class: V Rivers Professionally Navigated: Cherry Creek, Main Tuolumne, Grand Canyon of the Colorado Off-Season Employment: builder, photographer, sound mixer Home Base: Columbia, California ↩

Clint Weakley Married Monica, the best-looking woman in Groveland River Expertise: professional guide since 2003 Guide Class: IV Rivers Professionally Navigated: Main Tuolumne, Merced Off-Season Employment: builder/contractor Home Base: Groveland, California                                                                                 ↩

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Sierra Mac River Rafting Trips Marty McDonnell - Outfitter P.O. Box 264 • Groveland, CA 95321 Reservations 800.457.2580 E-mail catalog@sierramac.com

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