Nick Prete - Soul Rafter

Nick Prete Profile

Who is Nick Prete?

Nick Prete is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, visual story teller, and raft guide who recently traded his van down by the river for his new home in Northern California. His video series "Soul Rafter" follows his adventures around the world running more and more new rivers each year. Season 1 consisted of 18 new rivers and he is currently in his second season attempting to run 19 new rivers in 2019. Nick hopes to cultivate more interest in the sport of rafting by sharing adventures from all over the world.

Nick’s Gear List

Nick demands a lot from his gear and he puts his faith in some of the best whitewater rafting equipment to keep up with his ongoing adventures. Check out Nick’s rafting gear list and find out which outdoor gear he trusts to keep him safe on the water.

WRSI Current Helmet

Immersion Research Arch Rival Drysuit

Astral Green Jacket

Astral Brewer Shoes

Sawyer Freefall XD Paddle

Sawyer MX Oars

NRS Otter Series Raft

Watershed Ocoee Drybag

GoPro Hero 4

Jack’s Plastic Paco Pad

Soul Rafter

Soul Rafter features a ton of guest rafters as well as some of our ambassador team as Nick and his wife Juniper take on new sections of river.

Season 1 of Soul Rafter brought Nick throughout the American Southwest during spring runoff, followed him on adventures during his summer guiding season in Alaska, and ending the season in style with some hard core Appalachian Whitewater by rafting some of the best rivers for whitewater rafting on the East Coast of the United States.

Season 2 features Nick’s adventures in California during the winter and spring. Summer brought some special features during season 2 after Nick and Juniper got married. For their honeymoon they headed to Europe to explore the Tara River in Slovenia. Then they headed to the French Alps to meet up with our friends at Crazy Water Rafting for some exciting French Rivers.

Subscribe for more rivers to come in 2018! insta - @pretenick The Royal Gorge section of the Arkansas River is a sight to behold. Here we whitewater raft this section at 300 CFS in March 2018. First episode of Soul Rafter's 18 rivers in 2018 series where Nick Prete attempts to paddle 18 new rivers in 2018.
The Green River flows from Colorado to Utah and has some of the best scenery in the west. Unfortunately, when it's snowing and your oar tower is broken, the whitewater rafting trip turns from a fun beer float into a overnighter epic.
The Westwater canyon section of the Colorado river is like a mini Grand Canyon. Big waves, good hikes, and lots of fun. We decided to take along a beginning rafter and show her what rafting in the West is all about.
What is a Grand Canyon rafting trip all about? For some it's a glimpse into the outdoors, others it's a wilderness expedition. But they all share a few key aspects that people remember, and it's not usually the rapids.
Rolling to a stop at Riverside Park in Kernville, California we look around at the green grass and flowing waters. Trying to pick out the boaters from the people gathering in the park isn't hard, just look for the kayaks. We found a few nice people to paddle with down the Chamise Gorge and Limestone sections.
The Wild and Scenic Merced River through Yosemite National Park in California is possibly one of the prettiest rivers you could ever run and until only a few years ago it was closed off to boaters. It was ILLEGAL. So when we finally caught the water high enough to run this section through Yosemite Valley, we had to get on it.
The North Fork of the Mokelumne is a California Wild and Scenic river, with amazing scenery and whitewater rapids. We rafted down the Tiger Creek section and it was 3 miles of straight class IV fun. It was short but it sure was sweet.
The Brooklyn to Alaska program is a nonprofit that brings urban youth from New York to Alaska's wilderness. These youths get a completely new experience and new challenges. I got to be a guide on this trip taking them down a 7 day Copper River trip in Alaska.
Finding a good rafting partner can be challenging. When you raft as an R2 (with only two people in the boat) a few bad decisions can mean disaster for the team and destroy friendships. So when Rafting Magazine ambassador Nick Prete decided to take a new R2ing partner rafting down the Lion's Head section of the Matanuska River in Glacier View, AK.
The most insane shuttle ride ever! Next to Denali National Park the Soul Rafter crew ran into a friend, pulled some strings and ended up catching a back-haul up the Yanert River with their raft. Not knowing how far the stretch was, having very little beta, the team whitewater rafted down the Yanert, through Nenana Canyon and came out the other side.
Up on the border of the Yukon lies a whitewater river. It's not an extraordinary rafting river, but with extraordinary people it can be a quite enjoyable whitewater rafting trip. Join us for a fun adventure on the super low Blanchard River, a tributary of the Tatshenshini river in Canada.
The Cranberry River in central West Virginia is a gem of the Appalacians but flows and logs keep many people from boating it. We went to whitewater raft the river but weren't sure if we could fit our 12' raft through the wood.
R1: a raft with one paddler. While a whitewater raft might be easy to maneuver for a few paddlers, R1ing is a whole different ballgame. We joined up with some friends and ran the Nolichucky River on the Tennessee/North Carolina border.
When the film Deliverance was released, it brought a wave of interest to the sport of rafting. The fictional Cahulawassee in the story was based on the Chattooga River and much of the movie was shot there.
The Cheoah river is a schedule release prize that southeastern boaters flock to. For over 77 years, this section of the river was dewatered, and unrunnable. In 2005 however, scheduled releases were secured and once again the Cheoah came into play.
The Tallulah River contains some of the best whitewater in the Southeast, but requires a steep, strenuous hike in, a 2 mile flatwater paddle out, just 1 mile of whitewater and only has water a few time a year.