Guide Profile-Maxim Lowry

Learn All About Maxim Lowry!

We’re introducing Maxim Lowry to you on this year’s guide profile! He has been running full seasons for AzRA for the last few years, and has a full season with us in 2022! We look forward to you getting to know him here, and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to be on a river trip with him as well. Without further ado, here’s our interview with Maxim.

Where were you born? Tell us a little about yourself!

• • I was born on a small island off the west end of the Everglades. But pretty quickly moved to the edge between mountains and desert in SW Colorado. I come from a family of boaters and wild men and women (two were Grand Canyon river guides) and I quickly found home beneath the red rock rims of the Colorado Plateau.  I feel incredibly gracious and humbled by the family that surrounded me growing up. We were never far from some wild adventure.

What’s your history with AzRA?

• • Before my guiding career started I taught physics and calculus at an American school in Guatemala City. It was what I had worked my entire academic life towards- to be a teacher. But I really just wanted to be outside. So I ended my contract, rode my motorcycle 101 days back to Colorado and applied to every single outfitter in the Grand Canyon. With my eye on AzRA. According to my uncle Dave, who worked there for many years, it was the best. I ended up getting a job at another company but before and after every trip, I walked into the AzRA office to see if there was an opening yet. Finally, management said “Fine! Here’s 3 trips. Quit bugging us!” And that was that. I still consider myself a teacher, just with an outdoor classroom.

When did you start guiding?

• • I’ve been guiding about 6 seasons now.

What types of trips do you guide?

• • I row boats and sometimes paddle captain, but I have a keen interest in dories. They’re just so dang pretty!

What are your favorite rapids and hikes? Why?

• • Pants down, my favorite rapid is Hermit when it gets above 15k. Its probably my favorite rapid worldwide. When the river gets that high, there’s just nothing quite like that set of 10 massive standing waves! As we approach the horizon line you might here me shouting “When we crest wave 3, you’ll be looking at wave 4, the biggest wave you’ve ever seen! And when we hit the top of that wave and look down the other side? You’ll be looking dead center at wave 5… which is even bigger! But it’s wave 10 that’ll getcha. Hang on!” My favorite hike is probably Thunder River. Tapeats Creek is one of the most beautiful places in the Canyon and there’s hardly anyone ever there! The hike up the creek is long and arduous, but those willing to make the miles and bear the heat are rewarded with the most spectacular cascading waterfall that shoots right out of the bottom of a several hundred foot tall limestone wall. Magic.

Any other interesting facts about yourself you would like guests to know?

• • I’m a starving pooet. Yes. Pooet. What that means is for those lucky (or unlucky) enough to witness a pooetry slam. Pooet: I write poems about grooving (river trip in-camp restroom facilities). 😉

What do you do when you’re not guiding at AzRA in the off-season?

• • What do I do when I’m not getting paid to run rivers? I’m running rivers and not getting paid! I am a river rat through and through. These last 2 winters I spent in OR where the best water is during the rainy winters. Otherwise, I’ll be out there backpacking through foreign lands, hitchhiking my way through the mountains.

Do you have any hobbies, or things you like to do?

• • Pretty much anything outside. If it involves water, even better. But my favorites are kayaking/rafting, canyoneering, caving, and climbing. I’ve got a new interest in sailing as well. If you’re ever on a trip with me down river, you might also find I’m big into astronomy, puzzles, board games and other super nerdy stuff.

What do you love about the Canyon and guiding?

• • What’s not to love?? I was very wary of mixing my passion with a paycheck for a lot of my adult life. But when I finally took that step, I wondered why I waited so long! The canyon is the most romantic place on earth and I get to watch people experience it for the first time over and over. Sharing that experience never gets old.

Any advice you would give guests that are planning a trip with us?

• • Prepare for lots of hiking! Many of the wonderful experiences to be had are tucked way up into little oaseses? oasen? oasi? that far from the boats.

Thanks for sharing with us and our readers, Maxim! We can’t wait for another fantastic season of rafting and sharing this beautiful, romantic experience!