Off Beat Interview Series with Sanne Hilbrich
Tell us a little about yourself! Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in Port Credit, Ontario, Canada. My parents are originally from the Midwest, so I was lucky enough to be born a dual citizen. I am one of 6 kids, 3 older brothers, an older sister and a younger sister. My folks lived around Europe before moving to Canada—my older siblings were born in Germany and Denmark. We moved to the states when I was in high school, I attended Montana State University and have called the western US home ever since.
How did you find your way to the river?
I grew up going to our family cottage in Quebec every summer, it’s the place that feels most like home to me. My favorite pass time was fishing, so I naturally gravitated
toward that when I moved to the US. Fishing in Montana brought me to rivers, and the rest is history! After doing semester program in Patagonia, Chile during my junior year of college, I also discovered an affinity for wilderness medicine and swift water rescue, which is what really peaked my interest in guiding. I started instructing Wilderness Medicine and Rescue semesters for the National Outdoor Leadership School, and day guiding on rivers in Montana prior to finding my way to the Middle Fork Salmon.
If you could be a river super hero, what would you be?
Daisy Tappan was a legend! She is always who I think about when it comes to historic female role-models in the Idaho wilderness. I like to attempt to channel her grit and strength when going gets tough out there.
What is your favorite dress up theme?
Oof, this is a tough one! I’ll have to go with 80’s retro ski or 70’s disco. Lots of denim, neon and wool sweaters or bell-bottoms and flowers?? Sign me up!
What is your ‘go to’ crazy hat night creation?
Something that includes a wig, a throw bag, tinfoil, or an empty case of beer…
What brought you to Canyons?
I also guide in Grand Canyon for AzRA (Arizona Raft Adventures) and I was lucky enough to work there with several folks that guide for Canyons. The extremely positive work environment each of them spoke of was impossible to ignore. Canyons is the type of outfitter you could work at forever, I’m so grateful to be here.
How many years have you worked here?
Summer 2026 will be my 10th season on the Middle Fork and my 2nd with Canyons!
What is your favorite thing about Canyons?
Canyons is unmatched when it comes to acceptance, accountability, good vibes, hard work, love and appreciation for the wild people and places we love so dearly—to say the least! I’m always excited and hopeful to contribute to this community and really looking forward to that positivity trickling down into other aspects of my guiding career and life as a whole.
If you could describe Canyons in 3 words?
DIVINE food, LOVE, COLORFUL
When you hear the word Idaho, what comes to mind?
It’s hard to put to words what comes to mind when I think about Idaho. The wild spaces, the minimal people, the ability to be one and at peace with such an unimpaired place in your most natural and beautiful state. Idaho is poetry to me, it is home. My mind and heart also think about the endangered salmon populations, and the 4 dams on the lower snake that contribute (for lack of a better word) to their extinction. My heart leaps to wanting to protect and advocate for it.
What are your top three favorite camps?
Lower Grouse (Daisy Tappan’s cabin, of course!), Joe Bump (the morning light when you hike down to Sheepeater Hotsprings from here!!!!), and Wilson Creek (I love sitting on the bridge over the creek and the fishing at the confluence, SO many cozy nooks here).
Your favorite hike?
Camas creek is one of my most favorite places on the Middle fork. I’ve hiked from the top down and from the confluence up. The drainage is so dynamic, the fishing is unbelievable, and there’s a really cool cave up there I love to scramble up to. The view from that cave gave me a whole new perspective on the place. A few years ago, I was sitting in the cave and noticed a beautiful little waterfall spring falling into the creek down a massive granite slab. Something you’d never see if not for the vantage point up there. I looked up the name of that spring on my Frank Church Wilderness maps, and (classic river guide tale here) named my dog after it!
Top three favorite rapids?
These tend to differ depending on what boat I’m running. I love Redside in a sweepboat when the water level is just right for the center “boof” over/around airplane rock. I love high water
Haystack in a paddle boat (pretty much everything at high water in a paddle boat, let’s be real), I have so much love and respect for Cove Creek at low water, and nothing beats those massive laterals in Weber at high water!! Turns out there’s something I love about all of them!
Currently what is your nemesis rapid?
I can get pretty riled up for super low water Jackass in a sweepboat. It’s always the underrate rapids that getcha! Good opportunity to get stuck in there for a while, extra fun when someone’s camping there and gets a front row seat…
What river do you want to run that you haven’t yet?
I’ve wanted to run the Illinois river in Oregon for a very long time. It’s mostly rain-water fed, and levels can fluctuate very quickly after/during a storm, which has caused 2 different private trips I’ve planned to be on to be cancelled because of extreme high water.
What do you consider a ‘real’ job?
Working on the river is as “real” as it gets. Real elements, real personalities, real strengths, real weaknesses, real wilderness.
If you could only have one kayak in your quiver, what would it be and why?
Pyranha 9R or a Liquid Logic Remix. I’m no expert kayaker by any means, so I love a creek boat that is comfortable and reliable in most any stretch of river.
What is your favorite thing to cook on the river?
I love cooking breakfast the most! A whole ensemble to order, so many yummy options.
If you could take a musician or band down the river today, who would it be?
I think I’d go with The Tallest Man on Earth! I recently saw him in concert and not only is he unbelievably talented with UNLIMITED instruments, but he is such a hilarious character and I think he would have the best time on a river trip and jamming with the guests and guides.
What is your most memorable swim in a river?
I had a crazy swim on the Jarbidge River in southern Idaho several years ago, it was very low water, and we did the whole stretch in our inflatable kayaks!
What is one of your river rituals or superstitions?
There is the classic—booty beer (or beverage of any kind). If a guide ever falls out of their own boat, whatever kind of boat it may be, they have to drink a beverage out of the shoe they were wearing when it happened. I also love wearing fun shirts on big rapid days!
What is your most valued non river related item that you bring with you on every trip?
A cotton hoodie and my Carhartt pants. Neither of which are good articles of clothing to bring on a river trip, being that they are cotton and once they’re wet, they’re wet forever. But they are my comfort layers, and it feels SO good to put them on after a fun, cool, wet day.
What is your favorite groover spot?
Grassy 2 has the most beautiful groover spot on the Middle Fork in my opinion. Especially in the spring when all the Syringa bushes are blooming—you walk down this beautiful Syringa isle (nothing compares to that smell) to a sheltered nook underneath a low-canopy ponderosa pine tree. Not to mention your view of the cliff sides downstream as we approach the Impassable Canyon.
Similar Posts by The Author:
- Off Beat Interview Series with Mike Hipsher
- The Interior Guide: How to Actually Show Up for Yourself this River Trip
- Internal Hydrology: Why You’re More Watershed Than Human
- Off Beat Interview Series with Clark
- Blogs are Reflections from a Salmon River SUP Adventure
