Your Imperial River Company Guides
It’s a great day on the Deschutes River! At Imperial River Company, our great days start with amazing people to help guide you on your next adventure here in Maupin, OR. Whether you want to raft, fish, cycle or just explore, we have the right people with the right experience to give you the best time ever.
Brian Black
River Guide + Front Desk + Maintenance
Born: Washington State
Lives: Maupin, OR
Working and playing in the outdoors is something Brian has always enjoyed. He says he first started experiencing the outdoors in utero, as a matter of fact! Being outside gives him a great sense of freedom. Brian has worked for the USFS at Mount St. Helens and has a college degree in Process Engineering. He is also trained in Natural Disaster & Evacuation Training, as well as White Water Rescue, First Aid & CPR. Brian is exceptional with kids on the river and has worked for Imperial for 10 years.
Brian and his family live year-round in Maupin with their 2 dogs, Zeke & Walter. He lives by the creed of, “What you put out in the universe is what the universe gives you back.” He is a big believer in shopping local and regularly volunteers in the Maupin community. Outside of the summer rafting season, Brian is a Maintenance Magician! He executes winter projects at Imperial, and is the go-to guy when something breaks. Not sure how this makes him feel, but we all appreciate him!
Favorite River to Recreate on: Deschutes
Favorite Destination: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Worst Food Ever Tasted: Ruz al Bukhari
Words to Live By: The answer is right in front of you, you just need to look in the mirror.
Venmo: @BrianBlack22
Holly Miles
River Guide + Front Desk + Server
Born: Maupin, OR
Lives: Corvallis, OR
Holly can literally say that she has been around Imperial her whole life. Growing up with her parents running the business, she has had “opportunities” to try lots of jobs at the resort. What’s her favorite? Rafting of course! “I love how the river flows by everyday, giving life to everything that touches it.” She recalls many camping trips when she was young and also lots of outdoor playtime. She loves that there is a never-ending supply of things to do and learn about in the outdoors.
Holly is started her college career at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. As a Geoscience Major, she loved taking a wide variety of classes about all things concerning the natural world, from aquatic biology to meteorology. In NY, Holly longed for the mountainous west and decided to transfer to Oregon State University. She is finishing her Environmental Science BS currently. Holly was a three-sport High School athlete and also played college volleyball for the William Smith Herons. She is always down to play a game on the lawn or sand at Imperial!
Traveling and learning new things are a part of Holly’s core. Her favorite world destination is Costa Rica, where she learned to surf. She also completed a solo road trip across the US when she was just 18. This summer, she will be guiding while also completing two internships on the Deschutes River.
Favorite Deschutes River Rapid: Boxcar, with a good stadium seating!
Favorite River to Recreate on: Deschutes
Words to Live By: It will never be today again. Each day is a fresh start and a new opportunity to create the life you want.
Venmo: @hollykilometers
Brock Fisher
Manager of Outdoor Operations + River Guide
Born: Cincinnati, Ohio
Lives: Maupin, OR
Brock has enjoyed the outdoors his whole life. He fondly recalls many childhood camping trips with his family, while growing up in Michigan. He and his sister would wander the woods and make up games for as long as the daylight would allow. Brock followed his love of all things outdoors to college, where he received a B.S. in Outdoor Recreation Leadership Management & minor in Environmental Studies from Northern Michigan University in 2018. He has additional certifications of Wilderness First Responder, First Aid/CPR and a Level 4 Swiftwater Rescue.
His outdoor working career started as a Raft Guide in Northern Wisconsin. Since then, he has worked seasonal outdoor jobs in 8 different states. Working for Imperial in Oregon, is his 9 the state! Brock firmly believes that everyone has a place in the outdoors, some just haven’t found it yet. He loves connecting people to experiences in the outdoors and inspiring the next generation of stewards. Brock is happily making Maupin his new home with his wife, Chelsie, and Aussie dog, Daja.
Favorite River to Recreate on: the Colorado!
Favorite Destination: Glacier National Park
Best Food Ever Tasted: First beef brisket I ever smoked. I haven’t been able to replicate it since!
Words to Live By: Most important life lesson – It’s okay to ask for help!
Venmo: @Brofishe
Hickory Holmes
River Guide
Born: Hood River, Oregon
Lives: Hood River, OR
Hickory is no stranger to the Deschutes River. He was 9 years old the first time he
floated the Deschutes. All of his life there has been a framed, blown up photo of him
smashing Boxcar hanging on his mother’s wall. It was one of those days that made him who he is now. That day sparked him to love the outdoors. He believes there is such a freedom to explore and discover new things outside.
In the winter season, Hickory works with skis on his feet at Mt Hood Meadows. He
works on the Events Crew, setting up for races and other events. He also has a special friend, his dog named Marvin. He found him deep in the woods and gave him his forever home.
Favorite Destination: Banff and Jasper, Alberta, Canada
Favorite River to Recreate on: White Salmon
Favorite Rapid on the Deschutes: Boxcar!
Best food ever tasted: Peaches
Worst food ever tasted: Durian
Words to Live By: “Don’t be afraid of change. Live each day like it’s the last. Tomorrow is not promised.
Venmo: @Hickory-Holmes
Chelsie Fisher
General Manager + River Guide
Born: Michigan
Lives: Maupin, OR
Growing up in an adventurous family, Chelsie has been exploring the outdoors since she could walk. Discovering seasonal changes in the Michigan woods really got her hooked. There is so much variety in colors, seasons and animals. This led her to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. Chelsie started her outdoors career as a sea-kayak guide in Munising, Michigan on Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. She has also been a Teacher Naturalist at an Outdoor School, spent two seasons wrangling horses and 4 seasons as a river guide. This nomadic working lifestyle has allowed her to work in 9 different states. Chelsie makes a conscious effort to give back to her community by caring for the spaces she visits and lives in. It is important to her to be a part of communities that proactively support guides, their ecosystems and education.
Chelsie’s favorite river is not a river most people are likely to have run, or even heard about! When she first started diving into the whitewater community she saw a friend whitewater paddleboarding and was transfixed. He let Chelsie borrow his board so she did a few laps on the Tohickon Creek in Pennsylvania. It is a beautiful little dam controlled creek that only runs a couple of times a year. It will forever be a special memory of the moment she decided to work on rivers, and a few years later Chelsie was fortunate enough to get married in the same creek.
Pet: Daja, her snuggly, sassy Aussie mix pup of 8 years. She loves adventure too!
Favorite Destination: Puerto Rico (amazing biodiversity and history!)
Worst Food Ever Tasted: Cilantro
Words to Live By: Everything in life is just a season. Things could be hard and trying now, but what you learn from those difficult moments will be there to help you later.
Venmo: @michiganchelsie
Jodi Robertson
River Guide
Born: Vancouver, WA
Lives: Bend, OR
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the great outdoors were always around Jody. He first loved the pure beauty and knew it was where he wanted to spend most of his time. In addition to guiding whitewater rafts on day trips down the Deschutes River, Jody is also very proficient at rowing and sets up a great camp kitchen. He always brings a speaker in his raft, and enjoys playing music for each group of guests to suit their tastes.
Jody loves promoting experiences for youth in both rafting and snowboarding. He is a snowboard coach at Mt Bachelor in the winter. Prior to guiding and coaching full time, he received a Bachelors in Communication from Simpson University, in Redding, CA.
Favorite River to recreate on: the Deschutes!!!!
Favorite Deschutes River Rapid: Whitehorse (especially when playing ‘Cowboy’ by Kid Rock on his speaker!)
Favorite Destination Visited: Mt. Baker Washington
Worst food ever tasted: pickles
Favorite words to live by: “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” Babe Ruth in the Sandlot
Venmo: @jodyrobertson
Brett Gillespie
River Guide + Fishing Guide
Born: Mobile, Alabama
Lives: Madras, OR
Brett was born and raised on a family farm in Alabama. He has been guiding for Imperial for 6 years now and most of us say “Roll Tide” when things are going great! He grew up fishing & hunting and has always loved the outdoors. Following high school, he attended Feather River College in Quincy, California. He was a collegiate rodeo athlete and attained a whitewater guiding certificate there. His move out west allowed him to experience whitewater for the first time and he hasn’t looked back.
Brett has spent many years coaching little league baseball for his two sons and has owned his own landscaping business. He is a fishing guide in Oregon and Idaho and guides upland bird hunts out of Maupin in the winter. He and his family have lots of pets including a red healer named Booboo, a yellow lab named Marvin, an English pointer named Dobby, cows, chickens and a horse named Flynn. Brett loves the river, and is almost always floating in his driftboat on his days off. He loves to cap off the warm weather season with several trips down the Snake River of Hells Canyon each fall.
Favorite Deschutes River Rapid: Lower Elevator
Favorite River to Recreate on: Snake River in Hells Canyon
Venmo: @Brett-Gillespie-5