The story in Savage Snow relies heavily on winter settings, but many mysteries of the movie are unraveled on the rivers of Colorado during one summer in which the lead characters discover kayaking.
Expert kayaking skills are not needed to satisfy the minimum requirements of the Savage Snow script. However, the performers (one of them being myself) featured in the kayak segments must become at least moderately proficient with whitewater kayaking before filming of those scenes may begin.
I am very early in the production planning process of Savage Snow as this "Learn to Kayak" challenge gets underway. There should be enough time. You are invited to follow my progress. Over 100 kayak photos and 60 free kayak videos are available in the journal entries linked from the 3 Kayak Index Pages. You are now on Index Page 1 with Paddles Days 1 thru 18 linked below.
-Dan