Looking for a sport which brings excitement and an adrenaline rush to both young and old individuals? Well, the answer is pretty straightforward, it is Rafting. An exciting white-water ride onboard an inflatable raft designed especially for this type of sport.
Rafting and white water rafting are recreational outdoor activities in which an inflatable raft is used to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, and generally represents a new and challenging environment for participants. Dealing with risks and the need for teamwork is often a part of the experience.
In white-water rafting, the participants guide and paddle a raft through whitewater, or a river’s rapids. The sport’s popularity began to grow when it became part of the Olympic Games in the 1970s. Today it’s estimated that between nine and ten million people have tried white-water rafting, with about three million rafters running a river more than twice a year.
The International Scale of River Difficulty has marked the six grades of difficulty in white water rafting. They range from simple to very dangerous and potential death or serious injuries.
Grade 1: Very small rough areas – might require slight maneuvering. (Skill level: very basic)
Grade 2: Some rough water and maybe some rocks – might require some maneuvering. (Skill level: basic paddling skill)
Grade 3: Whitewater – small waves and maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. It may require a significant amount of maneuvering.
Grade 4: Whitewater – medium waves and maybe some rocks with a considerable drop – sharp maneuvers may be needed.
Grade 5: Whitewater – large waves in large volume – possibility of large rocks and hazards, and of a large drop – requires precise maneuvering.
Grade 6: Class 6 rapids are considered so dangerous that they are in fact un-navigable on a reliably safe basis. Rafters can expect to encounter substantial whitewater, huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, and/or substantial drops that will impart severe impacts beyond the structural capacities and impact ratings of almost all rafting equipment. Traversing a Class 6 rapid has a dramatically increased likelihood of ending in serious injury or death compared to lesser classes.
Rafts in white water are very different vehicles than canoes or kayaks and have their own specific techniques to maneuver through whitewater obstacles. Examples of these techniques include:
Punching: Rafts carry great momentum, and on rivers hydraulics that are dodged by canoes and kayaks are often punched by rafts. This involves the rafting crew paddling the raft to give it enough speed to push through the hydraulic without getting stopped.
High Siding: If a raft is caught in a hydraulic it will often quickly go sideways. In order to stop the raft flipping on its inside edge, the rafters can climb to the side of the raft furthest downstream, which will also be the side of the raft highest in the air leading to its name. In this position the rafters may be able to use the draw stroke to pull the raft out of the head.
White water rafting can be a dangerous sport, especially if its basic safety precautions are not observed. Fatalities however, are very rare in both commercial and private rafting. Studies have shown that injury rates in rafting are relatively low, but a large number of incidents go unreported as well. Typical rafting injuries include trauma from striking an object, traumatic stress from the interaction of the paddler’s positioning and equipment and the force of the water, overuse injuries, and submersion/environmental injuries. Depending on the area, safety regulations covering raft operators may exist in legislation. These range from certification of outfitters, rafts, and raft leaders, to more stringent regulations about equipment and procedures. Like most outdoor sports, rafting in general has become safer over the years. Expertise in the sport has increased, and equipment has become more specialized and improved in quality. As a result the difficulty rating of most river runs has changed. A classic example would be the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, America, which has swallowed whole expeditions in the past, leaving only fragments of boats. In contrast, it is now run safely by commercial outfitters hundreds of times each year with relatively untrained passengers.
TRAVEL DESK.
Leave a Reply