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All tagged River Skills
If a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you alright?”
It doesn’t matter what craft you choose to enjoy on the water from a raft to a kayak, SUP, or inflatable pizza wedge holes are probably one of the most feared and talked about hazards on the river. While sieves and strainers may harbor the greatest danger on the water it is the ubiquitous hole that is most often faced as a serious challenge to any boater.
Any discussion about the river will inevitably evoke the most common river term “the line”. If you are new to boating the line is most often described as the path a boat takes through a rapid. Unfortunately there is no real empirical standard on why a guide selects a line since lines are so subjective. Thus I advocate for the option principal.
Your skill may encompass a wide range, but it is defined by what you can do consistently. Saying you are Class IV or Class V boater is an oversimplification. As an athlete’s skill increases so too do the degrees of specificity needed to define everything you interact with. Your skill level is a spectrum. That spectrum covers a broad range however there are some things you run consistently and some things you run inconsistently.
Ego plays a major role in stifling a paddler's ability. There is a powerful premise on the water that we want to dispel with this simple idea: Running everything clean all the time and never having carnage does NOT make you a good boater, it makes you a liability.
International rescue guru Mark Hirst is bringing rafting helmet color to the forefront. Seldom talked about, but a critically important discussion is how visible are you to your rafting or kayaking partners in an accident. If you swim, can you see the other people on your trip? Mark shares some great safety tips to make sure you are visible through choosing the proper color of whitewater helmet.
Flip line, Carabiners, pulley, snacks, throw bag, a spice rack, the kitchen sink… boaters often end up being covered in gear. How does a boater get at their gear safely and still keep a everything easily at hand? Enter….THE UTILITY BELT.
Why does understanding risk assessment improve your outdoor skills? Two key psychological factors in evaluating risk are the Self-Serving or Attribution Bias. Understanding these issues is a skill that is critical to master for success in the outdoors.
Big winters create big runoff. Whitewater rafters are looking at epically high water! Because increased flows dramatically change rivers and require a redoubling of our ongoing efforts to keep our trips safe, I thought I would share some thoughts about high-water safety
The lessons in confidence that the river tries to teach are often harsh in the outdoors. But the message of lesson is that you must take a good hard look at yourself and understand what that the river is trying to teach you.
Becoming a good guide is all about starting with the basics. Make sure you learn these 5 things from your guide school to get the most of your time.
Transitioning from a slow water year to a high water year has been a concern for many boaters across Western North America. Rafting Magazine takes a hard look at what this transition really means for commercial guides and private boaters.
Trip leading can be a daunting task for even experienced boaters, but when you break down the seemingly endless amount of factors you can get a better picture of if you are leading trips properly.
Accidents don’t just happen they are caused. All too often unseen variables are the true cause and can shed some deep insight on what truly has happened to cause the accident.
How you are affected by fear and anxiety? We also examine how these powerful emotions alter your state of mind and how they influence your decision making process. The long-term affects of fear and anxiety issues can illicit extremely unexpected behaviors even in the most veteran of boaters.
For those of us currently going into winter there is always an excitement that pervades this time of year. We can typically expect higher flows on our favorite runs and free flowing rivers to come up out of nowhere. If you are new to boating and you get invited on one of these winter trips the attitude surrounding the trip can seem a bit more serious than in warmer months.
