By Ivory Vendig

Have you ever seen white water? White water can be found in the middle of mossy forests or in deep canyons surrounded by layers of rock and soil formations, oftentimes in the mountains. Now, have you ever been on white water? Drifting along in a raft, it would be easy to become distracted by the beauty of creation—until you hit your first rapid! White water rafting is physically and mentally demanding, but fun if you go willing to participate and ready to learn. If you’ve never considered going on a white water rafting adventure, maybe it’s time you should!

So how do you pull your weight in a raft and be useful? If you are like most people who try rafting, you will learn to love it, quickly—for more than one reason. Those foamy, white waves have a lot of power in them, but the river is not an enemy. Falling into it can even be fun rather than life-threatening. But you should still do everything you can to stay in the raft.

In the raft, paddlers sit halfway on the sides of the raft, not actually on the seats inside unless you are floating your way through a stretch of placid water. For stability, it is good to wedge your feet into the raft’s crevices, one in front and one to the side. Most people think they are being extra safe by sticking their entire lower leg into the raft’s crevices, but doing so could backfire if the raft flips over completely and it won’t release you. So you do have to be sharp and follow instructions.

Paddling

Rafting guides have goals when giving paddling commands: to keep everyone safe and to add to the excitement by hitting the rapids at all the right angles. They always sacrifice excitement for safety, but their job in either task is much easier when the crew follows his or her lead and also puts all of its strength into each stroke. As a bonus for you, paddling actually gives you stability.

Just a little bit of your own effort can pull your raft away from a jagged rock—or bring you right into the rhythm of riding the most fun rapid on the river! Of course, you’ll have to listen to your guide carefully and respond quickly to his commands. At the end of this article is a list of the main commands you will hear on the water and what they mean.

Out-of-Boat Experiences

Say that all of your careful planning falls through and you are flung out of a raft. Your head goes under for several seconds as water swirls and eddies around your limbs. Don’t panic! You are not drowning. Concentrate on inhaling air and not water. The life vest will pull your head up—that’s what it’s for. Relax, and in a second or two you’ll see the big, blue sky above you.

On occasion, a fallen rafter will see that sky for a moment—only to be pulled right back under, and even backward, upstream a bit. The feeling is similar to what I imagine a sock would feel like tumbling inside a washing machine. It’s called being in a hydraulic. To avoid being stuck there forever, swim down. Your every impulse will be to swim up toward the air with all of your might toward the air. Ignore those impulses! Swimming up will just get you sucked back down. But if you swim down, the fast-moving undercurrent in every hydraulic will shoot you out speedily away from the river’s trap. What a rush!

Outside of a hydraulic, it’s easy to move around the river. Assuming your boat is ahead of you, flip over on your back and drift down the river. Use your feet (keep your toes pointed up, and your knees bent) to spring away from rocks.

When you’re finished with your relaxing float down the river (once you’ve caught up with your raft), turn over onto your stomach and swim hard toward your crew or a nearby bank, if necessary.

It is easiest to re-enter the raft from the side, where someone can lift you in by pulling your life jacket up and dragging you up as they fall backward. Try to stay away from being directly in front of your raft. Falling out is enough excitement for one day—you don’t need to add getting run over by a boat to the mix.

White water is sometimes called an “extreme sport,” but it is also an incredibly bonding family activity. Some river administrators allow river explorers as young as age seven to experience the adventure. Check around your area to see if the opportunity might be available. It is definitely something to consider as the weather and rafting season both warm up together. Go ahead, try a rafting adventure!

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Basic Terms and Commands

Paddling Commands: There will be a combination of commands including direction (forward or back) and side (left or right). If the boat needs to turn, for example, the guide may call on one side to paddle forward while the other paddles back. The other command is draw, which refers to pulling water toward the raft.

Classes categorize rivers. Class I rapids are like small waves, while Class V rapids are huge with lots of foamy white water and even some air-time for the raft. Class VI rapids are dangerous and usually only rafted by the most experienced rafters.

Flow is the amount of water passing through a point in the river, measured in cubic feet per second. High flow means bigger rapids, and low flow means a lot of technical maneuvering.

Put-ins are where rafting trips begin.

Runs are sections of the river that are raftable.

Eddie is a term describing the water flow that forms behind obstacles where the water flows upstream. An eddie is a good place for regrouping after a run. It could also be the name of your rafting guide—you never know!

Hydraulics, or holes, are where water that falls over an obstacle flows backward onto itself, creating a loop of white water with a fast-moving current underneath.

Carnage, thankfully, is just a slang word for a flipped boat and rafters-turned-swimmers, usually implying an impressive wipe-out.