We have listed the gradient by breaking it down into an average number of feet per mile. Where the drop is quite rapid it will be listed, for example, “1@300,” which indicates that the section will drop at the rate of 300 feet per mile.
DIFFICULTY: This refers to the difficulty rating of the rapids located within the particular section of the stream. The rating system used below is based on that of the International Scale for Grading the Difficulty of River Cruising Routes. The first column gives the river or rapid rating and characteristics; the second shows the minimum required experience.
Smooth Water
A Pools, lakes, rivers with velocity under 2 mph.
B Rivers, velocity 2–4 mph.
C Rivers, velocity above 4 mph (maximum back-paddling speed). May have some sharp bends or obstructions.
Whitewater
1 EASY—sand banks, bends without difficulty, occasional small rapids with waves regular and low. Correct course may be easy to find but care is needed with minor obstacles like pebble banks, fallen trees, etc., especially on narrow rivers. River speed less than hard back-paddling speed.
2 MEDIUM—fairly frequent but unobstructed rapids, usually with regular waves, easy eddies, and easy bends. Course generally easy to recognize. River speeds occasionally exceeding hard back-paddling speed.
3 DIFFICULT—maneuvering in rapids necessary. Small falls, large irregular waves covering boat, numerous rapids. Main current may swing under bushes, branches, or overhangs. Course not always easily recognizable. Current speed usually less than fast forward-paddling speed.
4 VERY DIFFICULT—long extended stretches of rapids, high irregular waves with boulders directly in current. Difficult broken water, eddies, and abrupt bends. Course often difficult to recognize and inspection from the bank frequently necessary. Swift current. Rough-water experience indispensable.
5 EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT—long rocky rapids with difficult and completely irregular broken water that must be run head-on. Very fast eddies, abrupt bends, and vigorous cross currents. Difficult landings increase hazard. Frequent inspections necessary. Extensive experience necessary.
6 LIMIT OF NAVIGABILITY—all previously mentioned difficulties increased to the limit. Only negotiable at favorable water levels. Cannot be attempted without risk of life.
It is important to know the difficulty rating of a particular river before setting out. The ratings used here are based on normal or ideal water heights. The ratings will vary somewhat as the water level in the stream fluctuates.
The authors have attempted to be as objective as possible in declaring whether or not a rapid is Class III or Class IV. Such a judgment will vary considerably from person to person according to his skill or experience.
Where a section has only one rapid of a higher difficulty than others it is listed II–III (IV), with the final number representing the one more difficult rapid as a Class IV.
For the past several years, whitewater cruising has witnessed the ever-expanding willingness and ability of top experts to tackle increasingly difficult rapids. There are individual drops, as well as extended stretches, being run that were thought doable only in some abstract sense as recently as five years ago. Welcome to the hardwater boating scene of the present! Many factors have played a part in bringing the sport to this juncture. There are four areas that stand out:
1. EQUIPMENT—Today decked boats are being built and marketed with primary design functions that aid paddlers on steep, technical descents. These boats are generally short, high-volume, and heavily rockered in the bow, with large cockpits—all helpful performance and safety features. Open boats are shorter, narrower, drier, and more maneuverable. Many experts can roll open boats in difficult water because they are essentially outfitted as C-1s and are chock-full of flotation. Drysuits and synthetic undergarments, vast improvements over wetsuits and wool, allow the paddler more comfort and freedom of movement in cold weather (when the steep stuff normally runs). Life vests with exotic safety features, while not widely seen in the United States, are becoming commonplace in Europe. Skirts are drier and more bombproof, with rubber gaskets gripping the cockpit rims. Paddles are lighter and stronger. Helmets with chin and face guards are being used by more paddlers. Hand and elbow armor will not be far behind.
2. EXPERIENCE—The experts paddling hair runs today often have an experience backlog of 10, 15, and 20 years on difficult water. Whitewater sport being the relatively recent phenomenon it is, we can look back to the 1970s and find very few expert hardboaters with the experience level that so many have today. These days more informed decisions can be made on marginal runs because there is more information (prior probing) available. A certain psychological edge is developed from years of paddling difficult water. This mental toughness is a very real aid in making cool, objective decisions on the river. Instruction is more effective and efficient, allowing paddlers to get on more difficult water sooner. The Class V rapids of the 1970s will not feed the adrenaline rat of the veteran hair-head today.
3. AVOCATIONAL BOATING—There are increasing numbers of paddlers who look upon the sport as more than a weekend pastime. These folks tend to put more energy, time, and effort into the sport than the weekend warrior, eschewing “real” jobs and “normal” lifestyles to pursue whitewater paddling full-time. Much as surfing, rock climbing, and other sports have their devotees, acolytes of the boating subculture are often on, or creating, the “edge” of the sport.
4. UNSPOKEN COMPETITION—Finally, there is a good deal of unspoken competition at this level of paddling. While this is not new to the sport, it has certainly had an effect on it. This one-upmanship, if you will, has a much larger ante today than it did ten years ago.
For years the terms “hard” and “easy” have been used as adjuncts in describing whitewater difficulty. We’ve all heard “easy Class V” or “hard Class IV” used as a means of further delineating differences between rapids. Largely as a result of the more extreme water being paddled nowadays, rapids graded at the Class V level have, by far, a broader range of difficulty, within and between them, than the other classes. The much more difficult Class V water of today is put in the same category as rapids that were considered extreme ten years ago. Sometimes this results in shoving the “old” Class V rapid down into a lesser category. More often, rapids with large difficulty differences are placed in the same category. With the current International Canoeing Federation (ICF) scale, this “crowding” is inevitable, and it can be very confusing. There is a need for further, and more precise, delineation in classifying rapids at the Class V level. The old “measuring stick” needs a new coat of paint, one that shows the inch, as well as the foot, markers.
The mechanics of such a scale are relatively simple. It has been suggested to expand the ICF’s I–VI scale by adding Class VII, Class VIII, and so on—similar to what was done on many western rivers years ago. This seems too radical a departure, though, because rivers would have to be re-rated. A simpler method would be to add gradations within the Class V level of difficulty. There is a precedent. Rock climbing has seen an explosion of increasingly difficult moves and routes. Climbers have answered this by steadily upgrading the scale of difficulty to correspond to the more gymnastic or aid-requiring moves that are becoming the new standards. Why not follow the rock-climbing lead?
What we’ve done with the rating system in the book is to break Class V rapids down into three subclasses. In order of increasing difficulty, the scale reads: 5, 5.1, and 5.2. Having three subclasses within Class V, at this time, seems to satisfy the variance of difficulty of the rapids.
We understand the subjectivity involved in rating whitewater, with one man’s Class III being another
