White Water Rafting - all You Ever Need To Know

White Water Rafting - all You Ever Need To Know The words 'white water rafting' alone are adequate to send thrills coursing straight through you. The operation itself is an exhilarating rush of adrenalin as one makes an attempt to navigate a small boat straight through rushing rapids.

White water rafting is a arresting sport that involves paddling a raft along or across open water or rivers and navigating the raft to calmer areas. The degree of roughness of the water varies greatly and the sole purpose of the sport is only for the adrenaline rush that rafters experience. White water rafts first began as reeds, planks and logs that were bound together and kept watertight with mud or pitch. Today most rafts are similar to troops attack boats, being made of more durable materials, together with vinyl or rubber fabric and built as totally independent air-tight chambers. Most vary in length, but are commonly between eleven feet and twenty feet in distance and as wide as six feet to eight feet in breadth. The particular man white water raft is called a packraft and is much smaller - approximately half the distance and width of the smaller multi-person rafts. White water rafting first began as the most ancient of water transportation and was used for carrying food, hunting and arresting population from one place to another. Lieutenant John Fremont (U.S. Army), made the first trip in 1842 on the Platte River in the United States. By the 70's, white water rafting had become increasingly popular and as experienced rafters searched for other rivers to ride, they travelled the globe to find some of the most predicted and arresting rivers around. As a result, this was a featured sport at the Munich Olympic Games. Although white water rafting is something that even children can do, the sport is divided into classes which are characterised by the roughness of the water, what is in the water, the manoeuvrability and the level of danger. They comprise 6 classes ranging from Class 1 where the difficulty level is minimal, the procedure is smooth and very limited manoeuvring and no skills are needed. The difficulty increases level by level culminating in Class 6 which is the most dangerous since it involves huge waves, ultimate danger, heavy rocks, very long drops and inherent damage to rafts. Here, an unabridged ultimate rafting experience without serious injury is mandatory on the part of the rafter. In concern of safety, government regulations ensure that all rafters have certified tool - rafts, life jackets and paddles - as well as setting mandatory requirements for age limits and experience. White Water Rafting - all You Ever Need To Know