July 29th, 2008 by rafter
The talk this season is of course the snowpack and water levels across the country. Global warming is obviously in full effect 
Most areas across the nation have experienced a good winter, which usually means that a good summer is to follow.
Good snow does not mean good river levels. Let me explain. We basically have two types of river-dependent factors to consider in the situation. Dam controlled rivers and natural flow rivers.
Earlier posts have talked about rivers across the nation changing over to dam controlled levels, in which certain river flows are guaranteed throughout the summer months. In general, good snow-pack and snow run-off are a good thing for dam controlled rivers. It means more water in the reservoir, and will continue to leave plenty of water flow throughout the coming years.
Natural flow rivers are a different story. Lets take a look at the Western U.S. as an example. The image here shows the current snow-pack levels across the various regions in the West. These numbers are a “percentage of normal”, meaning that anything close to 100 is a very good thing, and anythin over 100 means higher-than-normal levels. Many locations that feed large rivers have over 100% snowpack for the season (still). But the weather still plays an important factor as to whether the snow will produce high, constant water levels or not.
Even with a good winter, if the weather heats up too fast, you run into flooding and fast run-off. So essentially, you would have a nice spring rafting season, followed by normal (or even below normal) water levels for the rest of the season. So it really still depends on mother nature and the transitional temperature from winter to spring to summer.
So remember that when the news reports a good winter, we still need to hold-on and see how the spring rolls out to accurately predict a good rafting season or not.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
Most of the rafting industry has heard about the mergers happening in West Virginia as of late. Two notable mergers have come about recently, due to business development and competitive strategy. Here are the two big changes:
1. Class VI, Adventures Mountain River, Riverman- This merger was quite interesting die to the fact that all three companies were/are good companies with steady business (comparatively). Numbers all across the board have been slumping, but each of these companies still kept their heads above water. So I would assume that this merger was in fact a business/competitive play in effort to try and take the lead for the rafting business in the area (notably from their direct competitor ACE Adventure Center).
The new company, Class Vi Mountain River, will now work to use the expertise and market niche of each individual company as a collective good to dominate the West Virginia rafting market. The three companies originally targeted different market segments to begin with, so the crossover in marketing would be fairly minimal and it seems like a good move for these three to get together.
2. ACE Adventure Resort, Wildwater Expeditions, Songer Whitewater and New River Gorge Adventures- Kind of a merger power move by the current West Virginia rafting market-share leader, ACE scooped up the partnership with a few other companies. Songer whitewater was well established and was decent sized. The other two companies were smaller and would make sense to move together with a larger organization to stay competative.
It will be interesting to see how these mergers play out. Often times you would think that there are too many outfitters in any given region/river, and West Virginia was one of those places. Nowhere near as crazy as Colorado on the Arkansas, but still too many from a consumer standpoint.
I think many areas and outfitters could possibly benefit from merging with strategic partners in their same region, if the numbers make sense. Most rivers will have multiple rafting outfitters, and only certain places restrict the number of outfitters that can operate on that portion of the river (Grand Canyon rafting trips are limited in space and with the number of outfitters that can operate)
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
Depending on which region of the country you look at, 2007 gave mixed results as far as the rafting industry as a whole. However, Maine claims a great year for all the whitewater rafting outfitters in the region.
According to Raft Maine association and a press release put out a few months ago, an increase of 4% on the Kennebec, 10% on the Penobscot and 16% on trips on the Dead River were reported by operating outfitters. “Raft Maine president Jim Murton credits the good season to a renewed commitment by Raft Maine member outfitters to joint marketing and co-operative efforts with the Maine Office of Tourism, Kennebec Valley Tourism Council, Maine Tourism Association and Maine’s hospitality businesses and trade associations.”
Good for them. The office of tourism and other government related organizations can provide a great boost for rafting outfitters across the country. From the sounds of things, it was a joint effort by all the businesses involved- from hotels to restaraunts. Good job of everyone working together to promote local tourism.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
Ran across a decent blog today. The american rivers blog has a good staff of constant bloggers talking mostly about river preservation and their efforts to clean up and protect rivers around the world.
I have not personally contacted them yet, but I think it is a good cause. Many organizations such as this sometimes view commercial outfitters and travel companies as “the foe” in their efforts to promote river. In fact, outfitters are (should) be some of the largest promoters of river preservations and conservation. I know that one of our partners, Western River Expeditions, is very involved in trying to find a way to make commercial trips have less of a “footprint” on the environment, one of which is the possibility of using electric power motors instead of gas or deisel.
In any matter, rafting is just another way to help people become aware of our environment and hopefully treat it well.
Kudos to american rivers.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
A new IMAX film called “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk” will be debuting on March 14, 2008. The film takes a look at freash water preservation issues through a whitewater rafting trip down the Grand Canyon with O.A.R.S. rafting company. The file is presented by Teva, and has been year in the making.
They wanted to get the film out before World Water Day on March 22, 2008. MacGillivray Freeman Films picked up the production of the rafting and water video. They are one of the most experienced producers of special venue films in the world.
Should be interesting to see the whole movie. Not quite sure if it is a film focused more on the “whitewater rafting” adventure or throw in a political slant to the whole thing. Probably the latter of the two, since I sense some sort of green agenda (i have no problem in protection the river systems of the world, by the way.)
Interesting to see either way.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
I think I blogged about this issue previously, but seems like there is still some buzz with the locals and the whitewater park/route proposal. Some cities are in the process of adding whitewater rafting parks, with scores of acres dedicated to a fake river with rapids and descents. Waller Creek is still trying to do their own version of imitation whitewater rafting.
The proposal would take an already existing stretch of canal that runs through the city and turn it into a whitewater rafting run. The canal was originally propsed to take water from one end of a plain to the lake below, traveling straight through the city. River rafting was never in the original design intentions of the canal. If you read feedback on some of the news, you find quite a lot of different opinions on the matter. From the sounds of it, the canal, as it stand right now, is not a very pretty sight, and is poluted. I am not convinced this would be a good idea, but it would be minimal in construction, since the infrastucture is already in place. Could be worth a try?
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
I read an article in the American Chronicle about memorable Christmas gifts over the holidays, and I thought about giving a rafting trip as a gift. Amazingly enough, the article actual recommends whitewater rafting as one of those “unforgettable gifts” if you are looking for something truly unique.
If you think, it really isn’t a bad idea. Events or activities are some of the most memorable moments in anyone’s life, and you can give that as a gift. Depending on where you live or where you want to go, you can find rafting day trips for under $100 per person. Not too shabby for a whole outdoor adventure. Especially if you were planning on spending that much anyway! Rafting America has the complete list of outfitters, locations and information for trips in the US, Canada and South America.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
There have been a few stories in the past week or two alerting the nation of a couple of deaths during whitewater rafting trips. Five deaths already on the Arkansas River in Colorado, one recent death on a California river trip, and a few others around the country.
The question is, is this something to be concerned about? Well, it depends on how you look at the situation. Typically, when you hear of deaths on the river, it usually involves private boaters who take their own little tubes down a raging river and end up drowning. Commercial outfitters typically do not see many deaths. One news source from Colorado gave an historic breakdown for their commercial river rafting deaths for the past 5 years:
2000- 3 deaths
2001- 2 deaths
2002- none recorded
2003- none recorded
2004- none recorded
2005- 1 death
2006- 1 death
2007- ?
Nation-wide, the industry as a whole usually sees about 20-25 deaths a year on average, with some year hitting the 50 mark (2006). Overall, the numbers may be up this year, but when dealing with an extreme sport, it is always unpredictable. Mother nature is the deciding factor in these instances, and rivers are a tough force to reckon with.
In all though, it still remains a very safe, as long as you go with professional outfitters. Statistically, speaking less than half of all whitewater rafting deaths occur with a professional outfitter. They know the rivers, which spots to avoid, and are trained in rescue techniques to get you out of danger. Considering the number of rafters who go down rivers in any particular season (over 10 million annually), the fatality rate is extremely low (zero is always nice).
Moral of the story- dont be afraid to go rafting. Its still one of the greatest outdoor activities of all time!
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
A news source out of Tennessee reports that whitewater rafting in the drought stricken region has not hurt the whitewater rafting industry this season. Many around the nations have heard about the drought in the South-East corner of the U.S. this summer, and normally this means bad news for the rafting outfitters.
However, many don’t realize that a lot of the rivers in the regions are now dam controlled, with mandatory release dates and steady water levels. Like many other states and counties across the region, rafting and recreational outfitters have worked together with park services and governments to have a constant flow of water the whole season with release dates and minimum cfs flows.
The numbers from the Tennessee report give stats on the Ocoee River, which is one of the dam controlled rivers in the area. You would not expect there to be much variance there. The Chattooga River, however, has suffered a bit from the drought, and water levels are extremely low. So low that some outfitters are trying to steer customers towards other rivers just to maintain a fun experience.
The notable dam controlled rivers with whitewater rafting in the region that will maintain good water levels include: Ocoee River, Nantahala River, and Cheoh river, all of which are great river for short day trips.
July 29th, 2008 by rafter
This year the Junior Wildwater Championships were held in Columbia. Participants from all around the world came together for the event, in efforts to take home the championship. A total of90 competitors from over 15 coutries joined in the competition and made their way down to Columbia.
Held July 16th through July 19th, the competition was held on the Saluda River, Columbia. Known as a wild and wide river, it boasts a tough race. So who actually took home the gold?
You can visit the junior wildwater championship website for mroe details, but here is the run-down:
C1- Men- Czech pretty much dominted the top positions in this sprint
K1 Womens- GBR took 1st, FRA 2nd, CZE 3rd, GBR 4-5
K1 Mens- FRA 1st and 2nd, CZE 3rd, CAN 4th
K1 Womens team- GBr 1st, GER 2nd, CZE 3rd
K1 Mens Team- CZE 1st, GER 2nd, SUI 3rd
Individual K1 and C1 second heats and sprints were mixed, but as you can see CZE had a sound domination of the overall competition. USA came in about 5 or 6th in many of these sprints. Better lick next year on the river!
Natural flow rivers are a different story. Lets take a look at the Western U.S. as an example. The image here shows the current snow-pack levels across the various regions in the West. These numbers are a “percentage of normal”, meaning that anything close to 100 is a very good thing, and anythin over 100 means higher-than-normal levels. Many locations that feed large rivers have over 100% snowpack for the season (still). But the weather still plays an important factor as to whether the snow will produce high, constant water levels or not.
