by Algernon Moncrieff

Created on: March 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 20, 2009

The grading system of white water is a largely subjective affair, but I will do my best to give what is normally conceived to be meant by the grades I (the easiest) to VI (verging on suicidal) from a kayaker's perspective, although it will apply roughly the same to rafting teams. It is probably worthwhile to give a short description of river features as well - these are the obstacles you find on a white water river that must be negotiated, and generally these become larger and more frequent the higher the grade.

First though a mention of two terms - scouting and safety. Scouting is the act of getting off the river before a large feature such as a high-grade rapid, drop or siphon (see below), normally where it is no longer possible to see from sitting in your boat the next place you could find an eddy that has line of sight to your group. Unless you are certain the river does not have anything dangerous to throw at you, run nothing blind (and even then be very cautious). Safety does what it says on the tin. Often after scouting it will be necessary to set up safety teams to protect sections of the river where people are likely to make mistakes. Swimmers (referring to people who have fallen out of their kayak after capsizing and being unable to roll, not nutters swimming down white water!) are likely to need rescue quickly, and being in a good position to get a rope or a live bait to a swimmer could be the difference between life and death.

So, river features:

EDDIES: are areas of slack water that form behind rocks and other obstructions to the water, allowing a kayaker to take a break from paddling in the main flow.

HOLES: are formed where the water goes over a small drop and curls back on itself off the river bed. This produces a 'towback' effect, that can suck kayaks upstream and into the hole, where they may be forced to either surf the wave that forms or be capsized by the force of the water. On higher grades this process can repeat itself until the paddler bails and either manages to swim down and out, or is recirculated until they either drown or are rescued. On low grades holes can be simply ploughed straight through. On moderate grades (4-5) holes can be avoided by 'boofing' - launching the kayak off the drop so that it lands flat and maintains its speed. On the higher grades holes are to be avoided at all costs!

SLIDES AND DROPS: are fairly self explanatory. A slide is a rock or man-made slide over which the water runs and kayaks can

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