Extreme Sports, Rafting in White Waters
The sport that is white water rafting is very popular and pretty dangerous as well. It is defined as, “A group recreational activity using multi-passenger, inflatable rubber boats, typically steered by a professional guide, to travel down rivers with numerous rapids,” (travel-industry-dictionary). As anyone who has seen white water rafting taking place or experienced with it, knows just how much fun it can be, but it also comes with just the hint of danger lurking around the corner.
How do a bunch of people all sitting in an inflatable rubber boat going down a river at high speeds through some very treacherous rapids manage to actually stay in the boat? It probably requires a lot of skill and some training to stay in the boat and paddle through very strong rapids. A rapid is a geographic term, which is defined as, “part of a river where the current is very fast and turbulent,” (thefreedictionary). So the object of this sport is to be able to manoeuvre an inflatable boat through the most turbulent and dangerous part of the river. The danger that occurs when going through the most hazardous rapids is if a person falls into the river, at that point they are going to have to be fished out pretty quickly otherwise there is a serious risk of drowning in that choppy and fast moving water; especially if the person is not a strong swimmer. They can always rely on the expertise of the other people in the boat to lend a helping hand.
There are other forms of river boating activities including canoeing, but the thrill one gets from being in a large boat being thrown about at every turn is unparalleled. The sport of white water rafting must be a massive adrenaline rush as well, because of the constant fear of being sucked into the rough water and the feeling of conquering the raging river. It is easy to see why the sport has become so popular. Due to the unpredictability of a river, going from very calm to suddenly very turbulent adds that much more excitement to the sport. People can find themselves travelling along on a peaceful part of the river when everything is calm and serene and then suddenly the water starts to get turbulent and starts to rush a lot faster. The guide then tells everyone to brace themselves and they are plunged into a chaotic scene of water gushing all around them and their boat being thrown left and right. It then becomes a real struggle and a statement of team spirit to get through that part of the river using everyone’s expertise and assistance.
There is another form of rafting which is very similar to white water rafting but it is called black water rafting. Black water rafting or sometimes called cave tubing is the same as white water rafting except it is done in caves. “Cave tubing involves the use of an inflated rubber inner tube, the kind you would normally find in a car or truck tyre, as a flotation device to take you down river. Each Black Water Rafting expedition includes 8-12 people and two expert guides,” (waitomo). It seems to be slightly different than white water rafting because each person goes individually down cave rapids as opposed to being in a boat with many others. The thrill that comes from shooting down a cave seems likely to be more than going down a river, just for the simple fact that caves are pretty dangerous places. They are almost no even surfaces and usually have rocks jutting out and they suddenly turn and can also suddenly become very narrow. These factors seem only to make the sport more exciting and fun for the people that take part in it.
To turn it up a notch, they could always try white water rafting at night as opposed to in caves. Imagine navigating the same treacherous river but under the cover of darkness. It may not have been tried yet but seems to be the next step for those extreme river conquerors to get their fix of river rapid rafting.
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