Extreme Sports: The Dangers of White Water Rafting
A few months ago, a 9-year old British girl was killed in a rafting accident while she was white water rafting on holiday in Turkey. White water rafting is an extreme sport and it has been known to have caused a good few injuries and fatalities over the years. This fact was proven with the death of little Cerys Potter this year and a lot of precautions should be taken before attempting this sport. The most interesting part of this story is why was a nine-year old girl allowed to go white water rafting as part of a group package? The sport of rafting should only be undertaken when a person has been made aware of all the risks and hazards. Hopefully, people in the future will take care and due diligence will be given consideration when engaging in this extreme activity.
It is not known when exactly rafting came about as an extreme sport, but what is known is that it started to become popular in the 1970s. It is also known as white water rafting because the white water in the title means varying degrees of rough water. When water is rough in rivers, the top of the waves become white; that is probably where the name of the sport came from. This extreme activity is done using a large inflatable raft and a number of people all sit in the raft with an oar each and they row to try and steer the boat through choppy water. It is a very exciting sport and not for the faint of heart either; the raft gets flung about in the rough waves and it hits rocks and flips over a lot of the time. There are six differing levels of rapids or white water that people going rafting can experience. They range from Grade 1 which is minimal rough water and this type of water can be navigated by amateurs, all the way up to Grade 6. Grade 6 is the most dangerous type of rafting that a person can undertake and it is reserved for only the most experienced and skilled enthusiasts out there. Even then, to tame a Grade 6 level river is seen as a matter of extreme skill or extreme luck. It is the most dangerous type of river rafting that a person can undertake and it is not recommended to anyone who is not experienced enough.
There are certain ways that a person can minimise their chances of getting seriously hurt while rafting. One is that they should be very good swimmers because if a raft capsizes - which they occasionally do - a person has to be able to swim very well to be able to stay afloat in rough and choppy water until they can get back to the raft. Helmets are an absolute must while rafting; protecting the head in case of being thrown into the water is a number one priority when going rafting. The third important safety aspect of the sport is to have a highly skilled and trained guide leading the rest of the pack down the river. Due to the amount of hazards that are present in a river, from rocks to dips, the most common problem faced by rafter is something called ‘dump truck.’ This is when the raft encounters an obstacle and in order to navigate it properly it needs to lighten itself so it will effectively throw equipment and even passengers off to manoeuvre the hazard. The dumped people then have to resurface and swim back to the raft and climb on board. With all these dangers and hazards it is no wonder that over the years there have been a number of injuries and fatalities in the sport.
Common sense seems to rule the day when it comes to extreme sports. If a person wants to take part in something extreme like white water rafting, they need to use a little bit of common sense. Is the water too rough? Are they strong enough swimmers? Do they think they will be able to handle the experience? These are all questions that should be asked by a rational person before going rafting. If the basic health and safety requirements are filled out, then rafting can be a fun and enjoyable sport to do while on holiday or all the time even. With people now being able to do tricks like jump the raft in the air or perform a nose dive the sport is going to become more popular as time goes by. But a word to the wise, please keep your children at home if you do decide to go white water rafting.
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