Moving up to grade 3/4 rivers

If you`ve got to the point that your comfortable and competent on grade 2 rivers, and also on the easy side of grade 3, you are maybe thinking about moving up the grades.

Here is a checklist you can do as a bit of self assessment. It is based on the sort of skills base, knowledge base, and equipment that I reckon you should have before running grade 3/4 rivers. There is no pass or fail, but hopefully it will give you something to think about.

One of the more signficant differences between grade 2 and grade 3 is that grade 3 water has obstacles in it that you actively need to avoid. However on grade 3 you can expect to see your route down past the obstacles. As you move up to grade 4, you will often get more obstacles than river, and you are unlikely to be able to see your route past them until you get to them. Your moves are increasingly required to be instinctive, getting you past one obstacle, whilst you are looking ahead to the next one.

Do you have paddling skills beyond BCU 3 star level ?
Do you understand the risks of paddling rivers at high levels ?
Do you have any concept of what a river is actually like at high levels ?
Have you ever paddled a river with a high level or in full-on spate ?
Are you comfortable paddling a grade 2/3 river at medium/high levels ?
Are you competent in manouvering sideways to avoid obstacles, when paddling a grade 2/3 river at medium/high levels ?
Can you cross a fast chute of water in both directions ?
Can you use a wave to surf across a fast current ?
Can you break out both river right and river left and hit the very top of the eddy ?
Are you sufficiently comfortable with breaking in that you would be quite happy breaking into the middle of a grade 3/4 rapid ?
Are you comfortable with seal-launching into a grade 3/4 rapid ?
If you are coming down a rapid and you see a good play wave over to one side, can you turn and paddle across the rapid to get to the play wave ?
Have you got a throwline ?
Have you ever used it ?
Do you know anything about ropework - knots, karabiners, prussiks, abseiling, z-drags, etc ?
Have you ever had training in white water safety ?
Is your kayak stuffed full with air-bags ?
Is your kayak fitted out just for you, with hip pads, decent knee grips, full plate foot-rests, backrest ?
Have you got a decent neoprene spray deck, and has it got a pull-off handle ?
How long is your paddle - decent white water paddles are quite a bit shorter than touring paddles ?
Has your paddle got bright colours on it ? - if you drop an all-black paddle into a rapid it completely dissappears, you just can`t see it at all
Have a look at your helmet - how much protection does it provide for your forehead, your face, and your ears ?
Do you know anything about providing protection on rapids ?
Have you ever rescued a swimmer in a river ?
Have you ever rescued a wayward kayak that didn`t want to be rescued ?
Are you a good swimmer ?
Do you know how to swim down a rapid ?
Has your kayak got tails ?
Do you know the difference between edging and leaning ?
Do you know how to do a high support stroke to minimise the risk of shoulder dislocation ?
Can you roll reliably ?
Have you any experience of paddling grade 3/4 rapids and making your own decisions about them ?
Can you assess and route find rapids without getting out of your boat ?
Do you ever do a risk assessment in order to help you decide whether to run a harder rapid ?
Do you know how to read the water, and know which water features are good and which are bad ?
Do you know about features like stoppers, tow-back, rooster tails, pillows, holes ?
Do you know why curved weirs and drops can be more dangerous than straight ones ?
Have you ever paddled a squirt boat** ? - they are a great way to learn about the 3-dimensional characteristics of river flow
Have you ever done slalom ? - it is a great way to learn about boat control, positioning, reading the water
Have you ever run a river solo ? - it is a very different experience from doing it in a group, and it emphasises your strengths and your weaknesses
Do you ever read books or surf the internet about paddling on rivers ? - it can add a lot to your knowledgebase
Does your clothing keep you warm even if you go swimming or spend time in the water to do rescues ?

That`s as far as it`s got just now - there`s no pass or fail, but if you`ve got several "no`s" then maybe you should think twice about whether you should be heading for grade 3-4 rivers - you`re likely to screw up and get hurt, or be a liability to the other paddlers in your group.

I believe quite strongly that it is very counter-productive to try and rush your way up through the grades. Take your time, concentrate on your skill base and knowledge base, and the higher grades will follow, and you will enjoy them. If you try to rush through the grades, you`ll have bad experiences, you will get hurt, and you will lose your confidence in your own abiliies.

Squirt boats

In case you don`t know, a squirt boat is a kayak that has such a small volume that it only just floats. Squirt boats have to be tailor-made to exactly fit the person that is going to paddle them.

They evolved in the US out of cut-down slalom boats, they generated a whole new sector of kayaking, and they are the forerunners of modern playboats with their low volume ends.

Because they only just float, they spend a lot of time with either end completely submerged, and enable the paddler to use water flow deep down below the surface, which flow might be quite different from what you see on the surface.

A comment about helmets

Helmets - one of the most important bits of equipment as you move up the grades, but often overlooked.

Many helmets currently on the market are orientated more towards playboaters, with many of them only providing protection for the top and back of the head. They are fine for freestyle, but probably not the best for protection on rocky rivers. Look for protection for the back, the top, the front, and the side of your head and your ears. And your face - how far is the front of the helmet away from your forehead - the further away the better.

Plastic is cheap and weak, carbon and kevlar are much more impact resistent. Think about the fit - without the strap being done up, it should still fit neatly and stay on you head when you waggle your head around.

Think about a chin guard - a decent one that is part of the helmet, not something that clips on and of, those clips are just too fragile. I dropped one of them from waist height on to hard ground, and the chin guard broke off.

Several years ago motorcycle helmets were sometimes used, but I don`t think they are used so much now. I can personally vouch for the protection provided by a motorcycle helmet. Been there, done that, and got the gouges on the helmet to prove it ! **

To me, the best helmets are solid, they aren`t full of holes like most cheap plastic helmets. They don`t have cradles inside them, they have a deep layer of foam which maps to your head. They have solid chin guards.

PS - as a bonus - helmets like that keep your head really warm in winter !

A comment about clothing

Just in case you are thinking about them - there is no such thing as "dry trousers" - the name is a figment of a marketing manager`s imagination !

Sure - they will keep off splashes, and keep you warm and dry in that respect. They are also good for keeping off the wind if you are standing about.

But you take a swim - and you will quickly find out that water has an amazing ability to find its way inside them. The ones with latex socks are even more fun - you take a swim - the water gets in - then when you get out of the water and stand up, all the water rushes down into the latex socks, and you end up wearing a couple of balloons full of water on your feet.

And the only way to empty them is to find a steep bank, lie down face down hill, and let the water run out that way. It certainly adds a bit of interest to your day !

Dry cags and dry trousers are becoming increasingly expensive - it is quite easy to spend more on them than in buying a one-piece dry suit. Dry suits are really the way to go as you head up the grades - take a swim, jump in to save somebody, go tomb-stoning off bridges and rock walls - it doesn`t matter - you stay warm and dry.

They do have a couple of down sides - they are a pain to get in and out of, and if you need the toilet half way down the river ...... !

** Probably in the mid/late nineties. Right hand side of the Falls of Leny - a quarter of the way down I hit a rock, and stopped dead. Then did a spectacular full-blown somersault, and scraped down the rest of the drop upside down. My head survived uninjured thanks to my motor cycle helmet. A plastic helmet would have disintegrated, followed by my head. I don`t think that carbon and kevlar helmets were made at the time.

That rock will still be there, I expect. It`s about a metre out from the right hand wall, just about a quarter of the way down. At some levels, it is possible to sneak down hard right close to the wall.

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