River running and risk assessment

Every kayak paddler who runs white water rapids will come to a situation whereby he or she has to make a personal decision whether to run a particular rapid, or whether to portage round it.

Fear, adrenalin, and peer pressure all play a part in the decision making process, but unfortunately, none of these are reliable inputs on which to base a decision.

What is needed is some better indicators which can be used to provide reliable inputs to the decision making process.

There are several directions from which reliable inputs can, and should, be sourced.

Analyse the river and the rapid

The first of these indicators is an analysis of the features of the rapid and how to react to them :-

identification of the hazards and dangers
selecting a route either through or bypassing these hazards and dangers
identifying the strokes or paddling skills neccessary to achieve the selected route
comparing your personal paddling skills with those required

What if it goes wrong ?

The second direction from which reliable indicators should be sourced is based on an analysis of what will happen if it all goes wrong :-

if a capsize occurs, will it be safe to roll, or will it be possible to roll ?
if a capsize results in a swim, how safe is the swim ?
what are the chances of getting pinned or stuck in a stopper or a sump or under an overhang ?
what lies beyond the rapid - is there a large pool to enable an easy rescue, or are there more rapids which make rescues difficult ?
are there river features downstream which make rescues dangerous - either for your rescuers, or for you ?
is there a serious risk of injury - is the rest of the group put at risk if you cannot continue to paddle ?
how competent and experienced are your fellow paddlers - do they have the skills and equipment to rescue you if you screw up ?

What advice are you getting ?

If you are getting advice about whether to run a rapid - can you trust that advice ?

How well do they know about your paddling skills ?

Compare your own gut feeling with the advice you are getting - there isn`t an easy answer here as to which is best - but take it on board in your decision making process.

What state are you in ?

The last direction from which reliable indicators are sourced is the personal one :-

everyone has good days and bad days - which are you having ?
are you cold ? - if you are cold, your joints are stiffer, your muscles do not work as well, and you are more likely to suffer injury
are you tired - is it near the end of the trip - this is the most difficult time to make rational decisions - are you in a fit state to run the rapid, or even in a fit state to make a rational decision ?
are you being pressurised by your fellow paddlers ?
have you got a PMA - a positive mental attitude ?

Finally .....

And that is it. Although it may seem a rather lengthy procedure to follow, much of it will become quite intuitive, with many questions answered with just a glance.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive - there might well be other things to take into consideration depending on circumstances.

Doing a risk assessment like this isn`t meant to put you off running rapids, it is a way of helping you to decide whether to run a rapid - there is always a risk - it`s up to you to weigh up the potential rewards, and the potential risks.

As a final thought, if you are getting too much peer pressure to paddle rapids you do not want to run, maybe you are paddling with the wrong people. See if you can find other people to paddle with.

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