Rocks Make Whitewater: Is the rock friendly or not friendly?

Friendly rocks are fun: They create pillows, water flows smoothly over them, paddlers can bump into and off them or paddle over the top of them safely.

Unfriendly Rocks: Create dangerous situations. Be aware of the following

• Undercut Rocks: Create a siv that can entrap or pin boats or humans. 
• Thin or sharp rocks: Paddlers or boats can get stuck on these rocks. They don’t create pillows, water rushes quickly by them.

RIVER FEATURES

Holes: Where the water rushes over a rock and creates a trough that the downstream water fills and that can create a foam pile.

Foampile: Upstream rushing water in a hole. The white and lighter color part.

Boil Line: The point where the water starts going downstream again and above which the water rushes upstream.

Corners: Where the foam pile disappears on the outside of the hole.

Hole Shapes

What the Foam Pile looks like in the river and how it takes up space.

Straight Hole: Foam pile runs straight across the river

Smiley Hole: The corners of foam pile are further downstream than middle.

Pocket or Frowney Hole: The corners of Foampile are further upstream than middle.

Diagonal Hole: Yup, the foam pile runs diagonally across the water.

Waves

What you play on when in whitewater, you bounce up and down, you can surf them. Waves can be so much fun on the river.

Peak: Top of wave

Trough: Bottom of wave

Shoulder: To right and left of the wave where wave begins to disappear into the current of the river.

Eddies

Slow water and slack water in a river created by an obstacle in the river or shoreline.

Top of an eddy: Very most upstream side, usually up against a rock or shoreline.

Bottom of eddy: Most downstream part where the eddy turns back into the current

Eddy Pocket: The most stationary or upstream-moving part of the eddy.

Eddy Lines: Separate the current going downriver from the upstream running slack water.

Crisp or Clear Eddy Lines: Sharp line between current and eddy

Boily, Wide or Mushy Eddy Lines: Not as distinct line, current fades into eddy

Picking your Paddle Line

When paddling whitewater, you will generally be moving from one eddy to the next eddy. From eddy to eddy, you will assess for your paddleable line taking the following items into consideration.

• Know what paddling techniques you’re good at to pick your line either
  paddling the easiest way through or using your skills to move through
  the line.
• The fastest current usually is denoted by waves or a V.
• The V shows the fastest current and oftentimes goes between the rocks. Water in a V is deep and moving so it’s a good choice for line selection.
• Look for obstacles such as holes and rocks, etc. along your chosen line to determine how you want to handle them.
• Number 1 Priority
  is to leave as much margin for error in your line as possible so if something goes not according to plan you have time to read what’s coming and calibrate your line.

Consider the Following Obstacles

Tunnel Vision: When a paddler looks right at the front of their boat rather than to the next eddy or obstacles along
their line. Always focus on the target or where you want to go rather than right in front of your boat.

Fun with rocks: You can paddle around them, Catch the eddy behind them and if there’s enough water, paddle over them. Rocks sticking up above the waterline in
the middle of the river is a pretty good indication that there’s an eddy on the backside of it.

Be aware of Current Differential: There can be a strong or smooth difference in speed between the current flow and the strength of the eddy and it’s important to know what those differences will mean for you.

River Rapid Class-ification: Choose your adventure

Knowing the skill level and experience of those adventuring with you allows you to choose the right river stretches [with paddleable features] for your group. There are six different whitewater rapid class levels to choose from, with different characteristics in each class. 

Aggressive Swim Position

• Most important: Keep your feet up
• Stomach down and head above water
• Swim aggressively with your arms toward the shore or boat
  Be sure to avoid obstacles in the water

Downriver Swimmer Position 

• Float on your back with your feet downriver, knees slightly bent
• Keep your head up and above the water. 
• Don’t stand up in the river. Stay calm, and time your breaths with the waves if necessary.
• Listen for your team and Look for obstacles
• In this position, you can see where you’re going, and with your knees
  bent, you can absorb some of the shock if you hit a rock and work to
  avoid getting tangled with debris.

Also, make sure you all are ready to treat the chosen waterway with respect.