Managing risk

Bad stuff can happen

If you're departing for a whitewater canoe trip and your partner says “Stay safe,” please recognize that the only way you can really do that is by not going. 

You can die

Before going on a whitewater canoe trip, understand the risks. Death is rare but it happens. You can even explore the reasons for fatalities at American Whitewater Accident Database

You could hurt or kill other people

Your risk is not your own. You might not care what happens to you, but if you dump in a dangerous situation, it's no longer just about you. Now you’ve now pulled in others who didn’t even want to go in that rapid since they now need to go rescue your ass. 

On Tim's second day as a canoe guide on the Grand River in Paris Ontario, he noticed a huge commotion around the dam. He learned that two young men, who were part of a private unguided group, thought it would be fun to try to run the Paris dam in high water. Naturally, they got stuck in the backwash. One got flushed out but the second didn't. A father from the same paddling group attempted an untrained rescue and lost his life along with the second young man. It was unfortunate that no one in the party knew how weirs like that are "keepers" and thus killers, but this was not an accident. The two young men chose to put others at risk with their recklessness.

You can lose your gear or time

Lost or wrecked gear may mean lost money, but it could also mean lost food that was needed for the rest of the long trip. Or other essential items, like paddles, or even a canoe that are needed to get the rest of the way down the river. Any risk-assessment needs to consider the larger picture of what could be lost and what that will mean to the trip. Also, even if everyone is safe, sometimes hours are spent dealing with a pinned canoe that is not factored into the planning for the day.

Hazards

Rivers have objective hazards that are inherent to whitewater, but not all hazards and risks to our safety come from the river. Subjective hazards are the ones we bring with us.

Objective Hazards: Foot entrapment, strainers, equipment failure, retentive hydraulics (keepers), long swims/flush drownings. These can all be mitigated. We will talk more about objective hazards in our "When shit goes south" section. 

Subjective Hazards: Poor communication, complacency, distraction, overconfidence, risk perception, expectations and peer pressure, fatigue stress. These too can all be mitigated.

The two big causes of catastrophes are: 

1. Paddlers running rapids well beyond their skill level

2. Paddlers becoming complacent or overconfident

Skill

There is a zone of skill development where a paddler is functioning just at the bleeding edge of their skill. This is where the fastest learning happens. But if a paddler goes beyond that, terrible things can happen. The old “teach em to swim by throwing them in the pool” strategy does not apply to whitewater. Experience alone is a terrible teacher for whitewater. (Reading something like this website alone is also a terrible teacher.) You need intentional experience, guidance from more skilled paddlers, and a researched-based understanding of how whitewater and boats can work together. Most tragic stories of whitewater deaths are about those who did not respect these learning requirements. 

Do the work

To the untrained eye, rapids can just look like a lot of fun and falling in no scarier than falling in a plastic ball pit. To understand what level of risk is involved, and whether or not you have the skills to meet it, you'll need to do the 'theory' reading ahead of time, then practice your skills in safer situations, and ask for and listen to advice from skilled paddlers. When you understand both the risk and the skills required to run a rapid, you can then be true to yourself and push yourself within realistic limits. Novice paddlers can die if they aren’t aware of the limits of their skill but at the same time, “paddlers who believe in their abilities will always outperform those who don’t.” (Walbridge, p.3)

Fear

“Whitewater butterflies are a positive sign; they mean that your body is preparing itself for peak performance. But higher levels of anxiety, left unchecked, can stiffen muscles and slow reaction time.” (p.4) Fear can be unpacked and examined. Think about the fear and what it means. There is some fear that can be worked through with bravery, and others fears that would be reckless not to heed. 

When Jacob was newer to whitewater paddling, he made a life-changing decision beside Split Rock rapid on the Madawaska. While scouting, he sat and reflected on not only the water and what it would require of him, but on what his fear of it meant. Was it the type that was legitimately warning him not to run the rapid? Or was the fear a guide that he could bring with him providing the proper respect for the water and a sharpness to his skill development? He decided it was the latter and ran the rapid flawlessly and also began to apply the concept elsewhere as a life lesson. 

Respect consent

For those with a high level of whitewater skill, we need to be thoughtful about our encouragement. While we can provide positive support and challenge novices to take on new challenges, we must not pressure someone into paddling something that is beyond their skill level.

If the trip leaders determine a rapid is runnable, everyone of course still has their own personal veto on whether they will run it. This has the potential of being a point of conflict within a tandem boat. Or sometimes a co-paddler may not speak up about it so not to disappoint their partner. That's not a good idea. Everyone should speak openly about how they feel about a rapid. Usually, alternative arrangements can be made when one tandem paddler does not want to run. Someone else may step in to run it twice or they may run it solo. 

It's fine to help people push their limits, but not past what they can handle. If an uncomfortable paddler freezes up and grabs the gunwales in a rapid, it will lock their upper body weight to the gunwales and over they go, hauling their partner into the water with them and there’s nothing the experienced paddler can do to stop it. Now we have a dangerous situation where a paddler who didn't even want to run a rapid put themselves and their paddle partner at risk. 

Leaders may have to make the call

“Experienced boaters taking novices down a run must remember that beginners can’t fully participate in the decision-making process and may not be able to handle the stress of dangerous rapids.” (CW, p.5) Sometimes novices have no idea the danger a rapid presents and are chomping at the bit to run. At times, the trip leaders may make the call and this will need to be respected. It's not always about the skill of individuals, but about the greater risk assessment for the group if something goes south.

On an early June Missinaibi trip in 2017, Tim and Jacob and four others found themselves in unusually high water for that time of year. Water was still running through the trees and the volume-waves were punishing. There were only two experienced whitewater paddlers on the trip and four green novices. On day-three of a planned eight-day trip and despite the novices being excited to hit the rapids (or perhaps because of that), Tim and Jacob made the hard call to get out early by flagging down Budd's train at the bridge. It was a really difficult decision to make, but it was the right one. 

Complacency

This can be a real challenge for experienced paddlers. They might feel a sense of confidence about a rapid and take unnecessary risks like not putting on their PFD or helmet. Or they may “bomb” a rapid un-scouted. This can lead to disastrous results, and even more so for less experienced paddlers in the group that follow that example.

Over time a paddler may lose the kind of guidance that fear brings. It needs to be replaced with a mindful and intentional respect of the river. Sometimes we remind each other that "the river giveth and the river taketh away." 

Your skill level does not negate the need to take proper safety precautions.