Group Size & Communication for Whitewater Rafting

Video Transcript

"Rafting is a social event so you’re usually out there with more than one raft. If you’re out there with a group of friends or a group of rafts that should start to organize your day so that you’re able to take care of one another and uh, you have some sort of an idea of what’s going on and what’s expected of you. So you should designate a lead raft. The lead raft should be the trip leader, that person sorta sets the pace, has a better understanding of white water rafting and also has a better understanding of the river section that you are about to go on. You should also have a sweep raft. The sweep raft is probably the second most experienced raft guide on the river, the sweep rafts job is to make sure that everybody downstream of them is doing okay and is fine, also the sweep raft tends to have the first aid kit. It’s usually easier to bring the first aid kit down to the incident than it is to try and paddle or run it up to the incident. So having a lead raft and a sweep raft is the best way to negotiate your way downstream as a group. If you have several rafts, or twenty to thirty rafts then you normally split the raft trip up into two parts so you have a trip leader for each part and you have a sweep for each part, that way you’re sort of minimizing the chaos out there, its slightly better organization as well. Within the lead raft and the sweep raft you need to sort of come up with a communication system so that you guys are to touch base with one another as you work your way downstream. There can often be a big distance between the last raft and the first raft and so having a way to communicate between those two rafts is very important. Maintaining a trip structure is also an important thing. You need to make sure that there’s not too big a distance between rafts, the lead raft, the second raft and the sweep raft. If they get too spread out then you’re essentially running a single raft trip. If you are running a single raft trip, then you need to remember to be pretty conservative, there’s nobody else out there to help you out and so trying things for the first time on a single raft trip, tends not to be a very good idea. So running a group out there, a group of rafts, remember to stay together, stay in an organized trip structure. The rafts in the middle should never pass the trip leader and should never fall behind the sweep. That way you guys are able to take care of each other and know exactly what’s going on, on the river. "