How to Surf Holes in Whitewater Rafting

Video Transcript

"Hole playing can be a lot of fun in raft also. The biggest thing you need to understand with hold playing is which is an appropriate hole to play and what is an appropriate crew to play in that hole. Once you've made those decisions, you can get out there and have a lot of fun and to remember that holes can be dangerous, so dropping into a hole that you haven't really scouted or don't understand can end up being a very complicated pastime for you. So look for a hole that has a good exit on both sides so that you can float out of it on both sides and also a hole that doesn't have a lot of upstream momentum way downstream from it. If a lot of water is rushing back up into the hole, that's a good indicator that that hole is not going to flush you out very quickly. Start out with small holes and paddle pretty hard into them and then learn how to play in those holes and how to shift weight. Once you've done that, then you can get into a slightly more aggressive holes and have a little more fun with it. What will happen in the hole is the boat will fill up. Water will come in the boat and then the boat sort of sits a little lower in the river. Once that happens, then the raft will easily stay in the hole without you having to paddle. You need to remember that if the raft is stuck in the hole, then you want your guests or your crew to stay in the raft whenever possible. If they're uncomfortable, it's fine to have your crew hold on for a little while. What you're trying to avoid is having guests fall out of the boat into the hole and have the boat stay in the hole. That way the guests and the boat are both trapped in the hole, and that's a pretty uncomfortable place to be as a swimmer. Mostly guests and swimmers will float out under the walk and head on down stream. It's an easy thing to avoid just by having the people in the boat hold on."