{"id":3349,"date":"2011-06-15T14:47:17","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T21:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/?p=3349"},"modified":"2022-12-06T12:44:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T20:44:40","slug":"5-reasons-pro-rafters-love-high-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/5-reasons-pro-rafters-love-high-water\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Pro Rafters Love High Water"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\"\"<\/a>We’ve been talking a LOT about high water of late–on the phone, over email, on this blog.\u00a0 Every spring we’re excited when the Sierra snowpack starts to melt and fill our rivers to the brim.\u00a0 This year, with the truly epic amount of snow, there’s plenty to talk about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Herewith, the top 5 reasons we at AO Rafting<\/a> love high water:<\/p>\n

1.) High water\u00a0is rare\u00a0and special. It’s more of everything we love about rafting: faster water, bigger drops, bigger wave trains, more hair-raising turns, and more powerful hydraulics.\u00a0 In other words, it’s more FUN, pure and simple.<\/p>\n

2.) Rivers change dramatically as flows get higher–some rapids basically “fill-in” in with water and basically disappear, while others spring up out of nowhere as water surges over newly submerged obstacles.\u00a0 Other rapids get much more powerful and need to be approached differently.\u00a0 For newer guides, high water\u00a0 trips make familiar rivers seem like brand-new experiences, and for our veteran guides, it’s more like seeing an old friend because high flows come around so rarely.<\/p>\n

3.) The process of getting to know rivers at higher flows is very hands on–we literally get out there and raft them! \u00a0We invest in more advanced training for our guides during high water years,\u00a0and run a lot of in-house “fun trips” so our\u00a0newer guides are can get\u00a0familiar with flows they may not have\u00a0had\u00a0the chance to experience before, and senior staff can\u00a0continue to perfect\u00a0their skills.<\/p>\n

4.) We\u00a0put more boats on the water during\u00a0high water periods.\u00a0 This may\u00a0mean an additional “guide boat” out in front (this is standard on all of our\u00a0class V Cherry Creek trips), a\u00a0kayker at the ahead of the pack, or a guide in a “cat,” which is one\u00a0of those crazy\u00a0pontoon-type boats you may have seen on\u00a0occasion.\u00a0 These options–combined with simply having fewer guests per raft–create a more intimate experience, and\u00a0 give us more\u00a0 pro “hands on deck” for running smooth high water rafting trips.<\/p>\n

5.) We\u00a0often switch from paddle-boats to oar-paddle combos during high water trips. Oars give our guides a greater measure of power\u00a0and control when navigating the powerful hydraulics of high water season.\u00a0 Plus, guides love to row, pure and simple, and when the water comes down they don’t get to anymore!\u00a0 Even I, the self-professed least athletic person at AO rafting like to row, if that<\/em> tells you anything!\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Above: AO rafting guides<\/a> Danny W<\/a> andTessa S are having a blast!\u00a0 That’s an oar-paddle combo, if you’re curious.\u00a0 The bottom picture shows a “cat,” one of the ways we can use to adjust to changing high-water conditions)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve been talking a LOT about high water of late–on the phone, over email, on this blog.\u00a0 Every spring we’re excited when the Sierra snowpack starts to melt and fill our rivers to the brim.\u00a0 This year, with the truly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california-rivers","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Reasons Pro Rafters Love High Water<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/5-reasons-pro-rafters-love-high-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Reasons Pro Rafters Love High Water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’ve been talking a LOT about high water of late–on the phone, over email, on this blog.\u00a0 Every spring we’re excited when the Sierra snowpack starts to melt and fill our rivers to the brim.\u00a0 This year, with the truly […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/5-reasons-pro-rafters-love-high-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The AO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alloutdoors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-15T21:47:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-06T20:44:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/p3080151_2-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" 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