Published: August 23, 2008 10:57 pm         

Time to hit river rapidly approaching

LANSING — You can probably guess how “Lost Paddle” on the Gauley River got its names during whitewater rafting’s fall Gauley season, but how could anyone call a Class IV-plus rapid “Insignificant.”

“There’s more to running the river than the exhilarating ride,” said Dave Arnold, Class VI-Mountain River managing partner. “There’s the incredible scenery, the tales that every experienced guide has to share and the naming of the rapids.”

Class VI-Mountain River offers it all when the much-anticipated Gauley season starts Sept. 5 and runs through Oct. 19.

“The fun of Gauley season begins with the choice of two great trips,” Arnold said. “Experienced rafters may choose the more challenging Upper Gauley trip, which is a 13-mile section with primarily Class IV and V rapids, while enthusiastic beginners and advanced rafters often select the 15-mile Lower Gauley with rapids in the Class III and IV ranges.”

The rapids are classified by difficulty of navigation, with Class I being the least difficult and Class V being most difficult, Arnold explained.

“While some rapids have names, these aren’t the only ones rafters encounter as they take on the Gauley River during the special fall season,” he said.

According to the National Park Service, which maintains the Gauley River National Recreation Area, the river drops more than 668 feet through 28 miles of rugged terrain and features more than 100 rapids.

“And that’s not insignificant,” Arnold said. “However, ‘Insignificant’ is the first major Class V rapid on the Upper Gauley trip.”

This big, long rapid is the first of the Gauley’s big drops, Arnold adds.

“It got its name when a 1968 exploratory rafting party completed the trip at a lower-than-normal flow rate and reported ‘no significant rapids’ upstream of Pillow Rock,” he explained.

Arnold says “Iron Ring” is another Class V rapid with a name that is historic.

“Loggers in the early 1900s tried to blast the rock out to make a log flume and set an iron ring in place on the rock as part of the logging operation,” he said. “The ring was stolen in 1988.”

The “Sweet’s Falls” rapid is no piece of cake, according to Arnold.

“It’s a Class V rapid named for John Sweet, who was the only person to run this drop on a 1968 exploratory run,” he said. “He made the trip through the rapid in a C-1, which is a covered whitewater canoe made for aggressive whitewater. Prior to his success, others carried their boats or took other routes around the falls.”

Arnold says the first successful Gauley River trip took place on Memorial Day weekend in 1961 when Jean and Sayre Rodman navigated the river.

“John Sweet took his trip 40 years ago on Labor Day 1968, using information from the Rodmans’ trip,” he said.

Fall Gauley season comes to whitewater enthusiasts courtesy of Congress, which passed legislation mandating recreational whitewater releases from Summersville Lake, Arnold added.

“In West Virginia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides a series of 23 controlled releases from Summersville Lake on successive weekends, beginning the weekend after Labor Day,” he said.

This year, the Gauley season dates are Sept. 5-8, Sept. 12-15, Sept. 19-22, Sept. 26-29, Oct. 3-6, Oct. 11-12 and Oct. 19.

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com



ABOUT GAULEY SEASON

- In 2007, 46,767 enthusiasts rafted the Upper and Lower Gauley with professional commercial outfitters.

- Gauley season draws guests from all 50 states and many countries, with about 7 percent of Gauley season fans flying in for the trip.

- Twice as many visitors sign up to take the Upper Gauley trip rather than the Lower Gauley.

- Gauley River trips account for about 25 percent of the business in user days for rafting companies that host trips on both the Gauley and New rivers. This translates into about 40 percent of a company’s gross revenue for the year.

- The number of rafters on the New River drops in the fall, making it an ideal time to schedule a Gauley-New combination package.

- Gauley season is a labor-intensive, hospitality-driven operation for the professional commercial outfitters. On peak Gauley season weekends, with rafters enjoying trips on the Upper and Lower Gauley River and the lower New River, there will be more than 600 guides on the river. It takes about two days of behind-the-scenes work for marketing teams, bus drivers, food and beverage staffs, housekeeping and administration/reservation staffs to put each guide on the river. That means it takes about 2,000 people to put the show on for a peak day.

— Source: Class VI-Mountain River