Wilderness whitewater - expanding horizons

White water courses for wilderness travellers concentrate on content which enhances a paddler's safety and comfort on remote rivers. Even if a paddler chooses not to run any rapids on a trip, its still important to have competent white water skills to land a canoe safely above a rapid. Some of the techniques involved in whitewater are counter instinctive and must be learned. If a paddler responds by instinct to a difficult situation, they may often make matters worse. It's important to learn good skills and make them instinctive in safe situations where the consequences of a mistake are minimal.

Paddling in whitewater for recreation is different than on a trip. The recreational paddler will have a light weight canoe, often with not much more than some safety equipment and a lunch in it. On most rivers, the more serious and difficult whitewater is often at the begining of the trip when the canoes are heavily laden with food and gear. Paddling a heavy canoe requires different techniques than lightly loaded ones.

Tracking (going upstream using ropes) and lining (going downstream with ropes) are skills that rarely get included in recreational whitewater courses, but wilderness travellers should know how to safely track and line canoes. Usually its safer and faster to either run a rapid or portage it, but there are occassions on a remote river that it becomes necessary to spend some time tracking or lining.

River safety and rescue techniques get covered in more detail in wilderness oriented courses. The recreational paddler usually travells in groups on more populated rivers where help is normally not far away. The wilderness traveller needs to be more independent.