Whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking is a recreational sport of taking a kayak down a moving body of water, typically a river. Whitewater kayaking can be a challenging, adrenaline filled sport, or be a fun, graceful, technical ride.
Whitewater Racing is the competitive sport of racing canoes down a river as fast as possible.
The kayak (or just 'boat') used in whitewater kayaking is different than those used in Whitewater Racing or Sea Kayaking. The boat is typically made of a tough linear-linked plastic that is slightly flexible and very strong. Boats can range in size from barely long enough to hold the paddler (around 6 ft/1.8 m long), up to 12 ft (3.6 m) or longer.
There are generally three 'sub-hobbies' in whitewater kayaking: river running, rodeo (playboating), and creeking.
- River Running can be thought of as sort of a tour down a river. You're there to enjoy the scenery as well as experiencing challenging whitewater. River running runs the gamut of short day trips to long multi-day trips. Multi-day kayak trips often entail gear toting rafts for a more comfortable experience.
- Rodeo (sometimes referred to as Playboating) is a technical and more artistic kind of kayaking. Playboaters usually stay in one spot in the river, usually in a hole or wave. On the wave or hole they perform a variety of tricks, which can include surfing, spinning, and many vertical moves (cartwheels, loops, blunts, and many many others).
- Creeking is a pure adrenaline form of kayaking involving very technical and difficult rapids. This is typically in the class IV or V range and can include waterfalls, very small and tight rivers, and/or very large and big volume water.