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Ridin' the .Rapids
Story by Barry Grove
Photos by Ron Holman
By Barry Grove
Staff Writer
A mystique surrounds rafting. People
unfamiliar with rivers imagine rapids as
inevitable drowning pools and river rafters
as supermen and superwoman or fools.
—excerpt from a train ing manual for
while-water river guides
Guiding four people through raging
rapids that claims lives every year
weighed heavy on Sharon Saye's mind -
bui the thrill of being hurtled through the
air on rotlercoaster waves brought an
adrenalin surge unlike any drug.
Preparing to face the day's challenge,
the peine blonde CSUF interior design
major—clad in a bulky life vest and a
sleeveless wetsuit exposing her bare arms
to the early morning sun and the 40-de-
greesnow- melted water—boanJedhernine-
foot inflatable raft and con fidentl y barked
commands to her four-man crew.
'"Forward paddle two strokes."
Slowly the nine-foot raft glided over
the upper Kings River 63 miles outside
of Fresno, the crew knifing the water
with direct clean strokes.
"That's good, thank you," Saye said
politely.
Saye, one of 16 rookie white water
river guides trying to win a job with
Kings River Expeditions this summer,
perched herself on top of the back pontoon and put the upper half of her five-
foot-four-inch body parallel over the icy
river.
Gritting her teeth, she extended her
yellow oar to its full length, and with a
single broad stroke steered the raft toward
the sound of white-water waves hurling
into and around 20-foot boulders in the
river.
Twenty four-year-old Jeff Stanley, a
four-year veteran guide, reassured Saye as
the fust rapid appeared on the horizon.
"Keep your angle. You're doing fine."
Half smiling, Saye nodded an acknowledgment. She knew her summer plans
could depend on her ability to guide a
craft full of novices through the rampaging swirls.
The first of the white water showed
quickly, as if separated from the green
water by an imaginary divider, and Saye,
arching her neck to survey the thrashing
waves, barked another order.
"Back paddle."
The crew dutifully responded as Saye
again leaned over the chilly water and
strained her slight muscles against the
powerful torrent, reversing the nose of the
raft towards the streaking grass hills on
shore.
The white-capped waves, small at first,
danced about the broadside of the boat
occasionally spurting a few near-frozen
drops of clear river water over the sides.
And then came the days first exam:
"Banzai Hole.'
The rapid is especially dangerous because it is a "keeper," Stanley said. It is
the kind of rapid that can keep a raft
trapped between the gully formed by the
first wave and the back wave.
Saye twisted the nose of the raft downstream and yelled for her crew to "forward
paddle." There was more urgency in her
voice and a "thank you." did not follow.
But the commanding and the paddling
did little good-the air-filled river runner
was in Mother Nature's hands now.
Rising to the crest of the Fust of two
six-foot waves, the boat, with four oarsmen beating air instead of water, looked
as if it wanted to lake flight
The hapless piece of inflatable rubber
did not take for the skks, however, but
instead came crashing down into the natural raging water gully formed by the
wave.
^ Saye continued to scream for her crew
to paddle forward, but her voice was only
a distant cry unheard above the thunder
ous clap of white water waves.
By now the crew had forgotten about
paddling anyway. Their concern was to
save themselves by kneeling in the bottom of the raft and saying a silent Hail
Mary.
Not to be the victim of a "keeper," the
air-blown barge propelled itself through
the back wave, and doused the crew with a
spectacular cascading 50-gallon river
shower.
Past the first peril the crew, trainees
Rose Weller, liberal studies major and
Curtis Brunson, finance major as well as
Stanley, their hair plastered against their
heads, let out a whoop of relief. "Aliiili
right] Yeeeeah!"
Saye was conspicuously quiet Her
brow furrowed and her thin arms
tightened, she concentrated on steering for
the next rapid and avoiding the next rock.
"At this water level it's not that danger
ous," Stanley said, "But, we definitely
could flip or wrap a boat"
Wrapping a boat is what happens when
a raft hits one of the periodic boulders stationed throughout the river. The thrust of
the current is so strong that the raft becomes pinned against the rock.
^*
- ^ j
Rookies Jim Lane (steering boat at back), Charles Park and Andy Bone get tips from Tracy Collins (behind Park), of the Kings River Expedition as they go through 'Banzai Hot,
Object Description
| Title | 1988_04 The Daily Collegian April 1988 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1988 |
| Description | Daily (except weekends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif. : BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Assocated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
Description
| Title | April 6, 1988, Page 6 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1988 |
| Description | Daily (except weekends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif. : BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Assocated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
| Full-Text-Search | ^sg VVee/c/yMg^g^neSecf/on | Ridin' the .Rapids Story by Barry Grove Photos by Ron Holman By Barry Grove Staff Writer A mystique surrounds rafting. People unfamiliar with rivers imagine rapids as inevitable drowning pools and river rafters as supermen and superwoman or fools. —excerpt from a train ing manual for while-water river guides Guiding four people through raging rapids that claims lives every year weighed heavy on Sharon Saye's mind - bui the thrill of being hurtled through the air on rotlercoaster waves brought an adrenalin surge unlike any drug. Preparing to face the day's challenge, the peine blonde CSUF interior design major—clad in a bulky life vest and a sleeveless wetsuit exposing her bare arms to the early morning sun and the 40-de- greesnow- melted water—boanJedhernine- foot inflatable raft and con fidentl y barked commands to her four-man crew. '"Forward paddle two strokes." Slowly the nine-foot raft glided over the upper Kings River 63 miles outside of Fresno, the crew knifing the water with direct clean strokes. "That's good, thank you," Saye said politely. Saye, one of 16 rookie white water river guides trying to win a job with Kings River Expeditions this summer, perched herself on top of the back pontoon and put the upper half of her five- foot-four-inch body parallel over the icy river. Gritting her teeth, she extended her yellow oar to its full length, and with a single broad stroke steered the raft toward the sound of white-water waves hurling into and around 20-foot boulders in the river. Twenty four-year-old Jeff Stanley, a four-year veteran guide, reassured Saye as the fust rapid appeared on the horizon. "Keep your angle. You're doing fine." Half smiling, Saye nodded an acknowledgment. She knew her summer plans could depend on her ability to guide a craft full of novices through the rampaging swirls. The first of the white water showed quickly, as if separated from the green water by an imaginary divider, and Saye, arching her neck to survey the thrashing waves, barked another order. "Back paddle." The crew dutifully responded as Saye again leaned over the chilly water and strained her slight muscles against the powerful torrent, reversing the nose of the raft towards the streaking grass hills on shore. The white-capped waves, small at first, danced about the broadside of the boat occasionally spurting a few near-frozen drops of clear river water over the sides. And then came the days first exam: "Banzai Hole.' The rapid is especially dangerous because it is a "keeper," Stanley said. It is the kind of rapid that can keep a raft trapped between the gully formed by the first wave and the back wave. Saye twisted the nose of the raft downstream and yelled for her crew to "forward paddle." There was more urgency in her voice and a "thank you." did not follow. But the commanding and the paddling did little good-the air-filled river runner was in Mother Nature's hands now. Rising to the crest of the Fust of two six-foot waves, the boat, with four oarsmen beating air instead of water, looked as if it wanted to lake flight The hapless piece of inflatable rubber did not take for the skks, however, but instead came crashing down into the natural raging water gully formed by the wave. ^ Saye continued to scream for her crew to paddle forward, but her voice was only a distant cry unheard above the thunder ous clap of white water waves. By now the crew had forgotten about paddling anyway. Their concern was to save themselves by kneeling in the bottom of the raft and saying a silent Hail Mary. Not to be the victim of a "keeper," the air-blown barge propelled itself through the back wave, and doused the crew with a spectacular cascading 50-gallon river shower. Past the first peril the crew, trainees Rose Weller, liberal studies major and Curtis Brunson, finance major as well as Stanley, their hair plastered against their heads, let out a whoop of relief. "Aliiili right] Yeeeeah!" Saye was conspicuously quiet Her brow furrowed and her thin arms tightened, she concentrated on steering for the next rapid and avoiding the next rock. "At this water level it's not that danger ous," Stanley said, "But, we definitely could flip or wrap a boat" Wrapping a boat is what happens when a raft hits one of the periodic boulders stationed throughout the river. The thrust of the current is so strong that the raft becomes pinned against the rock. ^* - ^ j Rookies Jim Lane (steering boat at back), Charles Park and Andy Bone get tips from Tracy Collins (behind Park), of the Kings River Expedition as they go through 'Banzai Hot, |
