Some years ago I had a very compelling early summer afternoon adventure white water rafting on a fast flowing river about sixty kilometers from Vancouver BC where I live. I went with a group of friends none of us having had any previous white water rafting experience. No problem! We had engaged a guide complete with a very substantial inflatable raft and he assured us he would teach us the ropes so to speak. I should add that we were all strong swimmers. Non swimmers and weak swimmers should not under any circumstances be white water river rafting even with a well fitting life jacket and a guide. Most if not all of us white water rafting aside, were also in general very both fresh and salt water sports oriented, well skilled and experienced in both.   

The river was in essentially raw wilderness terrain near the BC coastal town of Squamish sixty four kilometers north of Vancouver. The water was very rough indeed with the fast moving and richly foaming surface literally displaying ‘white’ water’ (OK surface foam) however our skipper assured us the large inflatable raft that we were about to board was more than large enough to safely accommodate the eight of us all keen to embark and paddle with gusto which latter we certainly did. 

Most of us including myself, were wearing wet suits for warmth the spring run off river water being very cold indeed. We were also wearing conventional life jackets for good measure. I happened to own a full on wet suit having previously completed a scuba * diving course. I liked scuba diving however in diving even moderately deep there is a risk of permanent hearing damage and as a choral singer, at that time singing as a first tenor ** with the Vancouver Bach choir, I fairly soon chose not to take that risk.

The timing of our rafting adventure was during the spring run off of our winter’s substantial mountain snow pack around the time of it peaking. The water was very cold indeed and very fast running. Fortunately we had picked a very sunny and fairly warm day. Our guide gave us a detailed lecture on engaging in white water rafting with of course a lot of emphasis on safety after which we loaded up with food and water and looked forward to an exciting fast moving ride and to enjoying the supplied lunch ashore with the raft temporally moored about half way into our three hour adventurous excursion.

Of course already wearing our life jackets and/or wet suits, we all piled into the large inflatable and cast off into increasingly rough water. I must have dropped my guard because very soon guess what? I was in the water. I didn’t want to believe I had gone overboard but so I had. I was pleased I was wearing a wet suit given just how cold the water was. I faced downstream with my legs out in front of me. I figured I would be back in the inflatable in no time. Dream on. I saw a splash close to the raft and soon realized it was our leader who had also gone overboard! I figured since he was of a lot more use to our collective cause than was I, the folks would get him back into the dinghy first even though I had gone overboard first. Sure enough they paddled over to him and fished him out however it didn’t take long before I was also back in the inflatable none the worse for wear. We paddled on, reaching our designated luncheon location in about another fifteen minutes.

We stepped ashore taking the raft with us, had lunch and then launched the raft again. The second part of our adventure was if anything more exciting than the first the river taking more twists and turns as it thundered its way to the nearby North Pacific Ocean and our local fjord Howe Sound which incidentally, in places is over a thousand feet deep! We hauled the raft out just short of the change back from fresh water to salt more than pleased with our adventurous day. I can highly recommend white water rafting.

* Scuba (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) can potentially damage one’s hearing primarily due to pressure changes and improper equalization techniques. These injuries, known as barotrauma, can range from mild discomfort to more serious conditions like eardrum rupture or inner ear damage. As a singer (first tenor**) usually performing with a fairly large SATB choral group (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) and sometime soloist, the last thing I need is hearing problems.

** as opposed to second tenors who have a slightly lower singing range.