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History of Whitewater

The first kayaks and canoes were designed and built by the Inuit and other people native to the Arctic Regions of North America and Greenland. However, these kayaks were not made for rivers like the ones that you may see today, these native kayaks were made for use in the open seas to carry loads and hunting.

By the 1700s, the North American Indians had canoes made of bark, particularly birch bark. Although these canoes were primitive, there was great skill put into their design and construction as they were designed for various water conditions such as rapid streams, quiet waters, lakes, and along the coast.
During this same time period the fur trade was developing and expanding across North America. Trappers and fur traders first bought the bark canoes form the native builders. Then French craftsmen began to build their own canoes with wood on the inside for the internal structure, and finishing with canvas on the outside.

John Wesley Powell took two expeditions, in 1869 and ’71-’72, in an effort to produce a systematic and scientific survey of the Colorado River drainage system. Powell’s exploration of Colorado’s Rivers not only helped develop and expand the west; it sparked the imagination for further whitewater exploration. Unlike the nice rubber rafts that we use today, Powell used wooden boats, which set the precedent for commercial river running which started out using wooden boats.

Paddling had been a recreational activity in both the US and Europe since the early 1900s, but it wasn’t until the 1940s that the first major advancements began to develop. With new materials, such as fiberglass and aluminum to make kayaks and canoes and synthetic rubber for rafts, river activities started to increase in popularity, though the number of participants was still small compared to today’s standards. Rafts were also available through war surplus stores, which created in increase in the number of people rafting. This increase of rafting mainly was focused in the west and opened many boundaries for whitewater running. The oldest whitewater race in the Western Hemisphere was held in 1949 in Salida, Colorado, The 1st Annual Royal Gorge Boat Race.

You’re talking about the “Eskimo Roll”; boaters invented that in the 1950s. With the improvements of design and materials put into the boats during this time period, allowed for many boaters to improve their technique and skills, which also lead to many 1st descents of rivers in the US. The ‘50s set in motion changes that revolutionized whitewater paddling. The scale that we still use today, the International Scale, was developed buy the American Whitewater Association to rate rivers from Class I-VI. Class I being the easiest, and class VI as the hardest.

As technique and boat design improved during the 1960s, the difficultly level of rivers being run increased along with the number of participants as commercial rafting outfitters also became more familiar. During this same time period many rivers were beginning to be damned for hydroelectric power, irrigation, or for water storage in reservoirs. Many rivers were changed or even lost forever due to damns being built. Conservation of rivers became an important national topic of concern among boater. On Oct. 2, 1967 to Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed, and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was established a year later designed to protect rivers from damn building.

That would be the movie Deliverance that was released in 1972, but many other great things also happened to the whitewater community during the 1970s. Not only was kayaking entered as an event in the ’72 Olympics in Augsburg, Germany, there were also many advancements in the boating community. Playboating began during this period, so boaters started surfing waves and playing in holes rather than running rivers. Playboating was made possible by the invention of the plastic kayak, which is a lot more durable than previous versions. As whitewater sports moved from a club sport to an activity, a market for everything from boats to gear to guide books grew. The threat of damn building also increased which resulted in increased legislation and regulation of rivers.

Heck yah! Whitewater became a full-fledged industry with many new innovations. The introduction of dry suits extended the boating season every year. A new form of kayaks called squirt boats was introduced, also extreme races were introduced, a race where kayakers run rapids upstream. The most important innovation for rafting in this era was the introduction of self-bailing floors. Rafts before this time had sealed floors, which basically means that any water inside the boat could not escape without the help of a bucket. Now with self-bailing floors, rafting became easier, safer to run harder rapids. Everything from books to videos and movies also grew for purposes such as instructional, entertainment, and even promotion (Mountain Dew). Due to the increased number of participants in whitewater recreation, damn building and river access issues increased. Overall, two types of boaters emerged during this era 1) those who make a living paddling and 2) those who live for paddling.

At the beginning of the ‘90s an estimated 14.8 million people participated in whitewater rafting and kayaking. This is a big jump form whitewater’s humble beginning as a club sport with a very limited number of participants. Many components can be attributed to the industries success, new magazines, TV shows, videos and movies, Internet, and competitions such as the X-Games.

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