
Understanding River Rapid Classifications By Richard Chapo.
There is something about rapids on a river that make people excited. Oh, yeah. I gotta try that! Before you hop into the river on a kayak, raft, canoe or branch, you need to take a minute to understand river classifications.
Not all whitewater on a river is equal. Some rapids come in the form of minor disturbances that are fun, but not too treacherous. On the other end of the scale, there are the rapids where you are sure death is feet away and it may very well be. So, how do you know if you are going to get a little excitement, a medium level or a meeting with your maker? You just look up the classification of the rapids in front of you or read on.
Rivers are classified in the same way across the world. Hey, at least we can all agree on something! In the case of rivers, the classification is known as the International Scale of River Difficulty or ISRD. There are six basic classifications, but people have also developed sub-classes. We’ll avoid those for now and look at the big six.