My company (on the Nantahala River) had a guide meeting today and we'd been complaining about some of our working conditions, regarding lack of lunches and good food, so on and so forth... Well, we were very pleasantly surprised. The owners have opened up an AWESOME sammich shop today and they had all the river guides up for the shakedown... the food is great, and they will deliver it to our HQ for free at a significant discount.

But more importantly, our boss said that on slow days he would let us take a van and trailer with rafts to run the Class IV Ocoee... That's cool, but not the coolest part. Once or twice we will get to take a raft or two to Robbinsville to run the Class V+/VI Cheoah River which until 2005 had not be run since the Alcoa Corp. dammed it 78 years ago. In 2005-2006 it will only be run 21 times. No one on the Nantahala runs "Big Wesser Falls" or is insured for it, which is Class VI but they say the Cheoah is wilder continuously!

Only experienced rafters are permitted, and there must be two guides per boat with only four crewmen. EMT's line the river all the way down and there is an extra fee to pay for that. Plus it's a mile longer than the Nantahala which is chill in many spots. They say it's paddling hard the whole way. I'm really excited about it.

For either river we just have to mark out the company's name with duct tape and go as a private boat b/c my company doesn't have a license for either river. But, I figure that if all 6 of us are guides with all are safey equipment we stand a good chance in a big boat but I've never done a whitewater rescue in water like that. Oh well nothin' makes a failure but a try.

This is a pic of one of the medium rapids... Who else is into whitewater?



[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 12:20 AM. Reason : pic]

6/26/2006 12:12:41 AM

SPORTS talk

SPORTS talk



oh and broken image

6/26/2006 12:16:54 AM

ban yourself

6/26/2006 12:18:36 AM

ban yourself

6/26/2006 12:21:25 AM

Golf is a sport, tennis is a sport. Shit, Curling is an OLYMPIC sport.... ^ and that's not a sport???

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 12:23 AM. Reason : wtf]

6/26/2006 12:22:06 AM

exactly

although if you had mentioned racing or something, i would have given this more credit as a sport than nascar. but you didnt, adn that isnt saying much in the first place


BUT WAIT, DID YOU JUST QUESTION TENNIS AS A SPORT???????


YOU THINK NASCAR IS A SPORT, BUT TENNIS ISNT?


i mean i can debate golf/curling, but if you say tennis is questionable then you are just hopeless

6/26/2006 12:25:42 AM

You obviously floated past the take-outs, and missed the point. Prepare for Big Wesser Falls.


(Watch the re-bar on your way through they threw it in while building the railroad)

Acutally I meant, it's perfectly cool, a great rapid... enjoy. The ppl scream at you but they are only messing with you there aren't any rebarred steel or railroad ties in the river.


^you're a dumbass, sir and know nothing of whitewater sport. You'd do well to simply not talk about that which you know nothing of.

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 12:40 AM. Reason : laughing]

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 12:40 AM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 12:38:36 AM

Quote :

"they will deliver it to our HQ for free at a significant discount."

does not compute

6/26/2006 12:48:36 AM

I almost died the one time I did it, fuck that

6/26/2006 12:51:04 AM

^^Delivery is free, discount is on the food... I thought most of you guys actually got into State, you're making look like a fucking community college.

We'll give you a sammich and teach you fix mufflers... dumbasses.

^Where'd you go and was it guided?

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 12:57 AM. Reason : Almost died]

6/26/2006 12:56:42 AM

nolichucki, however its spelled. Wasnt bad at all til the very end, guide wanted to "surf" on the last drop off, which is the only place where the river wasnt 4-6 feet deep, it was something like 40 feet deep. Raft backed up on the drop, water started hitting the side, forced that side down, other side up, person on that side came loose, flew down, hit me, knocked me under the water, couldnt come back up for about 45 seconds because of the rapids (oh, and I cant swim very well, cant swim underwater at all). So fuck that shit for now on

6/26/2006 1:04:29 AM

^swimmer

I average about three rescues a day at the Little Wesser Falls (mostly funyaks and unguided boats). But depending on the size and experience of your raft and ESPECIALLY on guided trips your odds of swimming are less than 5%.

That's a higher class than the Ocoee or the Nantahala... you gotta crawl b/f you walk dude.

The guides refer to that as "Carnage" We had an awesome one today, the best I've ever seen. I was like "dude, this is going in our highlight film that was awesome."

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 1:20 AM. Reason : Actually...]

6/26/2006 1:16:59 AM

i went down the New River last summer

its Class V, but it really wasnt that big a deal at all. I want to try the Gauley sometime soon, but i heard about this river here in N.C and would love to try it, even though it will probably be the death of me.

6/26/2006 1:18:56 AM

The intArweb say that the Gauley is the only river that rivals the Cheoah on this side of the continent.

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 1:23 AM. Reason : sp]

6/26/2006 1:22:51 AM

yeah, it sucked, swallowed a LOT of water, really freaked me out that I couldnt come up out of the water, almost like a vortex type effect

6/26/2006 1:31:51 AM

Well. river water is good for you, I hope you can bring some fmily members and come again!

6/26/2006 2:05:55 AM

HOW IS THIS SHIT A SPORT??? ARE YOU COMPETING AGAINST SOMEONE? ARE YOU TRYING TO SCORE POINTS?

IF YOU EXPLAINED HOW IT IS A SPORT AND THE SCORING METHOD IN YOUR ORIGINAL POST, MY BAD, I ONLY SKIMMED THROUGH IT

I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOOOOOUT

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 2:14 AM. Reason : FHDS]

6/26/2006 2:13:20 AM

6/26/2006 2:33:41 AM

6/26/2006 4:17:38 AM

Quote :

"I thought most of you guys actually got into State, you're making look like a fucking community college."

you're one to be talking about how educated people sound. I think my 8 year old nephew writes better than you.

Quote :

"HOW IS THIS SHIT A SPORT??? ARE YOU COMPETING AGAINST SOMEONE? ARE YOU TRYING TO SCORE POINTS? "

well, your kinda competing against the river, or possibly death if you wanna look at it that way. idk about scoring, but there is winning and losing. if you make it down the river alive you win. if you don't, then you lose

Quote :

"I thought most of you guys actually got into State, you're making look like a fucking community college."

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 9:28 AM. Reason : ]

6/26/2006 9:23:24 AM

went down the chattooga at the beginning of August last year...usually its a pretty tame ride. But it poured for 24 hours--mostly before we pushed off-- and the river was insane. There were landslides everywhere and one of the waterfalls was thundering huge amounts of hershey syrup looking water. Normally mostly IIIs, there were Vs all the way down. Our guide was the man and probably saved my life when he grabbed my leg after I was bucked from the back during a particularly rough rapid.

It was way better than my experience on the New River--but the elements probably were responsible for that.

BearDawg what company do you work for?

6/26/2006 10:32:14 AM

I'm moderately confused by your post. It seems to me that you are saying no raft company can run the Cheoah, but the internet shows otherwise.

I hope to get in on it this year, or either an extreme Gauley trip. I did the Gauley last year on a standard trip and I was...underwhelmed...to tell you the truth. The rapids were cool, but I had nearly as much fun jumping from a 30+ ft rock into the river as any of the rapids.

6/26/2006 11:12:31 AM

^Did you do upper or lower? What time of year?

That picture reminds me of Sweets (sp?) Falls on the Gauley, although Sweets may be bigger. I rafted the Gauley when I was fifteen. For the guide company we went with I was under their age AND weight requirement for the river (you were supposed to be 16, and I'm a small guy and didn't weigh much at the time), but my pops lied on the forms, haha.

Our raft was the swimmer for the trip. Our dumbass guide somehow got us stuck in a rock cove and pinned up against a boulder after getting down Sweets. We tried to highside like a mufucker, but were flipped anyways. We were all pulled under for half a minute, resurfaced, and were able to climb into some other rafts. My pops said he came up under the raft, which would've been scary as shit.

The water was cold as balls and I froze my nuts off the rest of the paddle. But we are trying to plan another trip down sometime in the near future

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 11:32 AM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 11:30:56 AM

We did the upper (put in right at the water release) in late October. Yes, it was as cold as the Nantahala, if not colder. Overall, the trip could have been made to be more intense, which is why I stated "standard" trip. This year we'll either do a smaller boat standard trip or a smaller boat + extreme trip and see how crazy it is. I don't want to downplay the Gauley too much, I just think with some competent rowers (and all the folks in my boat seemed decent) and a guide taking the standard predictable lines through the river makes for a somewhat uneventful trip. I think we had only one guy fall out of the boat (back right in front of the guide) on the whole journey. I was expecting at least a rapid or 3 to dump everyone in with a big nasty hit. Didn't happen.

6/26/2006 11:46:34 AM

^There were definately rafts in our company who got down with ease, nevertheless it's still an adrenoline rush that you can't get on most rivers in the East. Our guide was just a dumbass.

I dunno bout you, but I don't exactly WANT to fall in...

What do you mean by 'extreme' trip?

6/26/2006 12:29:39 PM

For example, this

http://www.rivermen.com/gauley_river_teamx.cfm

Typically, the rafting companies seem to be charging a little more money to take you on a trip in a smaller boat over presumably tougher lines.

6/26/2006 12:36:46 PM

Oh, that's pretty cool sounding. You know how to kayak? That would be fun on the Gauley.

6/26/2006 3:57:41 PM

ive done the gauley, the new, the ocoee probably 5 times and the nantahala too many times to remember. we just rent wetsuits and go down it in innertubes

6/26/2006 4:24:57 PM

Rafting kicks ass!

Word of advice: Never take a funyak down the river without experience.

6/26/2006 4:29:13 PM

rafting and tennis are both sports

bitches

6/26/2006 4:45:31 PM

IBTL

6/27/2006 12:24:09 AM

Quote :

"Golf is a sport, tennis is a sport. Shit, Curling is an OLYMPIC sport.... ^ and that's not a sport???"

Quote :

"BUT WAIT, DID YOU JUST QUESTION TENNIS AS A SPORT??????? YOU THINK NASCAR IS A SPORT, BUT TENNIS ISNT? i mean i can debate golf/curling, but if you say tennis is questionable then you are just hopeless"

I thought I made it clear that golf, tennis, and apparently curling were all sports, as is NASCAR.

Quote :

"yeah, it sucked, swallowed a LOT of water, really freaked me out that I couldnt come up out of the water, almost like a vortex type effect "

Yes, this is very real and potentially very deadly. The water will suck you down hard in some places. There is a place on the Natahala called the "Turtle Rock" that is absolutely deadly for that reason... PFD's don't matter at that point. There are a few others, "The Charybdis," "Whirlpool," "Maytag," "Pyramid Rock," and the "Top and Bottom Holes" at Little Wesser... And that's just on a Class III river.

Quote :

" BearDawg what company do you work for? "

Carolina Outfitters

PS... I'm the only guide who has never lost anybody in the falls.

6/27/2006 1:35:02 AM

rafting is sooo fun

6/27/2006 2:00:01 AM

^You should join us sometime!!!

6/27/2006 2:23:10 AM

i don't like you anymore beardawg

6/27/2006 3:26:12 AM

i've done the gauley overnight trip twice, nantahala twice and ocoee once. We're planning a trip on the gauley again for this year's release... we always enjoy the trips and have a great time... i'd do it more if i had more people that would go multiple times a year... may make a co-ed trip to the new next summer since the females have been bitching about always being guy trips... who knows

6/27/2006 11:24:58 AM

Hey man, you wanna reply about my Cheoah questions?

[Edited on June 27, 2006 at 11:30 AM. Reason : aaa]

6/27/2006 11:30:30 AM

I've done the entire Gauley and the entire new twice, once at some pretty scary water levels...

I'm in for this, where do I sign up?!

[Edited on June 27, 2006 at 5:01 PM. Reason : ]

6/27/2006 4:57:28 PM

^^ This site has the most info on it, my company doesn't run the Cheoah.

http://www.noc.com/rafting.html

Also, I think $16 gets you a day pass, covers the EMT fee, and a shuttle for you and your boat to and from the Cheoah from Robbinsville High school. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

[Edited on June 27, 2006 at 10:36 PM. Reason : $16]

6/27/2006 10:33:09 PM

I just got home from a vacation with my girlfriend and her family. The last day of the trip was a guided rafting trip down the French Broad River with USA Raft (or something similar) near Asheville. It was the first time I've ever been in a raft, and it seemed pretty tame, but it was fun as hell. I could see myself really getting hooked on it. And I don't know how you guides manage to get paid for playing around on the river all day. That's the ultimate scam.

6/27/2006 10:52:34 PM

^The French Broad, I'm told, is much more tame than the Nantahala. And the Ocoee is bigger than the Nanty, and so on... Still, you were smart to go with a guided boat the first time for more reasons than I could list. As for the pay, it's pennies on the dollar, like waiting, we count on tips. You're right, if I didn't have to make some money, I'd do it for free... But we also have a lot of work and maintenance and cleaning to do and we are highly trained in CPR, First Aid, knowing your river (I saw an Ocoee guide that was trying to get down the river as fast as he could today b/c the NOC was low on guides... he had swimmers and hit every rock on the way down b/c he didn't know where to go) And most important, our training and experience in "whitewater rescue."

6/27/2006 11:09:36 PM

I didn't see this earlier but is COMPLETELY true.

Quote :

"Rafting kicks ass! Word of advice: Never take a funyak down the river without experience."

At any rapid, unless you have extensive experience, don't fuck around with a "mini-me" (2-3 person raft) or a funyak (inflatable kayak.)They are extremely unstable and prolly account for more than half of our swimmers.

The trick with a funyak (duckie) is to hit each rapid dead-straight... and PERIOD. Sideways does not work, the lip or curl will pwn joo.

That's primarily the reason why (knock on wood) I'm the ONLY guide I know at any company who has a perfect record at Little Wesser Falls.

6/28/2006 12:57:33 AM

Tommorow Good Morning America will be broadcasting live from the Nantahala Outdoor Center. I had the idea to gather up my crew and take a boat down, maybe we will get on tv. My boss told us to dress nice and to get the biggest best boat we had and wash it to represent the company. I think besides the NOC we will be the only company with a boat down there. I called Duke Power and they are gonna release water at 4:30 am, someone had to pay big money to do that, and they wouldn't be running the river if someone was gonna be running rafts (NOC.) I called dibs on guiding the trips, we're gonna put in above Little Wesser and run the falls, then get out, go back up and do x number of times . We're also gonna swim the falls, and set up throw (rescue) ropes to demonstrate whitewater rescues. Look for me! I'll be wearing a grey and red jacket, the same one in my pics.. I hope we can rescue somebody and get an interview! Wer'e also gonna "swim the falls" many companies require that as training, we havin't done it yet b/c it's so rare. I don't want anyone hurt but I hope we get to rescue some ppl and get that on film.




[image]photos/00454438.jpg[/image

[Edited on June 29, 2006 at 12:26 AM. Reason : swimming][image]hhttp://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00454438.jpg[/image]

[Edited on June 29, 2006 at 12:27 AM. Reason : pic]

[Edited on June 29, 2006 at 12:29 AM. Reason : try again]

6/29/2006 12:07:54 AM