White Water

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That said, fatalities are rare in both commercial and do-it-yourself rafting.

Studies have shown that injury rates in rafting are relatively low, [7] however may be skewed due to a large number of unreported incidents. Depending on the area, safety regulations covering rafting, both for the general do-it-yourself public as well as commercial operators, may exist in legislation. These range from the mandatory wearing of lifejackets, carrying certain equipment such as whistles and throwable flotation devices, to certification of commercial outfitters and their employees.

It is generally advisable to discuss safety measures with a commercial rafting operator before signing on for that type of trip. The required equipment needed is essential information to be considered. Like most outdoor sports, rafting in general has become safer over the years. Expertise in the sport has increased, and equipment has become more specialized and improved in quality. As a result, the difficulty rating of most river runs has changed. A classic example would be the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon , which historically had a reputation far exceeding its actual safety statistics.

Today the Grand Canyon sees hundreds of safe rafting trips by both do-it-yourself rafters and commercial river concessionaires. Risks in white water rafting stem from both environmental dangers and from improper behavior. Certain features on rivers are inherently unsafe and have remained consistently so despite the passage of time. Even in safe areas, however, moving water can always present risks—such as when a swimmer attempts to stand up on a rocky riverbed in strong current, risking foot entrapment.

Irresponsible behavior related to rafting while intoxicated has also contributed to many accidents.

Rafting is not an amusement park ride. Rafting companies generally require customers to sign waiver forms indicating understanding and acceptance of potential serious risks. Both do-it-yourself and commercial rafting trips often begin with safety presentations to educate rafting participants about problems that may arise. The overall risk level on a rafting trip using proper precautions is low. Like all outdoor activities, rafting must balance its use of nature with the conservation of rivers as a natural resource and habitat.

Because of these issues, some rivers now have regulations restricting the annual seasons and daily operating times or numbers of rafters. Environmentalists argue that this may have negative impacts to riparian and aquatic ecosystems , while proponents claim these measures are usually only temporary, since a riverbed is naturally subject to permanent changes during large floods and other events. Another conflict involves the distribution of scarce river permits to either the do-it-yourself public or commercial rafting companies.

Rafting by do-it-yourself rafters and commercial rafting companies contributes to the economy of many regions which in turn may contribute to the protection of rivers from hydroelectric power generation, diversion for irrigation , and other development. Additionally, white water rafting trips can promote environmentalism. Multi-day rafting trips by do-it-yourself rafters and commercial rafting companies through the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System have the potential to develop environmental stewardship and general environmental behavior.

Studies suggest that environmental efficacy increases when there is an increase in the length of the trip, daily immersion, and the amount of resource education by trip participants. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. As with hydraulics which pull downward rather than to the side and are essentially eddies turned at a degree angle , the power of eddies increases with the flow rate. In large rivers with high flow rates next to an obstruction, "eddy walls" can occur.

Six Flags White Water

An eddy wall is formed when the height of the river is substantially higher than the level of the water in the eddy behind the obstruction. This can make it difficult for a boater, who has stopped in that particular eddy, to reenter the river due to a wall of water that can be several feet high at the point at which the eddy meets the river flow. A marked increase or decrease in flow can create a rapid where previously wasn't one , "wash out" a rapid decreasing the hazard or make safe passage through previously-navigable rapids more difficult or impossible.

The most widely used [ citation needed ] grading system is the International Scale of River Difficulty , where whitewater either an individual rapid, or the entire river is classed in six categories from class I the easiest and safest to class VI the most difficult and most dangerous.

The grade reflects both the technical difficulty and the danger associated with a rapid, with grade I referring to flat or slow moving water with few hazards, and grade VI referring to the hardest rapids which are very dangerous even for expert paddlers, and are rarely run. Harder rapids for example a grade-V rapid on a mainly grade-III river are often portaged , a French term for carrying. A portaged rapid is where the boater lands and carries the boat around the hazard.

A rapid's grade is not fixed, since it may vary greatly depending on the water depth and speed of flow. Although some rapids may be easier at high flows because features are covered or "washed-out", high water usually makes rapids more difficult and dangerous. At flood stage, even rapids which are usually easy can contain lethal and unpredictable hazards briefly adapted from the American version [2] of the International Scale of River Difficulty. On any given rapid there can be a multitude of different features which arise from the interplay between the shape of the riverbed and the velocity of the water in the stream.

Strainers are formed when an object blocks the passage of larger objects but allows the flow of water to continue - like a big food strainer or colander. These objects can be very dangerous, because the force of the water will pin an object or body against the strainer and then pile up, pushing it down under water. For a person caught in this position, it will be difficult or impossible to get to safety, often leading to a fatal outcome.

Strainers are formed by many natural or man-made objects, like storm grates over tunnels, trees that have fallen into a river "log jam" , bushes by the side of the river that are flooded during high water, wire fence, rebar from broken concrete structures in the water, or other debris. Strainers occur naturally most often on the outside curves of rivers where the current undermines the shore exposing the roots of trees and causing them to fall into the river forming strainers.

In an emergency it is often best to try to climb on top of a strainer so as not to be pinned against the object under the water. In a river, swimming aggressively away from the strainer and into the main channel is recommended. If it is impossible to avoid the strainer, one should swim hard towards it and try to get as much of one's body up and over it as possible.

Sweepers are trees fallen in or heavily leaning over the river, still rooted on the shore and not fully submerged. Its trunk and branches may form an obstruction in the river like strainers. Since it is an obstruction from above, it often does not contribute to whitewater features but may create turbulence.

In fast water, sweepers can pose a serious hazard to paddlers. Holes, or "hydraulics", also known as "stoppers" or "souse-holes". See also Pillows , are formed when water pours over the top of a submerged object, or underwater ledges, causing the surface water to flow back upstream toward the object. Holes can be particularly dangerous - a boater may become stuck under the surface, in the recirculating water, or entertaining play-spots, where paddlers use the holes' features to perform various playboating moves.

In high and low volume water flow, holes can subtly aerate the water, enough to allow craft to fall through the aerated water to the bottom of a deep 'hole'. Some of the most dangerous types of holes are formed by low head dams weirs , and similar types of obstruction. In a low head dam, the 'hole' has a very wide, uniform structure - there's no escape point - and the sides of the hydraulic ends of the dam are often blocked by a man-made wall, making it impossible to paddle around, or slip off the side of the hydraulic, where the bypass water flow would become normal laminar.

By upside-down analogy, this would be much like a surfer slipping out the end of the pipeline, where the wave no longer breaks. Low head dams are insidiously dangerous because their danger cannot be easily recognized by people who have not studied swift water. Even 'experts' have died in them. Floating debris trees, kayaks, and so forth is often trapped in these retro-flow 'grinders' for weeks at a time. Waves are formed in a similar manner to hydraulics and are sometimes also considered hydraulics as well. Waves are noted by the large smooth face on the water rushing down.

Sometimes a particularly large wave will also be followed by a "wave train", a long series of waves.

These standing waves can be smooth or, particularly the larger ones, can be breaking waves also called "whitecaps" or "haystacks". Because of the rough and random pattern of a riverbed, waves are often not perpendicular to the river's current. This makes them challenging for boaters since a strong sideways or diagonal also called a "lateral" wave can throw the craft off if the craft hits sideways or at an angle.

The safest move for a whitewater boater approaching a lateral is to "square up" or turn the boat such that it hits the wave along the boats longest axis, reducing the chance of the boat flipping or capsizing. This is often counter-intuitive because it requires turning the boat such that it is no longer parallel to the current. In fluid mechanics, waves are classified as laminar, but the whitewater world has also included waves with turbulence "breaking waves" under the general heading of waves.

Pillows are formed when a large flow of water runs into a large obstruction, causing water to "pile up" or "boil" against the face of the obstruction. Pillows normally signal that a rock is not undercut. Pillows are also known as "pressure waves". Eddies are formed, like hydraulics, on the downstream face of an obstruction. Unlike hydraulics, eddies swirl on the horizontal surface of the water. Typically, they are calm spots where the downward movement of water is partially or fully arrested—a nice place to rest or to make one's way upstream.

However, in very powerful water, eddies can have powerful, swirling currents which can flip boats and from which escape can be very difficult. Six Flags White Water is made up of four separate sections, each with a number of attractions. Flash Flood Canyon was added in , prior to the acquisition by Six Flags.

Wildwater Lagoon includes the park's main entrance and its primary services, including Guest Service and First Aid. It is built around an activity pool, which includes splashdown areas for the three Body Flumes, the two Rapids raft flumes, the Mutiny Chute plunge slide and Lizard's Tail kids' slides are also located here.

The area's newest attraction is Typhoon Twister, a large water slide that consists of a foot bowl. Pine Valley is home to the park's wave pool , the Atlanta Ocean, and its lazy river , known as the Little Hooch, named in honor of the nearby Chattahoochee River. Children can play in the Captain Kid's Cove Buccaneer Bay and Treehouse Island play areas, while their older siblings and parents can slide into the giant blue and yellow funnel of Tornado.

In Slippery Ridge, visitors can experience the high-speed Dragon's Tail speed slides, or "compete" on the park's new-for Wahoo Racer six-lane racing slide tower, which replaces the older Meter Splash slides. The Bahama Bob-Slide uses large round rafts with up to six riders at once, while the adjacent Tidal Wave body flume lands in a splash pool connected to the Little Hooch lazy river. First opened in , the American Adventures family entertainment center operated next door to White Water, even used the same parking lot.

All attractions were geared towards families with small children and originally visitors had to use a series of tickets to use the park much like the old Disney ticket system. Eventually visitors paid a single fee to play at the park. Unlike most parks, American Adventures did not have a gate.

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Visitors could enter the attraction of their choice simply by walking across the parking lot. White Water maintained a single point of entry and the two promoted each other often, to the point of having a connecting pathway between the open plan of AA and the WW park entrance. In an attempt to build attendance, the indoor mini golf course was removed to make way for an interactive "theater. When Six Flags acquired White Water in , American Adventures was included in the purchase, and the park was considered one of Six Flags' minor parks.

However, in June , the park was leased to a new operator, Zuma Holdings, which no longer co-branded the park with Six Flags White Water.

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