Veteran Outfitter Western River Expeditions Names Top Favorite Whitewater Runs on Colorado River

Sept. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- SALT LAKE CITY,  – Where’s the wild water on the mighty Colorado River?

The legendary Colorado River is just another float trip until it crashes into Westwater Canyon just over the Utah/Colorado border and upstream from Moab, UT, says whitewater rafting pioneer Western River Expeditions (http://www.westernriver.com/). After this introductory splash, the Colorado River gains momentum and a well-earned reputation for some real kick-in-the-butt, whitewater rapids that live deep down in the Canyonlands of Utah (Cataract Canyon) and farther down in the Grand Canyon of Arizona.

The team at Western River Expeditions got together and agreed upon their top eight most beloved rapids along the course of the Colorado River. Reservations are already open for 2016, a year that may experience the best spring runoff on record thanks to the predicted effects of an unusually strong El Niño, adds Brandon Lake, CMO of Western River Expeditions.

8. House Rock Rapid, mile 17, Grand Canyon (rated 8/10 on the Grand Canyon’s 1-10 scale): House Rock is a fun left side run along a sheer canyon wall, with a great hole at the bottom. Rafters can grab as much or as little of the hole as they want. This rapid is a good indicator of what is to come in the way of hits further down river.

7. Skull Rapid, Westwater Canyon (rated Class IV+): Tight canyon walls and a big rock in the middle create a big hole and wave, both obstacles difficult to avoid. Rock of Shock is a canyon wall that splits the current immediately below the initial hole. Billow to the left and you’re done. Billow to right and you enter the “Room of Doom” carved out of the right side wall by the vortex created by the split current from the Rock of Shock.

6. Hance Rapid, mile 76.5, Grand Canyon (rated 10/10): The typical run enters from the right then quickly darts toward the ‘Duck Pond’ in the center to avoid the main pull of current that cascades over a mess of house-sized boulders just right of center. Below the duck pond is a wedge run between two pour-overs. From a passenger’s perspective it’s a fun ride like most other rapids, but the guide really sweats it out in Hance!

5. Big Drop 3, Cataract Canyon (rated Class IV): After Big Drop 2 comes Big Drop 3. In high water, Big Drop 2 and 3 basically merge into just one enormous drop. Left of center in Big Drop 3 is a place to avoid called Satan’s Gut. Often the National Park Service will have in high water levels a rescue boat hanging around the Big Drops -- for good reason.

4. Big Drop 2, Cataract Canyon (rated Class IV): In the spring, with flows of over 50,000 cubic feet per second, it is perhaps the largest of the largest whitewater in North America. In regular to low water flows the rapids of Cataract Canyon (http://www.westernriver.com/trips/cataract/) calm down but are exciting none-the-less with difficult rock mazes, punctuated with hard-hitting whitewater.  As rafters set up for Big Drop 2 the river drops out of view. Little Niagara appears on river right; this is a pour over to avoid without dodging too far to the left. The risk is being swallowed by Satan’s Gut where Big Drop 2 flows immediately into Big Drop 3.

3. Hermit Rapid, mile 95, Grand Canyon (rated 8/10): What Hermit Rapid lacks in appellation, it makes up for in pure ride. Roughly eight massive roller-coaster-like waves line up with a ‘sky-is-falling’ crescendo on the last one. Western’s J-Rig rafts (http://www.westernriver.com/trips/grand6day/rafts.php) were designed with large water rapids in mind, and the J-Rig really shines in Hermit.

2. Lava Falls Rapid, mile 179, Grand Canyon (rated 10/10): Lava Falls has a big reputation. There is no middle run through Lava Falls. It is a big run on the right side of the ledge hole through the boat-swallowing V-wave and then through unpredictably rolling seas that crash against the house-sized chunk of lava at the bottom right known as “Big Bertha.” There’s a lot of water, a lot of drop and a very dangerous ledge hole at the top.

1. Crystal Rapid, mile 99, Grand Canyon (rated a 10/10): All Grand Canyon rafting trips (http://www.westernriver.com/trips/grandcanyon/) are informally measured in two parts, above Crystal and below Crystal. Rated a pure 10 (comparable to a class V+ in the international scale) it begins with a long glossy v-shaped tongue that pours directly into one of the biggest waves in the Grand Canyon.

Many boats take their chances squaring up to the big wave. Beyond that, much of the current careens for the Slate Creek wall that interrupts the current from the left side, throwing a lateral wave that pitches rafters either squarely into the “Maytag Hole” or spitting them out directly atop Crystal’s acre-sized rock garden. The garden is marked by a large boulder named “Big Red” (a.k.a Shelob) that lies in wait like a giant red-bellied black widow spider for any neophytes unlucky enough to get trapped in her web.

For a copy of Western River Expeditions’ 2015-2016 catalog, questions, availability and reservations call toll-free: 866.904.1160 (Local: 801.942.6669), or visit: http://www.westernriver.com/.

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