What this means to me is that we are doing folks a disservice by saying that running class IV or class V is beyond their reach, or giving connotation that the Competition Channel is scary with munchy holes and that it could take years of paddling before attempting successfully. This type of talk can easily disable peoples sense of reality of what they are capable of. Also, it is a thought pattern that is contagious.
This is not to be misconstrued as pushing people into something they aren't capable of through negligence. Nor is it an "absolute" statement. (Yoda states, "only dark Syths speak in absolutes.") People progress at their own pace but I've seen it first hand and numerous, numerous times where we talk about a river or feature in big and scary terms and those conversations get into peoples heads. It can get so bad that the picture they have is not based in reality and distorts a persons capabilities.
This is why we put so much emphasis to our instruction staff to not unnecessarily imply a stigma to that which challenges us.
When I started paddling I was told about the Zoar Gap, a class III rapid on the Deerfield River. I was told how scary it was, how many people swam there, how some people had gotten hurt in the past and how terrible it was to swim there. The emphasis was not on the necessary skill set needed to run it successfully. Instead, the focus was on fear and that is exactly what stayed with me for a long time. After becoming a proficient paddler I still fear that darn rapid because it's so ingrained in my mind that the Gap is this big, scary thing.If we do this to our guests we are limiting them before they even begin. And as a goal to create lifelong paddlers we as instructors need to create pathways not set up roadblocks. Anyway, I personally wanted to put this idea to the test on the Green Narrows. What if you approached the Green without the thought of how scary it is and approached the day by knowing your skill set, assessing your skills to the challenges at hand, and focusing on the moves that need to be made to run these rapids successfully. My good friend Herm wrote an article on the NOC Paddling School blog regarding the Who, What, Where, When and Why to run a rapid. Click here to read Herm's post. This is a great supplement to deciding to run rapids and rivers while purposefully trying to negotiate mental stigma that surrounds whitewater kayaking.
Besides, we all know that a truly good day on the water is mostly decided by the silly, random things that happen throughout the day such as Chris asking me to hold his latte, Fergus singing along to the Sound of Music soundtrack at the top of his lungs,
Spencer cringing at the thought of listening to showtunes like the Sound of Music, me loosing my drainplug above Groove Tube, and bringing back the thumbs up with Woody while scouting Gorilla. For memories like that, this is why we paddle. No stigma needed.
