Hi James,James Hastings wrote:Sorry JJ but I totally disagree with 'sanitising' natural rivers just to make them 'safe' for slalom. The vast majority of the people that run the Dee and Town Falls are recreational river runners during the course of a year and part of the experience of running Town Falls is avoiding the slot or working out how to deal with it if you can't. Why should recreational paddlers suffer a 'sanitised' version of the Falls to accommodate a once a year slalom?
If slalomers are not prepared to accept the risk, then they shouldn't be using the site.
from a personal point of view I totally agree with you that there should not be a sanitisation of natural rivers by anybody. The problem is that in this crazy health and safety culture that has somehow developed in the UK people are running scared of the legal system and it implications. What is our sport without danger? I for one would never had taken it up as a kid.
The pot on the town falls is easily avoided as a river runner with just a slight amount on skill, the problem is if a slalom course designer is not fully aware of the issue then problems can arise if gates are put in place leading directly to it. Having said that I have only seen one entrapment in over forty years of slalom events there and this lasted a total of thirty seconds. I knew the girl involved very well and I am sure she would not condone the cancellation of the race due to her mistake on the course.
People are always talking about how to get more publicity for our sport in all its forms, well one answer is to actually make it more dangerous, eventful and controversial. How many people watch sports like F1 to actually see the drivers go around safely lap after lap without event. Who is not wanting to see a crash? If we had real gladiator fight on tv would many people watch it, would it get talked about, would it get reported?
The problem is if we start messing with rivers to make them safer where do we stop. I once had a letter from a SOLICITOR who's client claimed he serioulsly damaged his knee while swimming from a raft. The SOLICITOR said we were negligent and that we should have painted the rocks a bright colour so the people could avoid hitting them. I wrote back and ask what colour and could he help us do it? Fortunately we had video of his client jumping from the raft mid rapid despite being told not to do so, we never heard any more about it.
I have done quite a bit of work on various natural rivers around the world to try and make better features on them. Some people have said this is wrong, all I know is that man has played with the natural environment for his own benefit ever since we have been on earth.