Essential Guide: Whitewater Rafting (Essential Guides) [Paperback]

Graeme Addison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential Guides | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

The wild fun of whitewater rafting has gained enormous popularity in recent years. This basic guide is a smart investment for anyone considering a trip. Clear, concise text and easy-to-read illustrations show how to read the water and maneuver the craft. Chapters on safety cover the basic equipment, such as PFDs, throwbags, and ropes, as well as risk management, capsize drills, and rope handling. An extensive listing of contacts and select destinations is also included. The wealth of action photos is both entertaining and instructive.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An extensive guide featuring full-color photography on boats and gear, safety and rescue, and key technical moves.

About the Author

Graeme Addison pioneered commercial whitewater rafting in South Africa and has paddled all over the world. He is a founding member of the South African Rivers Association and coordinates tourism for the International Rafting Federation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1 edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811729982
• ISBN-13: 978-0811729987
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Rafting

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get whitewater smart, August 10, 2001

By 

PK Ash (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Guide: Whitewater Rafting (Essential Guides) (Paperback)

As the adventure travel industry continues to boom so we're seeing a lot of new titles on sports that were once considered extreme but are now happily prospering with regular infusion of new thrill-seekers.

Addison's welcome book does two things. Firstly it's a guide for people who've never been near a river, raft or expedition but who, after spending enough time watching the Explorers' channel, would very much like to "do" a river. This, it does well. Addison has had a long involvement with the Southern African Rivers Association, notably as an instructor, and it shows in this book. He has left nothing out, even so far as to give a brief history of rafting. There is a chapter on rivers themselves, which introduces the finer aspects of what rivers are made of and how they work.

It's all there, illustrated with the kind of pictures - eight-person rafts plunging through the turmoil of clear-fast rivers - that will inspire the curious.

But it's not only a beginner's book. Later chapters discuss in detail how to plan and execute river expeditions and how to run commercial rafting trips. Of course commercial rafters should know all this stuff already it won't hurt to read-up on capsize drills or test what you thought you knew about safety and rescue.

The book should have universal appeal. In fact the publishers, New Holland, have aimed it at rafters everywhere, with generic pictures ranging from the Colorado River in the US to the good old Zambezi. Although not dealt with in sufficient detail, there is a small section describing some of the world's finest - or at least better known - whitewater runs.

There's enough meat here for everyone, even the experienced river gods. You never know what new things you might learn.

- Paul Ash, reviewing for AdventureZone magazine, May 2001

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have, May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Essential Guide: Whitewater Rafting (Essential Guides) (Paperback)

Excellent reading. Lots of usefull information, great pictures, and well written. I recomend this highly to anyone getting started in whitewater, or those already well submersed in it.