Riverboarding - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Riverboarding is a boardsport

Boardsport

Boardsports are sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrain, from paved flat-ground and snow covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth...

in which the participant lies prone on their board with fins on their feet for propulsion and steering. This sport is also known as hydrospeed in Europe and as riverboarding or white-water sledging in New Zealand, depending on the type of board used. Riverboarding includes commercial, recreational and the swiftwater rescue

Swiftwater rescue

Swiftwater rescue is a subset of technical rescue dealing in whitewater river conditions. Due to the added pressure of moving water, swiftwater rescue involves the use of specially trained personnel, ropes and mechanical advantage systems that are often much more robust than those used in standard...

practice of using a high-flotation riverboard, designed for buoyancy in highly aerated water.

Origins

Riverboarding is believed to have originated in the late 1970s. It is claimed to have originated in France, where raft guides stuffed a burlap mail sack with life vests and went down rapids. Soon, riders adapted a personal submarine shell for their molds, and the plastic version of the riverboard was born. Sometime in the late 1980s, Robert Carlson began running rivers in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

using an ocean bodyboard and ended up making his own board that was bigger and thicker and had handles. Also, in 1986, Ged Hay began taking his body board down the Kawarau River

Kawarau River

Kawarau River drains Lake Wakatipu, in northwestern Otago, New Zealand. The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 km and passes through the steep Kawarau Gorge until it joins Lake Dunstan near Cromwell. The Shotover River enters it from the north; the Nevis River enters it from the south...

near Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....

in New Zealand while on his days off as a rafting guide.

European riders also developed a foam version (called a hydrospeed) of the plastic board to reduce weight and avoid injuring each other during collisions that sometimes resulted from one rider travelling downstream and another facing upstream while surfing a hydraulic. Today, homemade foam hydrospeeds are found primarily among European riders. A growing sport in North America, riverboarding has grown in popularity from media exposure and the emergence of commercial operators running riverboard trips.

Equipment

Riverboarders typically wear fins to provide the thrust to navigate in river currents, while a personal flotation device provides additional buoyancy. Wetsuits, booties

Wetsuit boot

In water sports a bootee, bootie, or wetsuit boot is a thick sock-like garment made of wetsuit material. They serve the dual purpose of protecting the diver's feet when walking out of water, with or without a wetsuit, and keeping their feet warm underwater.-Thermal skin:In many water sports such as...

and helmets are worn as protection from the cold and from rocks. Additionally, shin guard

Shin guard

A shin guard or shin pad is a piece of equipment worn on the front of a player’s shin to protect them from injury. These are commonly used in sports including association football, baseball, ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby, cricket, and other sports...

s, gloves, knee pads, thigh pads, and elbow pads are sometimes worn for extra protection on shallow rivers. Instruction, board design, and gear continue to improve, making riverboarding safer and opening up the possibilities of rapids that can be run on a riverboard and new tricks that can be performed while surfing.

Rescue use

In rescue use, the board is used to support both rescuer and victim in the water during rescue. The rider must engage both mind and body—thinking about the best way to go down a river while using their fins for the propulsion to get out of harm's way. Riverboards can offer rescuers a valuable chase option to access victims swept downstream who may not be accessed by hand or rope.

Rivers

Several companies operate riverboarding or sledging excursions in New Zealand near Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

, Wanaka

Wanaka

Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter...

, and Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

. Several companies also operate guided riverboard trips in the United states near Missoula, Montana; Sacramento, California; and Bend, Oregon. One company based in Voss

Voss

is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Voss. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen....

, Norway, offers riverboarding in several rivers in the area. In Europe the Soca ricer in Slovenia is a notable location with more extreme options available for more experienced riders.

Records

Mike Horn

Mike Horn is a South-African born Swiss explorer and adventurer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa he currently resides in Château d'Oex, Switzerland.Mike Horn became famous in 2000 after completing a solo journey around the equator without motor transport...

currently holds the record for the tallest waterfall riverboarded with his descent of a 22-meter (72 ft) tall waterfall on the upper reaches of the Pacuare River

Pacuare River

The Pacuare River, or the Río Pacuare, in Costa Rica has its source in the Cordillera de Talamanca and flows approximately 108 km to the Caribbean. It is a popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding...

in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

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