Scott, You are saying that you have the right to force your way into any non-commercial trip, equipped in any way you choose, regardless of the wishes of other participants on the trip? Do you also think that if you find yourself in trouble in cold water with no PFD, flotation, pump, spare paddle, wetsuit, etc. that the other paddlers on the trip should bother to assist in your rescue? Your expectations are remarkable! Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On that note: I have occasionally led trips or been asked to be the safety boater ("sweep") on trips. I have no hesitation at all about inquiring of the paddlers on the trip about their abilities or their equipment: nor do I have any hesitation in declining to take anyone without minimal proper equipment (PFD, helmet, cold-water gear when it's cold, etc.) down the river. I'll also advise paddlers who seem to be having repeated difficulty that they should consider portaging certain rapids if it seems likely that they'll end up getting hammered. I'm upgrade that from "advise" to "highly recommend" if the situation seems to warrant it. They certainly have the "right" to not use such gear or take my advice, if I might desecrate such a lofty term as "right" by applying it to a mere personal choice such as this. I have an equal "right" to decline to endanger myself and other paddlers on the trip by permitting them to go with us. And I've done exactly that: it's my responsibility as a trip leader and I'm not going to abdicate it just because it's occasionally inconvenient. Especially not when it's going to be my butt, or one of my fellow paddlers, towing a swimmer through a class IV drop or trying to hit somebody with a throwbag before they get swept into an undercut. (This is of course a judgement call and a sliding scale: I might very well take novice paddlers on a summertime class II trip but decline to take those same paddlers on the same river when it's March, near-freezing, and the river's running high enough to make it III+.) But the bottom line is that I am not required, nor am I willing, to subject myself and my fellow paddlers to additional risk because someone wants to leave their PFD off or paddle something far beyond their ability. I've worked hard to stay within what I consider to be an acceptable level of risk -- by training, building skills, slowly running harder and harder rivers -- and I've done that hard work because I'd like to enjoy the sport without getting seriously hurt or killed, AND without getting someone else seriously hurt or killed. (Since a bonehead mistake on a river by me could very well cause that to happen to someone coming after me.) Anyone who declines to accept that can certainly go paddling -- but not on my trip. ---Rsk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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