On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 02:53:33AM -0400, Pamvetdr_at_aol.com wrote: > This is a tiny operation that rents kayaks (SOTS) and runs the concession > stand at the same time. They have no drysuits or similar things for > sale or rent at this location. Yeah, I'd guessed at something like that. And I recognize that their business model may depend on putatively minimizing the risk to customers as well as their own liability via waivers, warnings, etc. But maybe that's not a good idea; maybe the business activity they've chosen isn't the best choice for the location they've chosen. Let me draw an analogy with a situation that exists out here in the east. The Shenandoah, Lehigh and (Lower) Youghiogheny rivers all have a substantial number of rafting companies running trips. At nominal flows, the Shenandoah is II-III, the Lehigh is II-III, and the Yough is III-IV. On the first two it's customary to put guides in every raft; on the latter, guides accompany most trips but are usually not in every raft. The reason is simple: it's cheaper. But in my opinion, it's not a good idea, as the Yough is a nontrivial river and features several complex rapids -- including Dimple, where the entire river smashes into a badly undercut rock that's been the site of multiple fatalities. So while I'm aware that upgrading their safety measures to a level I personally think is necessary (guides in every raft on outiftter trips, no rental of rafts for unguided trips) would have an impact on their business model, I don't care. If they have chosen poorly and have then attempted to address the consequences of that poor choice by cutting corners, this is not my problem. My problem is the impact on the river environment and experience, as the ongoing sequence of incidents has drawn the attention of the powers-that-be and there was actually serious consideration given to a proposal to modify one of the rapids (Dimple) following a particularly bad year. More bluntly, they're screwing it up for the rest of us, because when the powers-that-be get involved, as we're all painfully aware, their lack of knowledge combined with their desire to look like they're doing something useful in order to score political points is likely to result in yet another demonstration of the law of unintended consequences. So while I'm sympathetic to anyone running a business that gets people out on the water, as it helps popularize the sport as well as expose people to the environment and maybe hopefully gets them to care about it enough to write checks to American Rivers and the Sierra Club and so on, I'm not entirely supportive of operations that don't provide an acceptable safety margin. Of course, that's just my opinion and I'm by nature conservative about risk, so I understand that others may make a different judgement call about the situation. ---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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue May 13 2008 - 10:45:08 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:29 PDT