{"id":1312442,"date":"2019-07-15T20:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T02:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/we-expect-the-best-part-of-our-season-to-start-this-week\/"},"modified":"2019-07-16T09:12:38","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T15:12:38","slug":"best-part-of-rafting-season-starting-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/best-part-of-rafting-season-starting-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Best part of rafting season starting this week"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A group of Defiance Rafting Company rafters make their way down the Colorado River in West Glenwood on a partly cloudy Monday afternoon.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Glenwood Springs commercial rafting companies continue to receive calls from concerned residents and tourists about whether or not they should still plan a trip.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Am I going to return from this trip? I have seen some really bad press,\u2019\u201d Whitewater Rafting LLC partner Phoebe Larsson said of what those phone calls sound like. \u201cMany of our phone calls are talking people off the ledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

With headlines across the state calling 2019 \u201cone of Colorado\u2019s deadliest rafting years,\u201d local rafting companies hope to set their own safety records straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, in this section of the Colorado, Glenwood is that wonderful destination for the family-friendly rafting even when the Arkansas and Clear Creek and other rivers are running really intensely,\u201d Larsson explained.<\/p>\n

During the summer Whitewater Rafting takes as many as 400 rafters daily onto the Colorado River and remains in constant communication with other local commercial rafting companies.<\/p>\n

Fourteen rafting companies hold permits with the U.S. Forest Service for the Shoshone and Grizzly Creek sections. Known collectively as the Shoshone Partnership, the cooperative allows local rafting companies to connect about water levels and potential hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough that cooperation but also directly company-to-company we are able to quickly adapt or adjust trips,\u201d Blue Sky Adventures co-owner Patrick Drake said. \u201cIt is a daily routine watching water pretty consistently and then being able to make an appropriate decision for where we can offer that family-oriented trip.<\/p>\n

Typically, those family-oriented trips include Class II and Class III rapids.<\/p>\n

The International Scale of River Difficulty describes Class II rapids as novice and \u201cstraightforward\u201d with \u201cwide, clear channels.\u201d The American Whitewater Association, which developed the scale, designates Class III rapids as intermediate with \u201cmoderate, irregular waves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six classifications of rapids exist with Class I featuring \u201criffles and small waves,\u201d and Class VI being \u201calmost never attempted\u201d due to \u201cunpredictability,\u201d \u201cdanger\u201d and rescue being in many cases impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople do respect water levels, and they should,\u201d Drake explained. \u201cNow that we are at a time of year where waters are receding and hitting those more average flows we expect the best part of our season to start this week and really run through late August.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defiance Rafting Co. co-owner Gregory Cowan said that context was key when discussing river conditions as it pertained to whitewater rafting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is kind of a tendency to lump an instance or a particular stretch of whitewater and make it applicable to all,\u201d Cowan said. \u201cWe are very fortunate where we are to have a really accessible stretch of whitewater.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a bucket list experience to a multi-generational family rafting trip, the three local companies agreed that they could provide both \u2014 and above all else \u2014 safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s nice is we can do these things, we can get playful out there and do so in a way that is still safe,\u201d Cowan said.<\/p>\n

Added Larsson, \u201cWe all work together. And once you\u2019re on the river it\u2019s one river community. If one person needs help, we are all there to help one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

mabennett@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Defiance Rafting Company rafters make their way down the Colorado River in West Glenwood on a partly cloudy Monday afternoon.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Glenwood Springs commercial rafting companies continue to receive calls from concerned residents and tourists about whether or not they should still plan a trip. \u201c\u2018Am I going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 18:28:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1312464,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312442\/revisions\/1312464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}