After a wild winter of huge floods, treat every trip as your first descent of that run
Huge sustained floods have been happening in Nelson, Canterbury and West Coast over spring. In some rivers we haven’t seen this for at least 20 years. The smaller rivers have had their banks stripped bare of vegetation, soil and loose material up to 10m above normal. Willows have no leaves left. Trees and branches are in eddies and many slips have created and destroyed rapids. Side creeks have chucked lots of boulders into our runs, creating new rapids. Some easier, some not so.
Prepare for the unexpected, scout your rapids and always have an eddy that you can reach in sight.
A friendly reminder from:
The Packrafting Association of New Zealand
Join PRANZ to get involved with their regular events, meetups and club trips.
Follow PRANZ on facebook and join in the discussion on the Packrafting in NZ facebook group.