The reason I don't like to grade it is because someone else will always say "oh but I've run that
and it's not that hard", and then people start paying attention to such
idiots. I prefer to think of it as runnable but hard and dangerous.


Ah. There you have the crux of the difficulty of paddling.

What many more "experienced" paddlers can do in their sleep, others
see as a terrifying, insurmountable challenge. This applies not just
to the Leny, but to deep slow moving water on any river. Throw in the
slightest element of speed, or ledge and many a lower level paddler
panics.

I had a bad experience on the Clyde when I was a lad and I never
paddled again for 18 years. I know now that I should never have been
on the river at that point.

However, I still find higher graded instructors looking to take lower
skilled paddlers on water they shouldn't be on (IMHO). I know of one
paddler with skills not quite as good as he thinks they are, who went
to Tyne Tees with an instructor and spend most of the day swimming. As
far as I am aware it didn't put him off. However, it would have been
an experience that would put many others off. sometimes, at all
levels, we forget that those who are not quite as skilled as
ourselves, may not be up to what we think is easy.

We do need to encourage people to push their envelope, but we need to
be very careful not to draw people into water grades and experiences
that they are not mentally ready for.

Ewan Scott
http://www.claytonwestscouts.org.uk