Charles Pezeshki wrote in message ...
HI Larry,

I've also thought about quitting Class V altogether. Not to sound like a
snob, but most Eastern "standard" Class V (Watauga, Upper Yough, etc.) isn't
really in the same league as some of the Western stuff-- the main difference
being not so much in the difficulty of the individual drops, but in the
consequences of a swim in truly continuous whitewater.

Not to quibble . . . but neither the Watauga nor the Upper Yough are
class V rivers. The AW site rates both as IV-V, but if you check the
ratings of individual rapids you'll find that the Upper Yough has a
single low V and the Watauga two low V's. Like the Upper Gauley,
which also has a handful of very low V's in AW's opinion (indeed, they
defend their rating of Insignificant as class V by saying "Class V has
to start somewhere . . ."), folks who frequently paddle Eastern Class
V would be unlikely to consider any of these "Class V Classics" class
V rivers.

Like you, now that I have kids I have cut back the difficulty of what
I run considerably, but I have no qualms about running any of the
three rivers listed above at normal flows. Most Eastern Class V's I
do have qualms about running these days.

As an aside, in the days I did paddle a lot of Class V, I found the
Eastern, Rocky Mountain and California ratings pretty consistent (too
little experience in the Pacific Northwest to include). What differed
was what paddlers in the various regions without much experience in
other regions found challenging. Less traveled Eastern boaters often
find high water honking big water bob down the middle challenging,
less traveled Western boaters often find tweeze through the boulder
garden then land on the rocks challenging.

-- Chris