On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 23:23:21 +0200, Wilko wrote:


The international difficulty rating has nothing to do with consequences,
but all with how difficult it is to stay on your line, because of the
width of the line, the manouvering required because of holes, waves,
rocks, drops, speed of current etc..


Hmmm according to the international scale of river difficulty (I found the
following on the americanwhitewater.org site)

class I - "... Risk to swimmers is slight; self-rescue is easy."

class II - "... Swimers are seldom injured and group assistance, while
helpful, is seldom needed. ..."

class III - "... Injuries while swimming are rare; self-rescue is usually
easy but group assistance may be required to avoid long swims. ..."

class IV - "... Risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water
conditions may make self-rescue difficult. group assistance for rescue is
often essential but requires practiced skills. ..."

class V - "... swims are dangerous, and rescue is often difficult even for
experts. ..."

class VI - " ... The consequences of errors are very severe and rescue may
be impossible. ..."

So each of the classes does define what the consequences are

Cheyenne