Rafting Guides

There are many different white water rafting guides in West Virginia, to chose from. My family chose Class VI rafting company because it was recommended to us by a family friend. Additionally our friend recommended Shane, to be our rafting guide. Shane was an outstanding guide and he was the leader to the rafting group. He was very knowledgable about the Upper River and made it an overall fun and enjoyable experience. He had a good sense of humor, always cracking jokes or even hitting a couple of my raft members with his paddle because they were not listening. He made you feel safe and secure when going through the class five rapids, always making sure we knew what to do during our trip through the rapid and even made sure we knew what to do if an accident was to occur. There are many other rafting guides you can choose from at Class VI if Shane does not sound like the person for you. Please check out Class VI Rafting Guides to find out additional information.

Other Rafting Companies

• ACE Raft
• New & Gauley River Adventures
• North American River Runners Inc.

Rapid Class Levels

There are several different class levels that rapids can be placed into, according to their difficulty and how much water flow is going through them. Before going white water rafting, you want to know what kinds of rapids you will be facing. Here is a simple description of each class:

• Class I Easy: Waves small; passages clear; no serious obstacles.
• Class II Medium: Rapids of moderate difficulty with passages clear. Requires experience plus suitable outfit and boat.
• Class III Difficult: Waves numerous, high, irregular; rocks; eddies; rapids with passages clear though narrow, requiring expertise in maneuvering; scouting usually needed. Requires good instructor and boat.
• Class IV Very Difficult: Long rapids; waves high, irregular; dangerous rocks; boiling eddies; best passages difficult to scout; scouting mandatory first time; powerful and precise maneuvering required. Demands expert boatman and excellent boat and good quality equipment.
• Class V Extremely Difficult: Exceedingly difficult, long and violent rapids, following each other almost without interruption; riverbed extremely obstructed; big drops; violent current; very steep gradient; close study essential but often difficult. Requires best person, boat, and outfit suited to the situation. All possible precautions must be taken.
• Class VI Unrunable: This rapids have been classified as too difficult to run anymore.

** If you are going to white water raft through class IV and V rapids make sure you are prepared for what you are getting into, you're physical fit and you trust your rafting members and guide before getting into the raft. **