Whitewater rafting: an early form of transportation that became a leisure sport

Not many people are aware of the fact that whitewater rafting was one of the first ways to travel on water and people who needed to go from one place to another used to enjoy whitewater rafting to move from one place to another. . It was only in the eighties that this activity became a pleasure sport. In fact, it was actually the year 1811 that has the distinction of being the year that the Snake River found in Wyoming was first traversed by indulging in what is now known as rafting by Overland Astorians who couldn’t. go further than a place called Jackson Hole because the river was too treacherous.

Rubber rafts

In the year 1840, the first river raft made of rubber was invented by a person named Lieutenant John Fremont, who was a US Army personnel and who together with Horace H. Day created the first rubber of this type. This raft was invented in the middle of the 19th century; however, its first commercial use only began at the end of that century. The earliest whitewater rafting rafts were actually military surpluses and served as boats for the military, while the more modern inflatable rafts were developed much later.

The credit for popularizing whitewater rafting goes to private companies, while in 1956 John D. Rockefeller came up with the idea of ​​even building an entire lodge from where people could try their luck rafting. Although the initial response to this offer was tepid at best, a decade later, during the 1960s and 1970s, many rafting companies emerged, such as Becker-Cooke Expeditions and Slickrock Adventures, which helped popularize rafting.

In 1972, rafting became an Olympic sport and was later included in the Munich Olympic Games. Much later, in 1992 it also happened to be included in the Barcelona Olympic Games and then again in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. That same year (1996) rafting was also included in the Summer Olympic Games, and more specifically, it was carried out on the Ocoee River which is located in the Tennessee Valley in the USA.

Whitewater River rafting is an exciting activity. It will allow you to put your cell phone away, forget about your boss, and not worry about negotiating traffic and being affected by noise pollution. If you like camping and enjoying outdoor adventure, this is the activity for you. You can raft down the rivers during the day and spend pleasant nights in a camp for an alternative vacation in the stillness of wild nature.