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 earliest forms of travel on water and people that needed to go from one place to another used to indulge in whitewater rafting to move from one place to another. It is only in the eighties that this activity turned into a pleasure sport. In fact, it was actually the year 1811 that has the distinction of being the year in which the Snake River that is located in Wyoming was first traversed by indulging in what is now known as whitewater rafting by the Overland Astorians who could not go further from a place called Jackson Hole as the river was too treacherous.

Rubber Rafts

In the year 1840, the first river raft made from rubber was invented by a person called Lt. John Fremont who was US Army personnel and who along with Horace H. Day came up with the first such rubber. This raft was invented during the middle of the nineteenth century; however, its first commercial use only began at the end of that century. The first whitewater rafting rafts were actually surplus military ones and they served as boats for the military while the more modern inflatable rafts were only developed much later.

The credit for popularizing whitewater rafting goes to private companies, while in the year 1956 John D. Rockefeller came up with the idea of even building an entire lodge from where people could try their hand at whitewater rafting. Though the initial response to this offer was lukewarm at best, a decade later during the sixties and seventies many whitewater rafting companies were floated such as Becker-Cooke Expeditions as well as Slickrock Adventures that helped to popularize whitewater rafting.

In the year 1972, whitewater rafting became an Olympic sport and it was then included in the Munich Olympic Games. Much later, in the year 1992 it also came to be included in the Barcelona Olympic Games and then again in the Atlanta Olympic Games of 1996. That same year (1996) whitewater rafting was also included in the Summer Olympic Games, and more particularly it was performed in the Ocoee River that lies in the Tennessee Valley in the US.

Whitewater river rafting is an exciting activity. It will allow you to put away your cell phone, forget your boss and not worry about negotiating traffic and being affected by noise pollution. If you like to camp and enjoy adventure in the outdoors then this is the activity for you. You can raft down the rivers during the daytime and spend enjoyable nights by a camp site and so enjoy an alternative vacation in the stillness of the wild outdoors.