White water rodeo

© Jennifer SternThere is a small but dedicated white water rodeo community that regularly explores unknown rivers finding new playholes and revisiting old favourites. The Orange River has a number of good spots, with the most popular being near Onseepkans, where there are quite regular fun rodeos. Possibly the best known (and most aptly named) rodeo venue is Gatsien Rapid on the Vaal River near the town of Parys. (For non Afrikaans-speakers the name, roughly translated, means ‘seeing your arse’.)

There are clinics and competitions spread throughout the year and throughout the country on other rivers, including the Palmiet in the Western Cape, the Blyde and Sabie in Mpumalanga, and the Tugela in KwaZulu-Natal. The championship is on the Vaal in February, and the most extreme is on the Umzimkulu River in KwaZulu-Natal in December. Yes, extreme. One of the events is the free-wheel – a competition to see who can do the best cartwheel in a kayak down a 9m waterfall.
White Water Rodeo explained

White Water Rodeo is one of the most fascinating spectator sports. But, first some technical terms. When a river goes down a steep incline over uneven terrain (usually rocks) it forms a rapid. Rapids have many features but the most important ones for our purpose are eddies, holes and waves. A hole, or wave, is formed when the water goes over a submerged rock and recycles at the bottom, causing some interesting hydraulics, and an eddie is the bit of relatively quiet water usually found downstream of a protruding rock, where the current pushes back towards the rock.

The essence of rodeo is that a paddler ‘rides’ holes in the river the way a rodeo rider rides a bucking bronco. The difference is the paddler can plan to do a whole lot of interesting moves, including 360º spins, twists, pirouettes and ‘surfing’. Another interesting event is downstream freestyle, in which the paddler negotiates a course similar to a slalom course – but with style. He or she will use the eddies, holes and rocks to perform impressive and innovative moves for the judges and audience. And of course, there is always the possibility of a pretty spectacular wipeout. Points are given not only for technical ability and the difficulty of the moves, but also for artistry, choreography and variety. It’s wild and it’s wonderful and it’s worth watching.