For many people river running is the essence of paddling. It can provide the most satisfaction, the utmost enjoyment, the ultimate challenges, the greatest fear, the supreme exhilaration. I'll stop now since I seem to have run out of credible, unclichéd remarks. But the general sentiment still holds.

In these pages we have set out a few ideas from out experience of river running. Of course reading these pages is in no way a substitute for getting out on the river and gaining first hand experience. But then if you really are a paddler that is hardly likely to be a great hardship. If you only intend to get your thrills from watching paddling videos then you probably don't need to read this anyway. The information is aimed towards group techniques and river running styles, rather than a how to paddle guide. There are many of these if you want them, but by far the best way of gaining this experience is to get out on the river with some better paddlers who are willing to pass on their experience.

Probably the single most important piece of advice is that if it is safe and it works then do it. The thing to make sure of here is that it really is safe. I could have put if it works then use it, but that would not be right because it encourages short cuts and bad practice. Ninety nine percent of the time there is no problem throwing a line into the water with a clean end on the back – it works. However it is not safe because in those other one percent of times someone going to get hung up and streamed underwater – it's not always safe.

Of course paddling is inherently not a safe activity. There is not set of rules that say 'if you do this you will be safe'. There are however many (usually simple) procedures and guidelines which if followed will help to minimise the risk. Not only will good practice help to make a trip safe, it will also make it more efficient and hopefully more enjoyable. If you paddle regularly with the same group of people then you will very quickly develop ways of doing things that you all instinctively follow. Even if you paddle with different people, know a few standard procedures can really make things easier for the whole group.

Whatever methods you use for running rivers there are going to be things that are beyond you. To that end you should always know what your limits are. It is always good to be pushing your limits, but the best progress will come little by little by little not all in one go. When you are on the river it is always you who has the final decision as to whether you run something. Quite often your instincts are the best judge, don't let your self get pushed into doing something you don't want to do. There are many sayings to this end, most notably 'if you look at it and don't want to run it then it will always be there another day' or the notorious 'time spent looking at a hole is proportional to time spent being munched in the whole'. Or more succinctly 'if you don't like it, don't do it'.

There is, however, another side to this, in that the greatest exhilaration can come from running something really hard and doing it well. There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself, or indeed some positive guidance from the group - so long as everyone is happy with the final decision. And in the end this final decision is with the group leader, if they say that you shouldn't run it, then don't do it. By all means ask why, but in the end the decision to be taken as leader is one for the whole group. Having to set up a huge multi-rope rescue is in nobodies best interest.

Just a note about legalities at this point – The next three paragraphs are a little dull but, particularly if you are going to be leading groups, then it is a good idea to have some idea of where you stand.

The whole area of the law regarding people leading groups in the outdoors, particularly those without large numbers of pieces of paper to their name, is quite vague. There is however a move at the moment that when something goes wrong (particularly involving a fatality) for the police to look for someone to be responsible. The way this works at the moment is that the person responsible is automatically the most experienced person in the group. This takes no account of who is designated leader; they will look at all previous experience and make an assessment of whom the best person in the group was. This person is then deemed to have been responsible for the group and thus for what ever has happened. If this is you then the onus is then on you to show that you did everything that could be reasonably expected in the given circumstances. This is usually determined by going to the National Governing Body (NGB) (the BCU for paddling) and asking for (I think 5) statements from top people in the sport as to what they would have done, then comparing this to what actually happened. This whole process is greatly helped if you are working within a NGB affiliated club, or even better NGB qualified, as the NGB will provide both legal assistance and advice (including personal liability insurance).

I should point out that that is only a sketch of my current understanding so that you have an idea what the situation, I don't promise that it is entirely accurate. If you want to know more then please contact the BCU (for paddling, or the associated NGB for other activities) for more information.

Put more basically; probably the most important thing to be aware of is the increasing policy always looking for some one to be in charge and thus being to blame. The single easiest step you can take to help yourself if something does go wrong is to keep a log of your experience so that you have some evidence of competence and capability as to the situation you are in. If you always have the experience to cope with the situations you are in, they you shouldn't have any cause to worry. Don't let all that put you off, we all do mad things, that is what it is about, in the end there is a principal 'volenti non fit injuria' in law that says if do a hazardous activity willing you could get hurt (or worse) due to a know hazard. Basically, if everyone tells you it is a stupid idea but you paddle over a forty-foot waterfall in a marathon boat and die anyway, that is your own stupid fault.

Anyway, the legal stuff is as well to have some idea about, but it is not supposed to put you off. These pages are about encouraging (safe) paddling, not discouraging it. It's all about having fun and getting that adrenaline flowing (closely followed by the alcohol!).

So on to the river leading guide .