Rapid Break Downs

Written by Brielle

The Animas River otherwise known as the Rio de las Animas Perdidas is the River of Lost Souls. It flows through Silverton and Durango then into the San Juan River. This river is a free-flowing river meaning it is fed by snow melt as opposed to being a dam-released river.

Now CFS stands for cubic feet per second and is about the size of a basketball. If the river is at 1,000 CFS then imagine 1,000 basketballs going down the river at any given point at the same time. I learned how to raft when the Lower Animas was pumping at 3,100 CFS which is considered higher for that section. Whether the CFS is high water or low water is dependent on the average flows for each river.

Rapid Classes go from class 1 to class 6. Here is a simplified breakdown of each rapid class:

Class I has no actual white water, maybe a splash or two.

Class II has some movement with easily avoided obstacles.

Class III is a solid rapid with strong waves.

Class IV has much stronger waves, bigger holes, and tricky passages. Precise maneuvers are necessary for these difficult waters.

Class V is expert-level rapids. These are long rapids with high risk and massive waves.

Class VI is a class of rapid that typically indicates non-runnable water. They are extremely dangerous and boaters usually portage around them.

*This scale does not apply to all, like the Grand Canyon. The Grand has a scale ranging from class one to ten.