For some people, the idea of going on the rafting trip can conjure up images of Meryl Streep in "Wild River" or Burt Reynolds in "Liberation". Concerns about the raft flipping over, or fear of falling from a raft, may scare some potential holiday-makers, holding them by land, while millions of others are flocking to this increasingly popular adventure trip every year. What are the real risks in whitewater rafting? And the real statistics of security? One can only wonder.

Take, for instance, Lehigh River in the Pocono mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania ... one of the most popular Whitewater Vacation Destinations in America. Guided rafting trips were introduced in 1975, where, for the filling of Whitewater applicants. Today, four professional Outfitters Whitewater rafting offer daily trips to more than 25 miles from Whitewater Rapids in Lehigh Gorge State Park. Over the past three and a half decades, professional Rafting Outfitters for more than 3 million visitors rafting on more than 25 million mile guided rafting trip (equivalent to a journey to the moon and back 52 times!), Racking up an impeccable safety record in the process.

Despite continuing Angst is to subscribe to the fact that some people still call "extreme" Sport, in truth, guided rafting trip down the Lehigh River is statistically safer than getting in your car and driving there. There are several reasons Rafting Outfitters can make such a remarkable safety record, including:

They are guided rafting trips. Professional rafting guide with you all day. They know the river, they know the dangers, they know the best route through Whitewater, they know how to help you avoid mistakes, and they know what to do if it looks like the situation may start to go wrong. For example, the Whitewater rivals, guides are trained in water rescue SWIFT Red Cross First Aid (Standard and Advanced) and PPC. In addition, they collected thousands of hours on the river, get acquainted with each section of the Whitewater at each of the dozens of different water levels. This is important because two trips down the exact same stretch of river at different levels of water can lead to drastically different levels of excitation.

You are in Whitewater raft, not the canoe. If you try this sport in the Tennessee rafting White water canoe or kayak, and it is a totally different ball game. Professional Whitewater Rafts developed two things: do not rollover, and no punctures. Properly constructed commercial raft Score Whitewater bounces most boulders, and keep a steady course in a remarkably turbulent water. In most places, you can float through the Whitewater Rapids forward, backward or even sideways, and this is only part of the fun. If you do this in a canoe, kayak or raft flimsy pool, the results can be disappointing, to say the least.

You wear Whitewater PFD (personal flotation device). It's amazing how many people who take the Do-It-Yourself Approach to rafting or do not use the right kind of raft, or do not wear a PFD. Walking on a commercial rafting trip, wearing a PFD is not an option, it is a requirement. And if you so unbuckle seat belts, the first rafting guide, which he says will gently remind you that putting yourself at risk so simply "is not acceptable.