The 10 Biggest Waves On The Gauley River

Interested in big whitewater?  Us too.

Here’s a rundown of the biggest stuff you’ll see on the Gauley (if you’re looking for family rafting, please please don’t read this list.  We have a whole different river for you here). 

Before we start:

-”Wave” isn’t quite accurate.  We want to include holes and other stuff, too.  Let’s say that we’re actually describing the 10 best “hits” on the Gauley.  We’re talking about when your raft smashes into whitewater.  Ok?  Great.

-These hits are described at Fall Gauley Flow (2800 cubic feet per second).  If I just lost you, all I mean is that this list is for the river at normal, not high, water levels.

-We’re going in order, biggest last.  Got something to say about it? Did we get it wrong?  Add it to the comments, please.

10. Upper Collison Creek- Most guides don’t even bother to name this killer hit, but it’s about the best thing you’ll run into in the very top section of the river.  Early in the morning, this hit’s better than coffee for waking everyone right up.

9. Lower MASH-  Cool because of the little dogleg left directly above it.  Line up and let it fly- if you get it just right, it feels like a college linebacker came across and put the hammer down on the whole boat.

8. Hidden Hit Below Iron Ring-  Aka the hidden hit above Kevin’s Folly.  The best part is, everyone’s still too pumped on Iron Ring to really be ready for it.

7.  Last Wave In Insignificant-  If you’re really thinking about it, you’ll be lining up for this all the way from the top of the rapid.  The first wave slows you down just enough for the second wave to break on you like a house.

6.  Lower Stair Step-  Looks good on video, too.  Lower stair step puts a huge wave right in the middle of a long train of huge waves.  Perfect for out-of-the-raft back flips.

5.  Right Side of Woodstock Hole, Iron Ring-  To get the big hit at Iron Ring, you have to get scary close to going over the top of Woodstock.  It’s like playing chicken with the river.

4.  Iron Curtain- Right at the bottom of the rapid, this hole has a sweet spot as big as Detroit that stands boats straight up.  Smack-tastic-ular.

3.  Hell Hole, Pure Screaming Hell- This hole has sold more video than ll of the others combined. The farther right you are, the steeper it gets, until you end up folding the raft in half (which is when the fun begins).

2.  Hawaii Five-0 Wave, Lost Paddle-  The best thing about this huge hit isn’t the front side, breaking part of the wave.  It’s the backside drop after you hit the wave.  It just keeps dropping away, for ever and ever. Stomach?  Oh yeah, it’s still up there.

1.  The Pillow Ride, Pillow Rock- Pass Inertia Hole to the left and you’ll be getting up close and personal with the world famous Pillow Rock.  A great Pillow Ride is a work of art, combining balance with power and a hint of stupidity to make things fun.  It’s like driving the General Lee on two wheels while shooting flaming arrows at a stack of dynamite- there’s nothing awesomer.

Well, what do you say?  Did we get your favorite?  Miss something?  We would never miss a hit on the river (heh heh), so let us know.

Tags: Adventure Vacations, Gauley River Rafting, Songer Whitewater, West Virginia Vacations, white water rafting

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Gauley River Rafting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.