The Malbaie River provides just one of the many challenges to paddlers in Quebec.
As we floated around the first bend and looked downriver, there was nothing but white foam piles as far as the eye could see. In broken English, Richie said that he was afraid. This was not a good sign, as Richie is the most fearless whitewater paddler that I know – period. I was thankful that my wife Nancy had decided not to paddle. At least, I wouldn’t have to worry about her.
The only time that I had run the Malbaie River, this first rapid had been a long, steep and solid Class IV descent. Today, it would really be a handful, as the volume was nearly twice the maximum recommended level to paddle.
Well, we had hoped for big water, and now we had it. I told myself to paddle smart and be aggressive.
I entered the rapid, and started picking my way between the pour-overs, huge breaking waves and, most particularly, the large holes. The waves were so big that I couldn’t see downriver much of the time. In this circumstance, the technique is to make a quick study of the river when you reach the tops of the waves. As I broke over a large exploding wave, I realized that there was a big, unavoidable hole just below. There was only one option – paddle as hard a possible and try to punch through it. When I powered in, the hydraulic abruptly stopped me and my kayak stern sank straight down. As the weight of the boat plunged into the denser deep water, it halted my descent and then catapulted me vertically high into the air and I landed almost completely upside down. As quickly as I could, I half rolled and half braced my way upright. Fortunately, I had flushed out of the hole! I hoped that none of my five companions had followed me into it, but I didn’t have time to look back, as there were more obstacles below. Finally, after much more of the same, I spotted an eddy (a calm spot) near the right shore and was able to reach it and temporary safety.
We were on our fourth day of a week of rivers in Quebec. The Malbaie River is about three hours northeast of Quebec City, in the Charlevoix area and it is big! In fact, everything that we had paddled so far had been big. On the first two days, we had only been four – including my wife Nancy and our two close stateside friends, Frank and Carolyn. We had paddled a Class III/IV wave-surfing section of the Jacques Cartier River called Donnaconna, and a Class III/IV section of the Montmorency River.
The Donnaconna is about a half-hour west of Quebec City and the Montmorency flows from north to south and empties into the St. Lawrence River a little east of the city, just after tumbling over the spectacular Montmorency Falls.
Opening the flood gates
On our third day, we were joined by two of our closest Quebec friends, Pierre and Richie, and two more central Mainers, Brent and Daryn. We traveled east and paddled the De Gouffre River at nearly flood level. At normal levels, the De Gouffre is a challenging Class III/IV river with one four-mile section of steep and continuous Class IV rapids. This year, it has been a particularly exciting high volume run that had kept our attention from beginning to end. That night, we camped about midway between the De Gouffre and the Malbaie – some of us in campers and others in tents. It rained most of the night. Just what we had needed – more water!
A group of us Mainers has been making a pilgrimage to Quebec every year since 1993. The initial attraction was the whitewater. However, over the years, we have acquired a large group of Quebec friends and it has become as much a social event as a whitewater experience. Further, many of us, including myself, have strong Quebec ancestral ties and this is something of a return to our roots.
All of my boating companions safely joined me in the eddy on the Malbaie to regroup. They had observed my ejection into the air from the hydraulic and were able to avoid it. It was obvious that we were in for a very exciting and demanding day. It’s difficult to explain the attraction of serious whitewater boating to the uninitiated. One loses all sense of time and the normal distractions of the “real world” are completely forgotten. It is simply you, your boat and your companions against the whitewater. For me, that is when I feel most alive, and I consider myself blessed to have friends and family with whom I frequently share the whitewater experience.
The Class IV+ whitewater on the Malbaie continued almost unabated for about four or five miles. It was one complex and difficult maneuver after another. Constantly looking downriver for the next obstacle to be avoided, while simultaneously searching for a safe eddy and trying to keep track of the other paddlers in the group is a task. The continuous rapids ended just above two substantial ledge drops that we stopped and scouted. Both drops had wide and dangerous hydraulic holes at the bottom and a failure to scout them might have had serious consequences. We were able to identify safe routes and everyone avoided the “keeper holes.” Shortly after the second ledge drop, we reached our vehicles at the take-out. Despite the difficulty level, everyone had had a successful day. It was a good thing, as anyone coming out of their boat in that water would have probably had a very long and unpleasant swim – at best!
Top rate
The whitewater rating system used by most paddlers is called the International Scale of River Difficulty. It rates rivers and rapids based on a scale of Class I to Class VI. Class I generally consists of fast moving water and small waves, and progresses to Class II, which entails bigger waves with some obstacles and requiring some maneuvering. Class III whitewater has big waves or requires complex maneuvering, and can present hazardous conditions. Class IV whitewater is often quite turbulent, frequently requires scouting and advanced paddling skills are necessary. Normally, Class V is the highest river level paddled; it is considered to be very difficult and requires a team of expert paddlers. Class VI is considered to be the limits of navigation and very dangerous. Occasionally, exceptional (or misguided) boaters will paddle a Class VI rapid, but paddling a Class VI river would be a life-threatening experience.
The whitewater rating system is only a guide. A lot of factors can influence the difficulty or safety level that a rating system cannot anticipate. For instance, a river that is rated Class III under normal circumstances can become Class V (or higher) at flood. Conversely, low water on a steep creek can create hazards that make it much more dangerous than when there is a moderate water volume. Other factors, such as cold water temperatures and remote wilderness settings cannot be easily measured by a rating system. When I paddle a river for the first time, or when there are unusual circumstances present, such as spring water temperatures or flood levels, I mentally add a class level to the normal rating.
Whitewater boating is not as dangerous as most non-paddlers believe. However, each year there are a couple of dozen fatalities nationally. They are usually novices with inadequate gear and limited skills attempting Class III or higher difficulty levels or experts pushing the outer limits of navigation. My advice – if you are a novice, get professional instruction. If you are an expert, remember that bad things can happen to anyone, even you.
What to ride
Deciding what boat to paddle is an important consideration. There are three general classes of whitewater kayaks; river runners, playboats and creek boats. Playboats are usually quite short (and getting shorter) and are designed for acrobatic “rodeo” style moves. They are usually quite slow and unstable. Creek boats are higher volume boats, with greater levels of stability, which are very important qualities when running steep creeks. Finally, river running kayaks are usually longer and faster with medium levels of volume. It is not unusual for serious kayakers to take two different style boats on a whitewater trip. I only paddle one boat, a river running boat called a Dagger RPM, which my son refers to as “an old man’s boat.” There are still a few fiberglass whitewater kayaks around; however, the vast majority of whitewater boats are now made of plastic, which is a much more durable material.
The night after paddling the Malbaie, we returned to the Quebec City area and met up with the remainder of the Maine contingent. We were now a total of sixteen boaters. On the fifth day, most of us returned to the playful waters of Donnaconna. However, a small group split off and paddled the Class IV/V Sauteriski River. We wrapped up the trip with an exciting day of Class IV boating on the Upper Montmorency and then one more visit to the Donnaconna.
It had been yet another week of adventurous paddling with our friends in Quebec. The literally hundreds of surfing waves on Donnaconna had been an absolute paddler’s delight; but, for me, the high point had been negotiating my way down the Malbaie on that cold and rainy day. There’s nothing quite like it – even for an old man in an “old man’s boat.”
Comments are no longer available on this story