History Whitewater kayaking



off adventure boat, gear, clothes , food last weeks.


paddling on rivers, lakes , oceans old stone age. raft, catamaran, canoe , kayak evolved depending on needs , environment of indigenous peoples in different parts of world. modern day kayak originated 8,000 years ago along siberian coast line yupik , transformed open canoe, via aleut , inuit, enclosed kayak. first boats made hard sink because contained inflated seal bladders, made them ideal navigating whitewater.


the greek, herodotus, 484-425 bc, wrote in travel diaries boats merchandise brought armenia babylon. boats made of wooden framework covered animal skins. mules hauled precious skins armenia.


the russian, grigori ivanovitch langsdorff, reported trip around world (1803–07) on ease , elegance of paddling eskimo kayaks/canoes. scot, john macgregor, came north american trip full of excitement kayak/canoe , in 1860 started building 6 boats closely resembled eskimo canoes/kayaks, weighing app. 80 lb (36 kg). in 1866 published book thousand miles in rob roy canoe. timing right , book became resounding success. industrial revolution leading more leisure time in middle of 19th century, people in europe started enjoy floating down rivers in kinds of contraptions taking in nature available selected few.



1905, alfred heurich, architectural student leipzig, germany, invented faltboot , folding kayak called folboat in us. heurich went on paddle on 100,000 km (62,000 mi) on rivers , lakes.
1907, alfred klepper, master seamster rosenheim, bought patent, improved rigidity lever system , started production. born western culture s invention of paddle craft first time in human history allowed hardy enthusiasts see wild river sections , canyons never before seen human eye. design made not suitable whitewater (ww) easy travel , affordable. world war stopped progress.


on way put-in 2 folboats train, bus , rent-a-mule.



kayaking before mass-adoption of safety gear



1920s, boating on ww folboats developed. boaters flocked rivers , lakes train or bus. during time, austrian, edi hans pawlata reinvented eskimo roll.
1927, franz von alber, , then, klaus , arndt von rautenfeld, claimed have independently developed roll sea kayaks.
early 1930s, walter frentz, herbert rittlinger , handful of others became pioneers , advocates of ww kayaking documentaries , books.
1933, adolf hitler started dissolve kayak clubs. did not serve plan , impact on sport devastating. world war ii brought paddle sport total halt.

1946/48, depending on region, allies gradually lifted ban on river travel in germany. paddle clubs again allowed form.



1952, walter frentz, published inspiring book in den schluchten europas (in canyons of europe) gained popularity. book based on river trips prior world war ii. publications in days told great stories awesome pictures of first descents little information regarding river conditions. tough times of post war era had come end , people traveled abroad again looking adventures folboats , canoes.
1955, herbert baschin in stuttgart built first polyester/fiber kayak. despite improved maneuverability , material, baschin’s hard shell received skepticism paddle sport enthusiasts in love folboats , depended on public transportation. ice broke when owning automobile became affordable. hard shell kayak hauled rivers , remote put-ins not accessible before. in late 60s ww sport started europe spread around world , transformed adventure trips hardcore sport. came safety consciousness , protective gear.
1973, tom johnson, racer , trainer kernville, california designs , markets hollowform: first roto-molded polyethylene boat. mass-produced garbage can manufacturing company. these virtually indestructible boats revolutionized sport, , took off in california. paddlers no longer had repair boats during , after trips. began able use rocks part of strategy of negotiating difficult rapids. hard runs became more accessible less-skilled paddlers.
in 1978, bill masters, kayaker , inventor in liberty sc further perfected rotational molding kayaks company perception kayaks. bill advanced sport of whitewater kayaking beyond of predecessors through consistent innovations in manufacturing , design. patented processes still used day.
1980 manufacturer prijon in rosenheim introduced polyethylene europe made ww boating virtually maintenance , repair free in giant contrast faltboot had started all.
1980 holger machatschek, eskimo kayak company in landsberg, germany, developed first 2.2 m (7.2 ft) playboat called topolino galvanized kayaking many new , exciting forms of extreme sports.




^ vsbeer (2008-01-22). whitewater kayak history . youtube.com:80. retrieved 2013-05-15. 






Comments