By: Amaris Gutjahr

Twelve Wesleyan students had a splash going whitewater rafting on Sunday, September 15. The group left the college in the morning and went rafting at the New River Gorge National Park. 

All of the students who went whitewater rafting with the Outdoors Recreation club had a fun experience. “Everyone had a great time,” Ben Wilson said, a graduate assistant for the Outdoors Recreation club. In addition to being a fun activity, the outing served as a social opportunity. “The trip was a good opportunity to meet new people and make new friends,” Wilson said. The trip was a great opportunity to experience whitewater rafting at a low cost. Each person paid $25 for the whole trip, including lunch.

They rode in one of Wesleyan’s vans to Summersville to start their adventure. Wilson said that traveling in the small van “enables interactions” between the group members. On the drive there, music was played from a speaker while some members listened to their own music. The drive took about one hour and forty minutes.

“If it were my first time whitewater rafting, I would have been more nervous,” Wilson said. “I was totally fine with it,” Peter D’Avanzo said, who has gone whitewater rafting outside of West Virginia. 

After arriving at the New River Gorge National Park, the group hung around chatting before taking a bus to the starting point. D’Avanzo said he was surprised about being “high up on a mountain compared to the river.” At the start point, tour guides discussed the safety guidelines and everyone put on life jackets and helmets. Then the group and instructors trekked down a 100 yard staircase with the rafts in tow. At the river, they split into two groups and boarded the rafts, paddles in hand.

Peter said that he wasn’t expecting the water level to be so low and that the rocks made the trip “jerky” and long. “The other raft got stuck on a rock,” Wilson said. Wilson said that at one point, both groups dismounted the rafts and “floated down the rapids with life vests,” while “talking and laughing.” They only did this in “low-level class” rapids for safety reasons. It took about three and a half hours for the groups to reach the end of the course near the New River Gorge Bridge. 

While rafting, the participants had an opportunity to learn about the area’s history. “The park had informative tour guides,” Wilson said. D’Avanzo said that he learned about Summersville and the history of the area which used to be a mining town. 

The drive back to Wesleyan was quiet. D’Avanzo said that he and several other participants slept. “I was cold and ready for warm clothes to change into,” said D’Avanzo, “but I was glad I went.” D’Avanzo rated the experience an 8/10. Wilson described the trip as a success and said the participants “talked to each other after the trip like best friends.” He rated the trip a 10/10.

Wilson said that an unforgettable moment happened when he and another participant “almost fell out of the raft,” and that his highlight of the trip was “floating down the rapids.” D’Avanzo’s highlight was “hanging out with friends away from campus.”

D’Avanzo advises future whitewater rafting participants to be prepared for the cold water. Wilson wants to inform those new to rafting that there are “three levels of rafting – beginner, intermediate, and advanced.” The Outdoors Recreation club only goes on beginner courses, but Wilson said he wanted to “see if they could potentially do an intermediate course next year.” 

Photo by New River Gorge National Park Whitewater Rafting