C-Forum

Can you name another sport aside from paddling whitewater that you can't (or shouldn't) do alone?

Waterskiing is the only thing that comes to mind at the moment.

_hit's running all over in our area due to 4"+ of rain and NO ONE can or wants to go boating tonight after work... WT_?

(sigh)

Where's my knitting needles?

scuba diving? but then, ya dont need the rain.

the only reason not to paddle alone is that there is no one to throw in for gas and it is harder to set shuttle. that and that everyone says not too. some of my best paddling moments ever have been solo. there is a great doug ammon's article on it, but i can't seem to find a link.

i'm sure you're been on the river with someone, somewhere and thought that you'd be safer alone.

just like any other paddling, it is a personal decision that must be made with knowledge of self and understanding of the undertaking at hand.

get off the web and go boat!

Rock Climbing

Like paddling, just because you can do it alone, doesn't mean you should do it alone.

I'm with Oops on this one. Doug Ammons has a great essay about the taboo of soloing in his book WW Philosophy.

He basically says soloing is a deeply personal choice and experience.
He justifies the dangers by pointing out that if one is trouble on the river, there is usually little anyone can do to help him. Of course, that is circumstantial, but lots of people have gotten into trouble and died even in large groups.

I enjoy soloing. I do it within my limits and capabilities but I'll always be taking a risk. I know this and, to me, this risk is acceptable. I really can't preach enough about Doug Ammons. Someone on here mentioned him to me in the Spring when I posted a thread about favorite authors on the subject of paddling. Thanks to whoever that was.

I dont know about the climbing thing. There are alot of new toys Petzl came out with that make top rock solo climbing pretty safe. But as you said just because you can doesnt mean you should.

I would add canyoneering and caving to the list. And possibly backcountry skiing.

I believe they are called team sports. football, baseball, ect...

But I'm going to have to say paint ball because of the great mental images that popped into my head.

anyone who paddles alone, doesn't have a whole lot of room to talk about 'being safe' and 'being careful'

I'm not saying that paddling alone isn't straight up legit, very fun, and beneficial to ones overall paddling prowess... what I am saying is, it definitely isn't that safe in the grand scheme of all things that are paddling.

And I'm merely talking about paddling Class II/III.

With that being said... my first time paddling class II/III was in solo on Lackawaxen River by myself, sitting bill mason lean style in a 14k rogue river(bass pro). And it wasn't the only time I do feel like I acquired much more confidence boating solo.

My favorite solo experience was early during last Deer season; where I put my rifle on my front airbag, and took out my back airbag in case I bagged a buck. Had Binos on my chest and was just scopin the hill sides during the whole class II run. It was small ledge filled so I hit some side surfs along the way... almost flipped once, with would have been real bad for the rifle lol... so i stopped doing that(was farely inexperienced surfwise at the time)

Justin - I'll leave the story of our CCC picnic day solo Codo runs out of this

FullGnarlzOC wrote:anyone who paddles alone, doesn't have a whole lot of room to talk about 'being safe' and 'being careful'

i have never told you to be careful. i have told you to quit being such a donkey.

and i don't think safety means what you think it does.

you shouldn't paddle alone and you shouldn't assume your buddies can help you either...that's encouraging

If I shouldn't paddle alone and the other person shouldn't paddle alone, how the 'ell can we be trusted together?

badminton

badmington sucks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c3gj476pww

Nothing wrong with climbing alone... Have ya never heard of free-soloing. Ditto on caving and canyoneering, have done all three alone. Easy to see why open-boaters often get such a bad name, besides tending to over rate rapids... I see they believe there's safety in numbers. Man up... take responsibility for yourself... and stop being a burden on your kayaking brethren. Boating all alone is just another type of adventure. If it bothers you fine, but that doesn't give you the right to say it's not for someone else. They are all assumed risk sports, it's just you're assuming a bit more for yourself.

If you are paddling "solo" aren't you really alone already?

Running a shuttle works a lot better with two people, three makes it interesting and 20 makes it Gauleyfest.

I've actually paddled a lot by myself... it isn't always as enjoyable... sometimes it is though... it absolutely makes you more keenly aware of your surroundings and decisions. I bet I put more miles on my mountain bike self-shuttling over the years than I have "mountain biking".

We need to start working on a way for people to be able to waterski without a driver in the boat though... we'll be rich... and famous.

Have your people call my people Phil.