A horizon line often denotes the beginning of a steep drop or ledge. If the rapid is known to be safe, I like to cautiously paddle to the middle of the river to get a better look. You can use your back ferry or draw strokes to move laterally to line up for the best position to start the drop. If you can find an eddy close to the ledge, go catch it and get a better look from your boat.

Snap Falls Large ledges typically have a distinct horizon line that precedes them. You can often identify a large ledge by looking at trees below, listening for the loud sound of crashing water, or watching the boater in front of you suddenly disappear. You may encounter ledges in class II and more difficult rapids. A great class II ledge in our area is Snap Falls on Muddy Creek - see picture on the right. On smaller ledges, boaters below will identify when it is safe to run by holding their paddle vertically. On more challenging ledges or those with potential dangers, we typically set suitable safety. When running ledges, avoid the "Old School" habit of holding the paddle shaft above your head and leaning way back. This takes your paddle out of the safe zone - the paddlers box. Leaning on the back of your boat also makes the boat less stable when you land. A better approach is to enter with a little bit of extra speed, plant a very strong last stroke at the lip, and try to lift the front of your boat with both knees. This maneuver definitely takes some practice.

Strainers are usually downed trees or a collection of branches and trash. Do whatever you can to avoid these death traps. If you accidentally swim into a strainer, work very hard to climb up on the structure rather than getting impaled or strained by hidden limbs. Here is an example of one on the Savage River in Maryland. This is one place where the defensive swimming technique will fail and you will be swept under. If you can't avoid a strained, swim head first and quickly towards the strainer. When you reach the strainer, push yourself over the branch and kick your feet to help push you over. This video of the LA County life guard training shows how challenging swimming over strainers and why we practice the strainer drill: Strainer Drill.

Holes (AKA: Souse Holes, Hydraulics) - A hole is caused by a depression in the river bed like water flowing over a boulder. Water cascades over the boulder (or ledge) forcefully downstream and water from downstream flows back upstream to fill in the depression. We often refer to holes as Smiles or Frowns. If the ends are out flowing downstream (Smile), you can exit the hole on either end. If the ends are facing upstream (Frown), exiting the hole isn't as easy. Upstream ended holes typically have a jet stream underwater that you can catch with your paddle or body to forcefully pull you down and out. A perfectly uniform hole - straight across like one formed by a dam can be very difficult to escape and often requires assistance. Smaller holes are often used like eddies by advanced paddlers. Play boaters (and squirt boaters) love holes as this feature enables the many tricks they like to perform. Here is an example from the Cheat River.

Holes, reversals, souse holes, and stoppers are synonyms. They are formed when water drops over a ledge or boulder and the water downstream of the obstacle rushes back up stream to fill in the void. When you first start paddling, you want to avoid these features. As you gain more skills and become an advanced paddler, you will often use holes as eddy alternatives, for play time, or for quickly crossing a river. Holes come in all shapes and sizes and are sometimes quite challenging to read. River wide holes that are perfectly uniform are typically created by a manmade structure like a dam - these should almost always be avoided as they can be death traps. Here is a video of Swimmers Hole on the Lower Yough: Lower Yough Swimmers Hole