News

Racing

River Vrbas draws us back for WRC 2021!

Breaking the mould and proving that raft racing is an enthralling and vibrant sport, the river Vrbas invited teams from across the globe to take part in the 2009 IRF World Rafting Championships. An event which saw racing take place over two rivers in two neighbouring countries and with the most exciting slalom spectacle under

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Guide / Safety

Expanding the IRF River Family in Bhutan

By Zachary Collier The rivers of Bhutan were first explored by groups of international kayakers in the late 1990s. They discovered some phenomenal runs for both rafts and kayaks ranging from Class I to V+. In the 2000s these explorers brought groups of kayakers to Bhutan for the first commercial whitewater trips. Bhutan’s first local

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Guide / Safety

The magical 4 letter F word!!

By Mark Hirst At some point in our raft guiding careers we will all experience a flip! This article aims to highlight some of the key points associated with flipping and will hopefully deliver a few tips to aid in the recovery of a flipped raft along with its crew. Let’s focus on the 3

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Racing

Colombia’s Farc ex-combatants and police paddling together

Colombia’s Rafting For Peace raft team made a big impression on all who attended the 2019 World Rafting Champs in Australia earlier this year (see Rifles for paddles). They were touched by their amazing story and admired the strength these paddlers showed in not only taking on learning to raft, but to also step away

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Racing

Uniting nations and sports under a common goal for climate change

Presenting to an audience of over 200 from over 20 nations at the inaugural IRF World White Water Rafting Summit, Ian Ponce, Programme Officer of the UNFCCC Programme Secretariat, shared the five key principles of the UNFCC programme and introduced the Sports for Climate Change initiative. Ian gave an overview of progress to date and highlighted

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Racing

#AreYouReady to race in Futaleufú?

Five months today, top teams from around the globe will start official training on the Futaleufú. Will your team be one of them? Twenty years ago the International Rafting Federation was a young and developing global sports federation. The third Camel White Water Challenge took place on the Futaleufú river with teams from across the

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Development

Pioneering the accreditation of recreational rafting operators

As the global governing body for rafting sport and the globally recognised standards setter for raft guiding through the IRF Guide Training & Education (GTE) system, the IRF are taking another pioneering step forward in rafting safety through the implementation of the IRF Rafting Operator Accreditation. Two days of discussion and sharing of experiences of

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Development

IRF and International Rivers in historic agreement to be better stewards to the world’s rivers

At the conclusion of the International Rafting Federation’s inaugural World White Water Rafting Summit, leading global rivers campaign organisation International Rivers and the IRF signed an historic Memorandum Of Understanding to bring together the common goals of both organisations to ensure that all rivers of the world have a voice. Introducing the agreement, summit MC

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Racing

Ziyuan is ready to welcome athletes one year from now

One year from today, the International Rafting Federation and the peoples of Ziyuan will welcome over 600 athletes, support crew, and officials along with countless spectators to the white water of the WuPai River. The countdown is on! From 22 August 2020, the world’s best rafting athletes will meet in Ziyuan, China to compete in

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