Va. Kayakers don't need to go to the Rocky Mountains to find the noisy, frothy water and jagged rocks of whitewater rapids. Mather Gorge, just below it, has a gentler series of rapids. It's a blast,'' he says. American Whitewater rates Great Falls just below the most extreme level of difficulty. Its rapids are long, violent and complex.
Swimming is dangerous and rescue is difficult even for experts.
Higher water levels can make the falls even more difficult. My personal cutoff is 3.8 feet,'' he says. Hopkins, a champion freestyle kayaker, says he has run the falls as many as five times in a day. Depending on how often he pauses in the tiny eddies that pool around the rocks, he can shoot through in less than a minute or linger as long as he wants. The problem with dawdling, he says, is that the gaggle of tourists always on the banks may think he is in trouble.