Is it a thrilling leisure activity or a dangerous sport? It is probably a combination of the two. Since it began in the 1970 it has certainly become a lot safer with legislated safety measures, better qualified operators and much improved equipment. In the past rivers have been known to swallowed up whole expeditions. Nowadays the overall risk, when using experienced operators, is considered as low. It is also now a competitive sport with international and world championship events. This competitive element of rafting began in the mid 90's.
