Guidebooks'Canadian Rockies Whitewater' by Stuart Smith is the definitive guidebook to whitewater in western Alberta and eastern British Columbia. It is available in two volumes: one for the southern Rockies between the US border and Lake Louise, and another for the central Rockies from Lake Louise north to Jasper. Each volume covers 125 rivers of all types and levels of difficulty. These guidebooks were published in the mid-1990s and are currently out of print. Copies can still be ordered on-line through Headwaters Press; however, before you buy, consider that Stuart Smith is now vice president of Cloudworks Energy - an independent power producer actively working to destroy the best of British Columbia's whitewater rivers.For southwest BC refer to 'Whitewater in Southwestern British Columbia' by Claudia Schwab for class II-IV rivers/ 'The River Gypsies Guide to North America' contains a dozen descriptions of class IV/V creeks.
Canadian Rivers LogUnlike much of Appalachia and the Canadian Shield, the Rockies aren't exactly stable. Erosion, landslides, and floods can alter individual rapids or the entire course of a river. Logging, pipeline, and oilfield operations make access roads easier, busier, or impassable from year to year. Logs and logjams can appear overnight and are a constant and serious hazard on all western rivers every month of the year.
Get in the habit of checking the Canadian Whitewater River Use Log before every trip to see what hazards have been reported on the river you wish to run. When you return home, add your trip to the log for the benefit of others.
River GaugesThe Government of Alberta has a decent selection of real-time river gauges, although there are some significant omissions (e.g. Mistaya River). Gauges located too far downstream of the section commonly paddled can be unreliable (e.g. Sheep River). Releases on the Kananaskis River are published by TransAlta since they control the dam.
Environment Canada provides real-time hydrometric data for rivers in British Columbia (as well as the rest of Canada). The same data is also available as an interactive map. You can also create your own hydrometric portfolio for selected rivers of interest.
As well, the Water Levels page of this site has a consolidated list of gauges for popular paddling rivers. Web ForumsCalpaddle.com is a web forum hosted by the Calgary Canoe Club and is the de facto forum for most boaters in Alberta and eastern BC.
PaddleJunkies based in Calgary and the Vancouver Kayak Club also have public web forums.
KayakWest.com has forums for paddlers in various other regions of BC (Prince George, Terrace, Kelowna, etc). Web SitesPaddlingABC.com is a promising new community site that offers detailed maps, descriptions, and updated river information for paddlers in Alberta and BC. Fraser Valley Whitewater has trip reports and forums for paddlers in southwestern BC. Liquid Lore has excellent descriptions of many class IV-V creeks in BC, California, Quebec, and Newfoundland.
Rafting CompaniesIn places where the paddling community is small, rafting companies are often the best source of river information. The receptionist isn't always able to answer specific questions so call a bit in advance in case they need to relay river-related inquiries to a guide.
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