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<br />001201 <br /> <br />Of the five beginners interviewed, only 3 gave a quantitative answer, which appeared to <br />be influenced by the flow at the time of interview. Only three professional kayakers were <br />interviewed, two refused to give a quantitative minimal flow, and one gave a minimal <br />flow providing a reasonable kayaking experience of 300cfs. <br /> <br />Level Beginner Intermediate Advanced Advanced/Intermediate Expert Pro. <br /> Class II Class III Class IV Class IV N Class V <br />Average <br />Flow 498 475 437 652/517* 455 300 <br />(cfs) <br /> <br />Table 2: Average Minimal Flow Providing a Quality Kayaking Experience at the C Hole <br />and D Hole by Level of Expertise (include all answers) <br /> <br />*652cfs include an outlier of2,000cfs given by one ofthe Advanced/Intermediate <br />kayakers interviewed, while 517cfs represents the average lowest flow, excluding the one <br />answer of2,000cfs. <br /> <br />VIII. Optimal Experience occurs at Hypothetical Flow Rates as low as 400cfs <br /> <br />During the interviews kayakers were asked to give an optimal range of flow that would <br />provide an "outstanding" or "dream" freestyle kayaking experience at the C-Hole and D- <br />Hole. The question was formulated in order to determine the highest flow desired. <br />Out of the 46 kayakers interviewed, 9 kayakers did not respond with a range of flows. <br />Five kayakers did not know and 4 did not provide a quantitative answer. The minimal <br />optimal flow given is 400cfs and was expressed by an intermediate kayaker, while a <br />professional kayaker gave an answer of 800cfs. Most kayakers agreed that a flow of <br />either 800cfs, 850cfs or 1,000cfs (12 answers) is an optimal flow. <br /> <br />The highest optimal flow response was 8,000cfs which was given by a beginner kayaker. <br />A comparison of the optimal flow preference and years ofkayaking experience shows <br />that there is no direct correlation between the amount of flow preferred and the kayaker's <br />level of expertise. In fact, answers such as "the more water the better" were given by both <br />beginner and professional kayakers. <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />Yampa River Freestyle Kayaking Study - August 2005 <br />Vital Resources <br />