Following three rafting deaths on the Rio Grande in high water this June, some local river guides have told us that calls to arrange rafting trips have since dwindled. While staying out of the water when a rafter’s skills don’t match the difficulty river conditions present on certain days is wise, forgoing rafting on the Rio Grande entirely, especially when accompanied by a professional guide, would be to miss out on an experience that is not only fun, but builds character and supports one of our area’s key outdoor industries.
Being a largely rural and geographically varied area, Taos has seen its share of extreme sports tragedies throughout its history. Before the rafting deaths this spring, the fatal inbounds avalanche that killed two skiers at Taos Ski Valley in 2019 was probably the starkest reminder in recent history of the raw power that exists in the wilderness surrounding the small urban settlements dotting our sprawling county.
But all sports carry risk, and part of the reward of participating in them comes from contending with that risk successfully. This is particularly true of more extreme sports that take place in the great outdoors, where athletes come into contact with nature’s beauty, as well as its unpredictable dangers, whether that be a rafter navigating a river’s flow or a skier negotiating a mountain’s heavy snowpack on a steep slope.
Beyond the potent surge of dopamine, endorphins and adrenaline that safely skirting these dangers gives the athlete in the moment, there is also something noble — even beautiful — expressed about the human spirit in overcoming these challenges. Professional athletes are valuable for the dollars they bring to themselves and the cities they play for. But athletes inspire all of us to take on the many challenges we’re presented with in our daily lives, and there are opportunities right in our backyards to participate in outdoor sports for ourselves.
Maybe the most inspiring moments, though, come from failure — when the skier falls only to take another run, the skateboarder keeps throwing themselves at a line until they perfect it, or the person who always thought of running the Rio Grande, but never has, does so in spite of the danger.
Because the danger, after all, is the point, isn’t it?