General Rules
Duration
The fastest paddlers take 80 to 120 seconds to complete most of the slalom courses. Depending on the level of competition and the difficulty of course, degree of water turbulence and the strength of the other paddlers, times can go up to 200 seconds.
The Boats
The boats are usually made of carbon fiber, Kevlar and fiberglass cloth by using epoxy or polyester resin to hold the layers together. The another technique used to increase the stiffness of slalom boats now a days is the foam sandwich construction in between layers of carbon, Kevlar or Aramid.
Gate
The gate in white water slalom constitutes of two poles that are hung from a wire stringing across the river. There are a total of 18 to 25 numbered gates in a course out of which 6-7 are upstream gates while the rest of them are the downstream gates.
Courses
The courses are usually on Class II-IV whitewater ones. Some courses are technical which contains many rocks whereas; others are on stretches that have few rocks with larger waves and holes.
Disqualification
If a competitor starts in a boat which does not conform to the rules; the ICJCFR will disqualify him/her for that run.
Directing, pushing, or movement of the boat by anyone other than the competitor is forbidden.
