The Sleeping Beauty Wave! Posted On: May 4, 2019 By: Steve Miller Filed Under: River trips Tagged In: embudo fault, lava, Picuris mountains, quartzite, Racecourse rapids, Rio Grande The Sleeping Beauty Wave is found on the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande, and is guaranteed to get you wet, as you can see in this video. The Racecourse half-day trip is offered twice a day, at 9m AM and 1 PM. It is also the afternoon portion of the full-day Rio Grande Gorge trip. This is a very scenic section of the Rio Grande, with black volcanic mesas on the right side of the river, and steep quartzite cliffs on the left side of the river. Why the difference? It’s because the river is following the Embudo fault here, which broke off the end of the quartzite Picuris Mountains, making the cliffs. Then, lava flowed from the west up against the base of the cliffs, pushing the river ahead of it and into its present position, up against the base of the cliffs. The video is by Britt Runyon, New Wave’s Operations Manager and Videographer. And that is Britt also guiding the raft. Clever, isn’t he? Sleeping Beauty Wave Get your kicks in the Sleeping Beauty Wave of the Racecourse. Posted by New Wave Rafting Co. on Saturday, May 4, 2019