# We Lost Allen Satcher



## Mark the dude (Mar 18, 2005)

I'm reading this in the airport and I really don't want to believe this is true. I lived and worked with Allen in Chile a couple years ago. He was one of those people you just felt an instant connection with. He was one of the few people who I have met in my life who was a genuinely good person through and through who really loved his life and his friends. If you were his friend, he would go to the end of the earth for you. Now that I think about it, he would probably do the same even if you were a complete stranger. I really wish I could have spent more time with him, but I am very grateful to have those three months of memories, and a fun day skiing with him in breck this last season. My most sincere condolences to all his friends and family. RIP good buddy.


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## smauk2 (Jun 24, 2009)

Terrible. RIP


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## JCKeck1 (Oct 28, 2003)

Here's some comments from a group member that wishes us all to take with: I agree 100% having personally pulled a buddy out of a walled in pocket eddy lower on the same run. My gist is HAVE A FULL LENGTH ROPE - TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU GET OUT OF YOUR BOAT!!!!!! This saved my buddies life and required every bit of 70 feet on a creek with 200-300cfs tops.

Story:
Access is always the biggest limiting factor for effective rescue. The difference between life and death often boils down to being in the right place at the right time. Even “inaccessible” gorges such as Waterfall Alley, Double Potholes and Cherry Bomb have little cracks and ledges that allow reasonable chances for rescue- IF you plan and move carefully. I make a habit of looking for these spots whenever I scout a rapid. It’s not pessimism. It’s just part of improving overall success by going ahead and figuring out what to do when (not if) one day one of your crew ends up in a fucked-up spot. Actually getting out of your boat and into that spot is vastly better, and doesn’t take that long in the grand scheme of things.

There are a lot of things that could have happened differently two days ago that would have saved Allen’s life. Don’t worry, I am not torturing myself with “what ifs”. Every one of us did everything we could think of, as fast as we could, to try to save Allen. With that said, the luxury of countless hours to analyze the situation provides some ideas for future rescues.

‎1- As mentioned above, look around, find the access points in relation to the hazards. Get there if it’s safe to do so, and be ready to get there fast if your homie needs you to. Be willing to take some risk to save a life, just as you would to run a big drop. 
2- Have a throwbag accessible- in your lifejacket or between your legs. If getting out of your boat is not possible, but getting close to the person in trouble is, you can pop your skirt, pull out the rope and clip the free end to the back security loop of your boat. Reseal your skirt and stuff the rope into the gap between skirt and lifejacket enough to secure it. This process only takes about 15 seconds if you can do it in a good eddy. Paddle upstream and get CLOSE to the person. Throwing a rope from in your boat is surprisingly awkward, and did not work in this case because I did not reseal my skirt and fight my way all the way up to the pothole. Again, I am not kicking myself- I just want to share this idea in the hopes that it may prevent another tragedy. This technique works really well for walled-in holes with eddies right below them- much more reasonable access in those cases.

‎3- Speaking of throwbags, have a real throwbag- seventy feet of Spectra. The little lifejacket dealies are cute and all, but they ain’t worth shit when they can’t reach, or the rope’s too small to hold onto. The NRS Pro Rescue is perfect, and not too heavy or expensive. The last two rescues I did that worked used about 58, and 69 feet of rope respectively. Even a sixty foot might not have made the first of the two, which may have become a similar tragedy for a beloved friend.
4- Practice rescues on logs. We need those fuckers out anyway. The dynamics of access, teamwork and the forces at play are remarkably similar to real pins.

I agree that paddling into a serious gorge thinking something bad will happen is not a good idea. Optimism is key to success. However, paddling into the same gorge without a clue of how to rescue someone from it is just plain retarded. I’m not asking anyone to quit charging hard. Neither would Allen. I just want to see a little more forethought go into these serious undertakings. I don’t want to see another bright smiling face turn into a dead cold lump of flesh.

Another post from a different paddler discussed a fatality here in CO that may have been prevented if there was a full length rope present:

In my experience, pulling someone out of a hole by throwing them a rope from your boat seldom (if ever) works. I have tried it unsuccessfully several times, including one incident that ended in a fatality. Of course, we wouldn't have had to try that if someone in the group had been carrying a 70 foot rope. The more likely scenario is that the person in the recirculation pulls the rescue boat back in with them. This can be mitigated by communicating to the swimmer that they need to grab the bag and get on the end of the rope, then paddling far enough away that there is no danger of being pulled back in. Also, clip the rope not to the loop on your kayak, but to your rescue vest strap or the end of your tow strap. This will allow you to escape via quick release and not become another victim in the case that something goes wrong. Then have a backup on shore who can throw a rope to you (while still in your boat) and pull both you and the swimmer until the swimmer comes free of the recirculation.

TAKE A FULL LENGTH ROPE EVERYWHERE
Joe


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

The "Allen Satcher Memorial" Run is on Wednesday night at 5pm at Bob's Hole on the Clackamas for those who are local.


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## qsjones (May 9, 2011)

sad news. my thoughts are with his family and friends


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## JEhlinger (Aug 9, 2011)

Allen was a great friend of mine, and my first paddling partner. His passion for kayaking was so contagious and motivating and I credit him for really pushing me into the world of kayaking. Years ago, we used to drive a ridiculous amount of miles from Pullman, where we went to school, just to surf some tiny little feature on the Salmon. Six hours of driving for three hours of surfing. He was definitely a motivator. I have great memories of many of my kayaking firsts with Allen, including my first real scary swim which Allen bagged me out of, on a drop he convinced me to run first! 

Allen was an great kayaker and a phenomenal person. I will never forget his enthusiasm for life and the people living it with him. He will be greatly missed, and my thoughts go out to his family.


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## seangar5 (Mar 20, 2008)

My condolences to the family and friends. Rest in Peace Allen. We lost a boater from AZ in CO a month ago, this is turning out to be a very gloomy WW season.


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## raft2live (Apr 4, 2008)

My name is Clyde Nicely and I work at NRS. I never boated with Allen, I'm a rafter, but I worked along side him when he was in Customer Service here when he was attending WSU in Pullman. I have fond memories of his fun loving personality and zest for the outdoors and kayaking. Those of us who knew Allen are really feeling the loss of a good friend.

Couple of things: Allen's high school class in Kelso, WA is having their class reunion in a couple of weeks. They've asked us for photos that they can use in a tribute to him. At least a couple of you who've posted knew him. If you have photos you'd like to share, we can put you in touch with his classmates.

Also, Joe, your comments on the rescue are powerful and very instructive. If you and/or other group members would like to put together any insights and safety thoughts as a help to others, we'd be honored to distribute them through our various channels. 

You can reach me at [email protected] or ask for me at 800.635.5202. Thank you.


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## JCKeck1 (Oct 28, 2003)

Just to clarify, I wasn't there. The post is mostly from a member of the group that was there. I'm just re-posting it.
Joe


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## raft2live (Apr 4, 2008)

Thanks for the clarification, Joe. If you are in touch with members of the group I'd appreciate if you'd pass my suggestion along.

Thanks,
Clyde


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## biggb (Aug 1, 2011)

Terrible news. Could anyone clarify...did he get caught in a whirlpool or was it really a recirculating hole?


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## darinm (Nov 7, 2005)

I'd gotten off two days before and flows were considerably higher than the image below. I'd heard it was low by Sunday, but probably not this low. The hazard is on the left of the picture.


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## CBrown (Oct 28, 2004)

darinm said:


> I'd gotten off two days before and flows were considerably higher than the image below. I'd heard it was low by Sunday, but probably not this low. The hazard is on the left of the picture.


A scary looking spot indeed.


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## JayLynn (Aug 10, 2011)

*thanks Joe*

Joe,

Out of respect for Allen, Lisa and their families- while I believe your lessons were well meant, this is not the time or place to be placing blame on those involved. In this accident, a 70' rope would have made little difference in the rescue. Every rope thrown to Allen missed by within inches, we just couldn't connect in the brief moments that he re-surfaced within the pothole. The fact is, these dangers exist throughout rivers, be it class II or V. We all know it, and we all do everything we can to minimize the risks, but sometimes fluke accidents can happen. All of us that were there wish more than anything that there was something more that we could have done, but a longer rope would not have made the difference.

Allen was an amazing individual and I feel very fortunate to have gotten to spend the time with him that I did, especially on this run. My heart goes out to all of Allen's friends and family, and especially to Lisa.

Jay


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## craporadon (Feb 27, 2006)

#1 rule of Creekboating:

TAKE YOUR THROWBAG WITH YOU EVERY TIME YOU SCOUT. 

I have no idea on the details of this tragedy and no idea what did or did not make a difference. But the number 1 rule is definitely not being followed in Colorado by all groups. It is fine to have a small life jacket throwbag, but every time you get out to scout you just have to have a habit of grabbing the big bag out of the back of your boat. I have definitely seen people driven to tears by a group when they did not follow this simple rule. Without it you are worthless. You don't have time to run back up if someone fires it up and you never know when someone will fall in or come floating through.

Then when you set up safety you only need 2 things 
1) a good angle on the danger spot 
2) a tie-in to a tree or rock or other firm footing.

That's only 3 things to remember and you will never let your group down. Pretty simple when your best bro's life is on the line. 


Let's have a RESURGENCE OF SAFETY ON THE RIVER all around. Educate the younger guys in your group whenever possible. Practice live bait swimming. Give someone a hard time if they scout Gore without their bag. 

Take a class, some of the best river safety teachers in the world live in Colorado: 
Nick Wigston - http://downstreamedge.wordpress.com/ on the front range
Matt Wilson - Swiftwater Rescue Training | River Rescue Courses in the southwest

Feel free to add more instructors b/c there are more great ones in CO. Let's fill some classes up this fall so everyone is set for next spring.


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## Gary E (Oct 27, 2003)

Jay that was a repost from Chris Harjes who was there and got him out with another friend and performed the CPR on Allen. He was venting and made some observations. No one is blaming anybody and Joe meant no disrespect to Allen, Chris or the other involved. 

Like you said things happen on the water and we have lost too many great folks to such an amazing sport as Kayaking.

My heart goes out to all my friends hurting, along with Allens family. Super rough year for far too many. RIP Allen

Gary


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## DanielGlauser (Apr 26, 2009)

I spoke to one of the guys who pulled Allen out last night, it sounds like safety was set and folks were being smart. Joe's re-post has a lot of good points in it and wasn't meant to be disrespectful, more like someone trying to come to grips with the fact that there was nothing they could do to prevent what happened. I've been in UC numerous times with most of the folks who were on this trip and have even helped pull someone off of the sieve in Cherry Bomb Gorge with one of the rescuers. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the folks involved would do anything they possibly could to prevent what happened. An incident like this can send a shockwave through the community; the family, friends of Allen and folks involved in the rescue will all have to heal in their own ways. The best thing we can do is to stay chill and be there for them. My condolences to all who knew Allen and those involved in the rescue.


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

Horrible news. My condolences to friends and family.

Its a harsh reality that even teams of seasoned veterans doing all they can sometimes isn't enough. 

With that said, the thoughtful reflection relayed by Joe and the "resurgence" in safety idea by craporodan are meaningful ways we can all learn from this experience.


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## craporadon (Feb 27, 2006)

To be clear my comment is NOT IN RELATION TO THIS INCIDENT. It is just an overall observation of this year and the state of WW. I have no reason at all to believe that this group was not completely on top of it and did everything right. In whitewater, you can do everything right and still have terrible results. In fact it is rarely human error when things go bad in WW. I should have started a new thread instead of cunting up this one. I send good vibes to the group and family.


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