# GORE!!!



## Neptune (Jul 12, 2011)

Heads up, throw bag lost in gore on September 4 it is open watch out for stray rope!!!!!


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## danimal (Jul 14, 2004)

Can you give any more detail as far as where it is?


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## Neptune (Jul 12, 2011)

It was lost in gore rapid, didn't see it anywhere on the rest of the trip... Could be anywhere down stream


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## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

I'm not trying to be a dick about this, and I'm appreciative that you posted this alert, but this whole situation simply is not ok. A couple years ago there were 3 or 4 ropes (reported) lost in Gore Canyon in just a period of a few weeks. We saw a rope snagged in the middle of the river above Pyrite just after the Gore Race. It makes me wonder how many other ropes are in there that nobody's said anything about.

There have only been 2 deaths recorded in Gore Canyon and one of those involved an abandoned rope in Kirshbaum that two boaters got entangled in and one of them was killed. Abandoning a rope in the water is really serious. Could you imagine being responsible for someone dying due to your rope? Or even worse being the person entangled in the rope?

I understand that people make mistakes and occasionally shit happens, but there's no way this many ropes should be getting lost. Ropes should be fully closed and binered securely in boats. Ropes should only be thrown by people who have been trained and practiced using a rope in whitewater and from safe positions. If these criteria are met, I don't see any reason why they should be getting lost in the river. 

Also, reporting a rope lost somewhere in Gore Canyon doesn't do much good. A rope lost somewhere in Gore Rapid is only slightly better. What action am I supposed to take with that information? How was it lost? Where was it lost? Did it fall out of someone's boat? Was it accidentally dropped? Was it at the top of the rapid? Was it thrown to someone on river right, on river left? Was it thrown at Ginger? Just above Scissors? Where was it last seen?

Again, I'm really not trying to be a dick about this, but have some pent up frustration accumulated from way too many of these incidents happening that shouldn't. There are a lot of people moving through Gore Canyon this time of year, including commercial trips and this is adding a serious and totally unnecessary hazard.


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

100% agree with KSC. Way too many ropes have been thrown into Gore. Makes me wonder what people are doing with them? What was done wrong that caused the rope to be lost, and what can be learned so that others do not repeat the same mistake?

I've seen two main ways ropes get lost, both preventable. First is not securing them properly in a boat that comes out in a swim (as K mentioned), and second is throwing ropes from the wrong place, setting you up for failure. 

In my opinion, the best place to set rope safety for gore rapid is at the very bottom of the rapid at the head of either large eddy (L or R) that forms in the slackwater after gore and above scissors where many people eddy out. I see a lot of people setting safety higher... the eddies above where there is still strong current in the main flow, at ginger, on the rocks below the sneak. I have seen people get yanked off their feet when swimmers catch ropes while still in the main flow when ropers try to throw from to high up in the rapid. I have also seen people let go of the ropes when the pull from the swimmer in the current is too strong. I am constantly surprised that people set up next to fast current with a rope... I know you can't hold on to the rope if someone catches it, and you are probably going to put a rope in the river.

Next time you go to gore, look at the rapid and you will see what I mean. If you see people setting ropes up high, tell them that the best safety spot is at the bottom. I've roped many swimmers out at the bottom, and was able to grab a lone raft with my hands as it floated by. Bottom set up is absolutely the best place to catch swimmers before they go into scissors and to get gear out. Swimmers have to get out of the gradient and fast water of gore proper before you have a decent chance of getting them out.


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## goldcamp (Aug 9, 2006)

I don't remember alot of things from my swift water rescue class a few years ago, but one thing that really stuck with me is never fight the current. Like Ian is saying, the best place to throw a rope is from downstream of where you think that person might have trouble. You should always be pulling them with the current towards you. I have see someone pulled off their feet and dragged downstream simply trying to swing a paddle attached to a rope across the river to the other side. Imagine how much more force a person will exert on the line. Pull with current- follow this simple rule and you'll have a much easier time recovering lost gear and swimmers.


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## Neptune (Jul 12, 2011)

I'm not the one that lost the rope I didn't even see it get lost. While running gore rapid the rope was thrown by safety crew on river right to a swimmer. I was running the rapid at the time so I don't know the details. I just know that the rope was lost and I thought I would let my fellow paddlers know... The person that threw the rope is and has been a guide for a long time. If I had to guess I would assume that the thrower let go of the rope because the rope would have pendulumed the swimmer into a rock or a hole that should have been avoided. Once again I didn't throw the rope, I'm just trying to caution my river family


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