# Tethered swimmer in the Gnarrows? details please!



## Marty (Oct 14, 2003)

Dave, thought you might have had it better that 3rd hand, since most of us were with you Saturday! Anyway...

A local posse of 10 or so were doing middle laps at about 3.9ft on the Pine View gauge on Frideay evening when we had a swimmer in the Green Bridge drop. Gnarly enough that he got beat up and went under the tree on the RHS of the rapid below before he self rescued. He MAY NOT have gone under the tree (and been able to self rescue faster) if his paddle had not come back to him and he did not try to swim with it. The desire to rescue his gear probably exposed to a greater hazard (lesson #1 - gear is cheap). I wouldn't consider this a near drowning, but it could have been a lot worse had he got hooked up in the tree.

The swimmer's boat stayed in or near the hole for 30 or so more seconds, where one of our party started to connect his lifevest rescue tether to the boat. This was above a the pretty juicy class 4 section below the Green Bridge drop. Fortunatley we manage to wave off this action and the boat was allow to wash downstream (lesson #2 part a - gear is cheap).

The swimmer's boat proceeded towards lowers. Another of our group attempted to haul the boat to the side with is lifevest rescue tether, starting about 2 rapids above lowers (lesson #2 part b - gear is cheap). Even though these are relatively easy rapids, he could not get the boat to the side, even with some help pushing. At a point about 100 yards above the road bridge above lowers, he started trying to disconnect his tether. I'm not sure if he tried unclipping from the boat, but he certainly tried to release the tether from his life vest. Regardless, he could not disconnect before being washed into the lead in to lowers (under the bridge) where he swam.

At this point one of the crew chased him into lowers, which is a burly class 5+ as this level. His run through the rapid featured a number of rolls, and by about 1/2 way down (or less) he could be of no assistance to the swimmer, and was paddling for his own survival. Although he did well to run the rapid, he was pretty much as the river's mercy from the 1/2 way point, with some tired looking rolls at the bottom (lesson #3 - don't make yourself a victim, even for a person).

We believe our second swimmer was disconnected from the boat before entering the large entrance hole at the top of lowers, where he recirculated several times. The recirculations allowed two of our team to get into a good throw bagging position at the 1/2 way point. They landed a bag across the swimmer as he passed, but the swimmer did not respond to it. By the time the swimmer flushed through to the bottom of the rapid he was close to done, but realized that he was at the bottom and found the will to self rescue (although other rescues were close to him by that time). This was as near to a drowning at I have witnessed on a river. Although he did not ingest water into his lungs, he was on the verge of blacking out.

This series of events unfolded extremely quickly, and there were a lot of good reactions by many. However, we managed to repeat the same mistake three times... we put ourselves at MORE risk, creating MORE potential victims for the sake of gear in two cases and a person in the third case. Although there are more lessons to learn, this is by far the biggie. We are all very thankful that we can learn/reaffirm these lessons with only a few bruises.

Marty


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## RiverWrangler (Oct 14, 2003)

This was one of, if not, THE most scary river situation I have experienced. 

Friday after work crew plus Leif in town for his birthday were lapping Middle Narrows at approximately 4 ft. On the third lap shit hit the fan. One member of the party swam at the right boof in Green Bridge rapid, swam under the big log on river right and got out with a banged up knee. Numerous members of the group pursued his gear downstream towards Lowers.

One member during the pursuit clipped in to the unmanned kayak with his tow line two drops above the road bridge. He was unable to tow the boat to shore before the Middles take-out eddy. He attempted to release his rescue harness but the boat did not free in time and in his attempt to release the boat he capsized. 

At this point he had passed the take-out and was headed for Lower Narrows. In a moment of panic he chose to swim, however he was still attached to the boat. The boat ended up releasing before Lower Narrows proper but he ended up swimming the ENTIRE rapid and was lucky to be alive at the bottom.

I was also chasing the boat and was downstream of the paddler who clipped into the boat. As he passed the take-out, myself and another paddler who was already on shore began sprinting downstream in an attempt to get downstream of the swimmer and bag him. Leif chose to paddle into Lowers after the swimmer. Another member of the party began to run his boat around Lowers and yet still another member of the party jumped in our shuttle vehicle and drove downstream. 

While the swimmer did a lap in the big hole above the main rapid, we passed him by foot. My partner in the sprint was in front of me and dropped down to river level below the airplane move at the top. He threw his bag a little too early and the swimmer was unable to grab the rope, although it was still in the water when he passed it. I watched the first toss as I continued to sprint downstream and dropped to river level below the middle hole. I hit the swimmer in the head with the bag (literally) with an overhand short toss however the swimmer was so winded at this point that he was unable to get his hands up to grab the rope.

This was by far the most dispiriting thing I have ever seen. As the swimmer floated towards the bottom two ledge holes on the right I continued to sprint downstream however in my mind I was having bad visions of the possibilities and I began to go over unconscious swimmer rescue scenarios and CPR in my head. 

It was like a miracle to see him still moving and making strokes at the bottom of the rapid and a few hundred yards below the rapid he was able to get to shore and cling to some rocks until the two runners could get down to him.

HOLY SHIT. I hugged him and was grateful that he was still alive. I am taking the time to write this because I believe there are many lessons to be learned here.

1. Gear is just gear. Fuck it. 
2. Never clip into a boat in serious whitewater. I don't clip into a boat in anything above class 3. Not even in class 3+. Especially at high water. Especially with rapids downstream that you are not planning on running. Especially when you are tired. And especially if you don't know how to use your rescue harness. Your rescue harness will not release unless there is tension on the other end, i.e. you are hooked and dangling downstream on it. A boat floating next to you will not release very easily because it is moving along with you. 

The victim was a very experienced paddler and also an instructor, however he made the wrong decision to clip into the boat. Fatigue likely played a role in his decision and also in the swim which set this situation in motion.

3. Stay sharp even on the backyard run for the 5,000th time. 

Our party reacted well to the second rescue situation but not the first. The swimmer at Green Bridge took a nasty swim and was eventually left alone, although he was out of the water and determined to be OK, this was still not the best decision IMO. Obviously clippinh into the boat was a bad reaction to the first situation as well. Another paddler almost clipped into the boat in the pool below the boof and the chase for his gear was scattered, unorganized and had little communication. These things are tough with a large group, however we definitely could have done them better. 

My plan was to head downstream, have one or two members of our group get out on shore and for the other paddlers to attempt to push the boat close enough for the members on shore to wade out and grab it. Unfortunately I only communicated the plan to one other paddler and while we were heading downstream the boat was clipped into above us. This plan may not have worked, but we would have much less chance for someone to go into Lowers and we would have still had a chance to recover the boat downstream of the Lowers if we didn;t get it above.

If you read this whole sotry hopefully there is something you can take away. So, so thankful that both victims are safe with minor injuries cause I love them and I wish that bad situations always turned out this good.

ES


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

Holy shit. Glad to hear that everything turned out ok. Thanks for posting this.. I know I've clipped onto boats in rapids that I should not have, and this serves as a great example of why we all should be more careful when we're in a situation like this.

Thanks


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## funkins (Jun 24, 2005)

Damn, glad you fellas are all ok. 

Thanks for telling the tale so we can all learn from it.


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Brutal. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully many will learn and avoid this by reading, which was my main goal above and beyond morbid curiosity.

I have been removing my tether if I am paddling class 5, and I would probably want 3 minus to warrant clipping in. I usually just float along side the boat and wait for it to pin, unless it is super mellow, or I REALLY like you.

Don't forget to tie your float bags in either.

Anyone else thing these things might need to be redesigned for these bigger creek boats? 2 5 gallon floats don't do much for an 80 gallon boat.


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## SummitAP (Jun 23, 2007)

WOAH! Thank you for writing that up! Glad everyone is OK!


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## UserName (Sep 7, 2007)

*Rescue PFD ~ Know your equipment*

Interesting incident, with LOTS of things to consider... First off glad to hear no more than bumps and bruises. Second, Sounds like a few ppl learned a number of lessons, good experience to take into the next 'situation', builds better judgment for next time. 

I am curious about how the rescue harness was worn. A friend of mine with little experience came to me a few weeks ago with his Stolquist rescue harness and wanted to know how to work it. It had the plastic toggle release buckle AND a metal clasp similar to a climbing harness. His intuition was to thread it through the metal piece, then back again through the metal piece, Then through the plastic release topple. I saw that and thought 'Oh my god, that thing will never release!" Looked it up on Stolquist web site and this full fold 'option' releases at over 1000lbs. So full on Chest harness. I told him to just use the plastic toggle. Point here is he had an idea what this thing was for, but no idea how to use it. 

It seems to me that when I pull my harness it release with very little load, and that I could also assist a release with a flick of my thumb on the webbing as well. 

So not to second guess any decision here, point fingers or blame at all, just curious if there is more to the story around the release mechanism.

Also to reiterate the 'Know your Equipment' component. In adventure sports we must know and trust our equipment. But do we trust it just because the advertising and sales pitches tell us to, or because we have actually gone out and had experience useing the equipment and training ourselves to use it in various scenarios. A parallel pet peeve of mine: how many ppl buy avalance beacons and go ski the backcountry without having practiced using them. 

Alot of good discussion points here, thanks for bringing this incident to the forum. To all you guys with various rescue equipment that haven't used it yet or maybe not in a while, take 10 minutes or an hour before your next trip to try it out with your friends, find strengths and limitations (of the equipment and yourself!), think of different scenarios you can use this stuff in. You'll be more confident when you need it ( and sooner or later you will need it).

Cheers


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## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

Good lessons and super glad everyone turned out ok. Even though there were mistakes, I'm also hearing that 2 people got their shit together fast enough to sprint downstream and each hit the swimmer with a rope and multiple people, at least one with a boat was at the bottom of the rapid before the swimmer flushed through ready to assist. That sounds like a damn good crew to me.


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## rideon (May 2, 2005)

*A few good calls...*

Another thing to keep in mind is that when the shit hits the fan it is HARD to think straight. There is no substitute for clear thinking and good decision making in a situation like this. All the training and experience in the world doesn't do a bit of good if bad decisions are being made. Since the story is out, accurate and complete I think it is also worth mentioning a few good decisions that were made in hopes that they will be repeated in similar situations. 

-The call to paddle/sprint downstream and get as far ahead of the situation as possible was a very good one. We were in position for what I thought was a good boat rescue set up. Once we saw that there was a second swimmer in the water it was easier to react to the new situation and start running. The point is that we were (slightly) mobilized and ready to react to the unfolding situation. When you have a crew that big, it is totally worth sending a few people to get ahead of the situation. 

-Getting a boat to the bottom of Lowers was also very helpful. In the event of a longer swim (as if it wasn't long enough already) it would have been very useful in attempting to get the swimmer to shore, plus it added to our numbers for a rescue attempt below Lowers. In our case we ultimately ended up with two boaters below, thankfully by that point the only thing left to rescue was two boats. 

-I can only speak for the second swimmer but I saw him drag himself out of the river in a solid last ditch self rescue attempt and he basically saved himself. This says a lot for being able to keep it together and get to shore on your own if all else fails. He barely looked concious when he went past me at the top of Lowers so I am extremely impressed with his effort at the bottom. This is a testament to keep on fighting and get yourself to shore.

-Since I have scrutinized my own throw bag attempt all weekend I saw Evan pull off a great attempt after the swimmer went by me. He had told me earlier in the season about his new technique and I should have heeded his words. From an elevated position he tomahawked his bag directly at the swimmer's chest and hit him squarely. In a situation where you have a semi-concious swimmer, this to me seems like your best bet. Mine was out in front and didn't give the swimmer good enough odds to get at it.

-A considerable amount of care and attention went into both swimmers medical needs after they were out. I overlooked this since everyone was on dry land again but several of the crew took good diagnostic steps to ensure that the swimmers were stabilized fully knowing that the consequences of the situation don't end once the swimmers are out.

Anyways, just my own thoughts after some time to process. Pretty scary, and a very good reminder of the power of the river. Be safe. 

Scott


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## MikeG (Mar 6, 2004)

UserName said:


> I told him to just use the plastic toggle. Point here is he had an idea what this thing was for, but no idea how to use it.
> 
> 
> > The better advice would be to not use it until he has trained to do so. Like ropes, these tethers can be more a liability than a help if you are not dialed in on how to use them. I'm not in a position to make a blanket statement about how to use the toggle (refer to manufacturer specs) but they can definitely jam up under tension if the plastic buckle is used exclusively. might want to revisit that.


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## Marty (Oct 14, 2003)

*A few more lessons*

I thought it would be good to elaborate on a few more lessons...

Despite the fact that we paddle together a bunch (or maybe because of it), there is a lot of familiarity, which leads to little communication... everybody does their thing. When the shit hit the fan, we stll went about doing our thing, rescue wise, without really communicating our intentions. Now clearly there's no time for a pow-wow, but at the very least we could have been better at telling the person right next to us what we are about to do next. This would have saved some confusion, and perhaps the first swimmer might not have been left on the bank for 20min before someone got back to him. Coordination became rapidly difficult as very quickly we were spear over several miles of river.

In a river that is flowing high, should you be boat based or shore based with your rescue. For our first swimmer, there were three of us (me included) that could have exited and maybe prevented the swimmer from going under the long as he was grappling rocks on the bank 40 yards above the log, but couldn't quite get a grip.

I might be wrong on this, but I don't think a whistle was used to get the second swimmers attention as he floated by ( never heard a whistle during the entire incident). The opportunity to grab a bag in swift water is fleeting, far better if the person is ready for it. Even if he had grabbed it, could have he held on? When was the last time we all grabbed a throw bag in order to pendulum to the side in fast current? There's also the issue that failing to get him all the way to the side might have exposed the swimmer to the greater hazards near the right hand bank as opposed to the center of the rapid.

On tethers:



Dave Frank said:


> I have been removing my tether if I am paddling class 5, and I would probably want 3 minus to warrant clipping in. I usually just float along side the boat and wait for it to pin, unless it is super mellow, or I REALLY like you.


I do think they are useful for unconscious swimmer rescues and backup lines, even on class 5 runs (but in manageable water/situations).



UserName said:


> I am curious about how the rescue harness was worn. A friend of mine with little experience came to me a few weeks ago with his Stolquist rescue harness and wanted to know how to work it. It had the plastic toggle release buckle AND a metal clasp similar to a climbing harness. His intuition was to thread it through the metal piece, then back again through the metal piece, Then through the plastic release topple. I saw that and thought 'Oh my god, that thing will never release!" Looked it up on Stolquist web site and this full fold 'option' releases at over 1000lbs. So full on Chest harness. I told him to just use the plastic toggle. Point here is he had an idea what this thing was for, but no idea how to use it.


From training with tethers, during their design evolution in the 90's, it was found that the plastic buckle was not strong enough, or popped open, under the kinds of pressure experienced in normal rescue use. The metal buckle was introduced to add friction to the system and reduce pressure on the buckle. This system should release under pressure, but is more difficult to undo otherwise. Feeding the webbing back through the buckle would lock it off making it unreleasable. Of course practice with your gear in contrived situations is imperative.

Marty


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## Cheyenne (Oct 14, 2003)

Very interesting read.

A couple of comments (hopefully I'm being obvious and redundant)



 I would strongly urge everyone to take at least a basic swift water rescue class especially if you are putting on a rescue vest.
Your rescue gear is useless if you do not know how to properly use it. (see #1) The gear will not rescue someone, the person who is using it does (gear don't rescue people, people rescue people).
A rescue vest is designed to be used not only for tethering to a boat, but also for tethering for a strong swimmer situation (see #1). While just using the plastic buckle is fine if you are just going to tether to a boat, the plastic buckle alone is not sufficient for a tethered swimmer (see #2).
Practice Practice Practice
How many times this season have you tossed your throw bag for practice? -or- Has the rope inside your throw bag ever seen the light of day?
Have you practiced using the safety release buckle on your tether belt? With tension on the tether? With no tension on the tether? At different angles of tension? The first time that you try to release the buckle should not be when things are heading downstream fast and you are connected to it.
Can you set up a z-drag system?
A tag line?

Know beforehand how your group communicates (hand signals, whistle blows, etc.)
As stated repeatedly above, screw the gear, get the person, but don't compound the situation by turning one rescue into two (or more). Know your limitations and the limitations of your group.

Glad everyone was okay... sounded like an epic adventure.


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## latenightjoneser (Feb 6, 2004)

When do you throw your throwbag?


I feel that the thrower should use wise judgment and only throw when safe and practical. 

Another school of thought is to only throw when you have eye contact and the swimmer requests it.

Problem: swimmer doesn't know, isn't oriented in his panic, as to where the thrower is. 

If I am swimming by you, and don't see you, please hit me in the head with your rope. If I am swimming, it's probably at least class IV and I probably want your rope. 

I could only imagine waving off a rope in flat water, when a wise thrower probably wouldn't throw anyway.


throw or wait?


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

Well what if you throw it cause you deem the swimmer needs immediate rescue. he can't get to shore grabs the bag and gets tangled? would the swimmer have energy to grab his knife hold his knife and cut the rope saving his life possibly? what to do? ive always practiced if they don't know its coming don't throw cause it takes two people to play catch. im not just trying to snag the swimmer. eye contact is key. if they don't know of it they can't grab it.


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## Ture (Apr 12, 2004)

Maybe one thing to think about beyond the obvious issue of the use of a tether in whitewater is being careful to keep some extra energy in the bank when lapping rapids. 

My odds of swimming increase exponentially when I am tired and I get really paranoid about that when I am lapping stuff. I usually call it quits when I feel like I have about 1 more full lap left in me.


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## RiverWrangler (Oct 14, 2003)

re: when to throw your bag and how/

Yell the swimmers name or swimmer! before making the throw. Make eye contact and then make the toss directly at them. Over them is better than throwing it too short. 

In a best case scenario you should throw the bag when the swimmer is well upstream of you, but still at the swimmer and pull them in downstream towards you. Wherever you get them on the line brace yourself and get strong. The pendulum put's a ton of pressure on both the swimmer and the bagger, especially when crossing the eddy line so be ready for it. 

Where to position yourself is a much more in depth topic and is very situation dependent. In general you should be further downstream of the swimmer or hazard than you think. 

If you want to get this rescue stuff dialed take one of our Downstream Edge 2 day kayak rescue courses with Wigston, Hilleke, myself and host of other great instructors. They are cheap and you will get to practice all of the things mentioned in this post including using your rescue vest, throwing your bag, how to deal with a rescue situation and much more. We do entirely scenario and on river based classes where you will get comfortable doing these things.

Sorry to turn this into a promotional for our course but I truly feel that if more of the members in our group had taken this course recently this situation would have turned out much differently.


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## blutzski (Mar 31, 2004)

Wow. Really glad everyone's ok. Thanks for sharing so we can all learn.


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## possumturd (Jul 13, 2006)

*Plan*

Mike Tyson said it best:

Evabody gotta plan...till they get hit.


Glad everyone is ok....whew.


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

Pretty wild. I have to remind myself in my little mental checklist before I push off that I have a knife on my chest and what it's there for.

Thanks for sharing this.


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

possumturd said:


> Mike Tyson said it best:
> 
> Evabody gotta plan...till they get hit.


Quoted for truth


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## bluesky (Sep 11, 2005)

Thanks for reminding us how quickly things can go south. Just this weekend I was messing around on a mad spin machine hole on the Ledges section of the San Miguel (class II+)). I flipped, got a little sloppy with my paddle position, and then basically fell out of my boat. Luckily it's an easy swim below that, and the other paddlers grabbed the gear that I managed to toss all over the place, so the only thing I lost was a flip-flop and some pride. If I had swum doing something equally idiotic above a gnar-fest, however, my little class II splashytime could have turned into what you described here.

Lesson to me: respect the river and always have some extra breath left!


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

*frist swimmer*

Hey all, Green Bridge swimmer here a.k.a. Adrian. Just to clear up a few things I was not left alone on shore after my swim. Dano got to shore and hiked up with one of my shoes to make sure I was okay. I believe JJ stayed on shore as well down at the end of the drop to make sure I was okay. I was left alone on the bridge but that was my own call which I explain below, I didn't know the bridge got a new death gate from hell.

Second, while Marty is right that I should not have attempted to rescue my paddle during my swim, the damn thing sort of ended up in my hand while I was swimming. I tried to swim with it for a few seconds (still DUMB, but my point is that I didn't go out of my way to get to my paddle). Also, huge thanks to Marty for rescuing my boat below Lower narrows.

Lots of take aways here but a few for me were:
1. This was our third narrows lap and I had guided a private raft trip earlier that day. I was tired and thought about skipping the third round. "Ah fuck it" I said to myself, one more lap will be fun. I should have listened to my intuition and started drinking beers and taking pictures. SO, LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION was the lesson here for me, no matter what the sich and how comfortable you are with the whitewater ahead...

2. Even if you know there is a large ominous log coming up in your swim, don't try to stand up to get to shore. More scary than swiming under that log was the near foot entrapment I had trying frantically to get to shore.
It was a desparate situation calling for the absolute need to swim right and better yet get to the right shore therefore I tried to stand earlier than I would normally, but, if my foot had entraped which it nearly did (I felt my foot lock in and my body kept moving forward and for a minute I thought my leg or foot might break if it stuck) the log would not have been an issue at all as I may have drown above it. 

I knew there was a gap under the log near shore so I shot for that gap with everything I had, head first so I could use my arms to grab the log(tree) or if I needed to rip branches away.

3. The Green Bridge has a gnarly barb wired spiked death gate on it now with two burly locks (which is understandable for liability I spose). Its really hard to get around it and I had to wait for assistance. Even then it risky and dangerous as I had to hang off the bridge and slip through spiked welds. While I was alone on the bridge for a good 20-30 minutes (wondering where the hell everyone was) and the other paddlers that had waited boated across the river downstream, I knew eventually people would make it back up to me. Lesson and thankfully action here was, WAIT for assistance as I thought about trying to climb around the gate alone and may have made the situation worse yet. There may be a more dire situation below you, as there was here, and patience is key as you are not generally thinking well after a big swim, I'm thankful that I slowed things down and chilled.

Great attempts by all of you to rescue the second swimmer, thank you thank you thank you second swimmer for not giving up. You are strong my friend and I look forward to many more days on the river with you. 

Please be careful out there, at high water especially, and trust your intuition if it feels like the voice of reason, and not just the sound of fear.

Best, Adrian


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

Holy mega beatdown. Drove by lower narrows on the way up the canyon this weekend. Its huge, and the thought of swimming that is terrifying. The though of running lower narrows chasing a swimmer is equally terrifying. Damn! Another vote of confidence for the jackson super hero!

Some good lessons learned... Thanks for sharing. This had inspired me to do a little more detailed practice with my rescue vest.


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## Rhynocerous (May 19, 2009)

Definitely glad everyone is okay. Thanks Marty for writing the event up. It's hard for me to remember that I always have to have my game face on regardless of the difficulty of the run.


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

*waiting on green bridge*

Stay out of the hole next to the rock on the right or your hand might end up looking like this...


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

Not a cool gate...


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## Marty (Oct 14, 2003)

adrock said:


> Hey all, Green Bridge swimmer here a.k.a. Adrian. Just to clear up a few things I was not left alone on shore after my swim. Dano got to shore and hiked up with one of my shoes to make sure I was okay. I believe JJ stayed on shore as well down at the end of the drop to make sure I was okay. I was left alone on the bridge but that was my own call which I explain below, I didn't know the bridge got a new death gate from hell.


I only meant you were left alone once I thought you were secure and OK. I "accompanied" you on your swim, deciding to stay in my boat to protect you against a longer swim towards lowers rather than jump ashore for the fleeting opportunity to grab you (there would have been no time for a throw bag). Once you were ashore and I came close to you, we had eye contact and you gave sensible answers to questions (apart from the usual "are you OK"). I figured that you knew that bank pretty well after Ryan's accident and you'd get yourself out of there, no problem. As we went through this process I watched the beginnings of the next series of events unfolding below... can you say triage? It was time to go...

Marty


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## rg5hole (May 24, 2007)

lesson #1, 2a, 2b-gear is cheap

Had I not had insurance my thumb injury this season would have cost damn near $1000
Jury is still out on my rotator cuff and I'll be damned if I didn't miss the kayaking runoff in its entirety.

I did get the $30 raft paddle out of that tumultuous class III though! whew.

-rg


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

Hey Marty, 10-4, I just wasn't sure that everyone knew that Dan had walked up the shore and made sure I was okay with more depth, a bit after my swim. He also offered to let me paddle his boat across at the bottom of the drop and he would hike out. So, I think our crew handled that part well, just didn't want anyone to feel bad about that aspect is all. Cheers, and thanks again.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

Gear is not cheap. don't swim. just figureed i would add that in there.


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## Marty (Oct 14, 2003)

caspermike said:


> Gear is not cheap. don't swim. just figureed i would add that in their.


Despite what you say, I'm sure you do get it... but this post is counter to all that happened - gear is cheap compared to lives, folks swim, and no one is immune...

Marty


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

take it with some salt, no pepper. don't swim. 

garanteed, the shit hit the fans sometimes but the second swim was just silly....

gear is not as important as a life! but, i still don't think gear is cheap by any means.... is car a cheap? same burrito different flav. unless you drive beamers and boat with new boats and paddles everyyear? or are able to get pro deal on all your gear?


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## Force (Apr 27, 2004)

So here's my observations,

1. When run's are high things can happen very quick. It's amazing to me how a big group of experienced paddlers can implode so quickly. In a matter of minutes there was a few miles between the furthest downstream paddler and the furtherest upstream paddler and no one in the group had a complete handle on what was going on.

2. Chasing a swimmer through a long 5+ rapid probably wasn't the best decision. Even though I've paddled lowers at that level, was planning to run on that lap, and know about every rock, wave, and hole in their the added pressure of a good friend swimming was over the top. When I made the decision to run it my thought was it was, someone should be in the water to possibly get to the other side of the river or place inaccessible from the right bank or worst case pull and unconscious swimmer from the water but I came close to being another victim. I don't remember much from that run other than rolling a couple times and being offline at the bottom. A better option would be to have run with my boat down the right bank and get back in at the bottom of the rapid to help as needed. 

3. The most serious shit usually happens on runs people know really well mostly because they get complacent and somewhat arrogant (not the best word). Paddlers in the group that day had collectively hundreds/maybe a few thousand runs down the gnarrows. When you live in FoCO its your backyard training run and because we paddle it a LOT I think we(I) don't always give it the respect it deserves. Rivers, especially at high flows, deserve respect, period. 

4. Never, never, give up.


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

Casper, your posts are making you look bad man. 
I would just bow out of this one amigo. 
I would go ahead and delete that last comment too if its not too late.
Cheers, Adrian


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

okey my bad.... im glad no bodies hurt. 

its crazy 2 weeks ago there was a topic in the forum about what everybody thinks of teathering.

probably be good idea to get a safety forum going on this site so we can all look back on the shit others have learned the hard way. so we can try to minimalize the carnage and help get some of the people who haven't taken some rescue classes some kind of general knowledge like don't teather and other info for the basic rescue situations. here's the link if anybody remembers what im talking about. http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/good-paddlers-ought-to-know-this-but-25396.html 

to clear it up gear is cheaper than life.


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## milo (Apr 21, 2004)

*...caspermike...*

....looks as thou you've got it all figured out with that solid 5 years under your belt(oh yea, you're twenty something)....you will learn that sometimes it is better to swim earlier than you want.....you'd better save some juice for the swim...sure we all say "stay in your boat"....and we try hard to do that....sometimes taking a longer beating than need be....(relentless hole rides, ever have one of those?)...i am sure a man of your caliber has....point being....don't let your boredom at work make you sound like a corn-hole....gear is replaceable, not cheap....heart beats are rarely replaceable...you couldn't figure that one out?....you should wash your mouth out with soap young man....these boys that you are fukin with are heavies....everybody is glad the epic didn't go to a full blown tragedy...thanks for sharin' insight into your actions....most of us appreciate it....milo wynne


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## Cutch (Nov 4, 2003)

Force said:


> 2. Chasing a swimmer through a long 5+ rapid probably wasn't the best decision. Even though I've paddled lowers at that level, was planning to run on that lap, and know about every rock, wave, and hole in their the added pressure of a good friend swimming was over the top. When I made the decision to run it my thought was it was, someone should be in the water to possibly get to the other side of the river or place inaccessible from the right bank or worst case pull and unconscious swimmer from the water but I came close to being another victim. I don't remember much from that run other than rolling a couple times and being offline at the bottom. A better option would be to have run with my boat down the right bank and get back in at the bottom of the rapid to help as needed.


Don't second guess yourself Leif. If I'm swimming in high water shit like the lower Narrows, then my only hope (other than self-rescue, which I will already working on) is that there is another boater in the water. Ropes are great when you are already set up with one, but they are hugely limited by where they are set up, and there's one shot before you usually have to reset, recoil, and try again. 

I generally believe the best safety in class V+ IS a class V+ boater in there kayak willing to make the move. This is why when Gore Rapid is 3k you always line up and drop with a minimum of two people at a time in the rapid. Odds are neither will swim, and even more unlikely is that both will swim. If a swim does happen, you have one person that is as mobile as the flush-drowning swimmer. The fact that you did drop in to Lower Narrows is why I paddle with guys like you. If you're going to second guess, then second guess Dillworth instead. 

I use a Stohlquist rescue vest, and have used it a lot. I use the metal clip and it releases just fine while doing any sort of live bait, or any other sort of deal where I am in the water, which is the main purpose of having a safety rescue vest. I only clip into a boat to tow it if it is easier than class III+, I know what is downstream, and I've confirmed that the boat has float bags. Even then I usually don't clip in. They talk about this in those Downstream Edge SWR courses.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience, especially being willing to put yourself out here on the Buzz and say what you did "not so smart". It's been since the start of boating season since I've thrown a bag, set up a zdrag, or practiced releasing from my vest. That's on my list for this week, and will have group practice before my next multi-day trip.

Gear is disposable, people are not. It is cheap when compared to hospital time for varying levels of injury. Especially if you don't have insurance, or even a job. 

I'm glad everyone came out OK, it's been a pretty tough year all around.


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

Force said:


> So here's my observations,
> 
> 1. When run's are high things can happen very quick. It's amazing to me how a big group of experienced paddlers can implode so quickly. In a matter of minutes there was a few miles between the furthest downstream paddler and the furtherest upstream paddler and no one in the group had a complete handle on what was going on.
> 
> ...


 Your dedication is inspiring. I always felt safe with you on the river and this just shows how good of a boating friend that you are. As Kyle alluded to, some of us would have done the same thing that you did (me included)...chase a friend through that section of rapids.

I had a near drowning once, on a class 5 river well above flood stage. I'll never forget that feeling. It's something that stays with you as a person. 

The only thing that one can do, besides self-rescue, is to hope that one of his buddies is keeping a watchful eye on where he goes. There's no telling where someone might get stuck, lodged, entangled, etc... Or, if the swimmer gets injured/knocked unconscious, his only chance might be the guy still in chase.

Mad props man. You did a great job. Thanks for the story.


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

adrock said:


> Casper, your posts are making you look bad man.
> I would just bow out of this one amigo.
> I would go ahead and delete that last comment too if its not too late.
> Cheers, Adrian


Ditto. There's no place for that size ego in this thread.

BTW, We now have 1554 and Fat Tire in Georgia!


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

come on, i admitted gear is "cheaper than life.", didn't agree to previous wording that "gear is cheap." tongue in cheek.
grain of salt.

like i said glad everybody is okey.


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## Marty (Oct 14, 2003)

Force said:


> Chasing a swimmer through a long 5+ rapid probably wasn't the best decision...


Leif,

I know we talked about it, and I respect your ability in a boat and the decisions you make for yourself, but for other's sake... we were side-by-side at the top of lowers... my reactions 10-20 years ago would have been the same as yours... but with 2 kids under my belt, my responsibilities go beyond what happens on the water... and so I elected to get out and run down the road with my boat (due to the 2 kids and life in my 40's I was probably about as knackered as you at the bottom). One unexpected benefit of being higher up on the road was to get an excellent appreciation of how things were unfolding and better manage the response.

Cheers, Marty


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

I had missed your concession of guilt ( ) and wanted to re-affirm the tone of the post: somber. Your approach is something that I can be guilty of as well. Over the years, I've defiantly slowed down, tried to think more, talk less, and be safer.

I have had two swims since learning how to kayak in 1993/4... The first was when I was learning to kayak.. The second one almost took my life in September, 2004.

The thought of swimming is something that forces me to take the high line at most "major" rapids these days. I might talk a bunch of shit, but inside I'm a conservative boater that respects life and tries to be as safe as I can be when I'm on the water.

This accident is nothing that could have been avoided. All of the rescuers and the swimmers should be proud of themselves for getting through it. A swim on that river, at that level, is nothing to laugh at.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

agree to the no laughing. we all need to get a safety forum started on this site. way to much bad shit happening this year, i personally have taken a couple different swiftwater resuce class, cpr and first aid class and think they should be mandatroy for all boaters. i would really like to see more of a standardized practice between all boaters. rebagging bags at the putin and the rest of safety talk. just to go over the simple stuff as well like whistle signals, possibly hand signals. gear reveiw. incase somebody in the group has a shannty throw bag so its known to be used last? obviously every situation is different but i think it could possible help prevent injuries and possibly death with the right action plan. it would take less than 5 minutes.

its scary hearing shit happenin to this group in general, i know they are all bad ass's. but shit goes down to fast. being preparred is the best thing we can all do for eachother. there's no I in kayak


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

There's defiantly an "I" in kayaking. One thing that has irritated me throughout the years is the idea that boaters sometimes run drops based on their safety, and not on their skill set. I have never ran a rapid b/c I had a great "team" on the river that day for this reason...

The only thing worse than me getting killed on a river, for me, would be someone else dying after trying to save me, from my mistake. I know a lot of boaters, especially in the SE, that do just this.. They run rivers and rapids that are well above their skill level, only to put the entire group in danger with their careless actions.

When I'm on the river, I run rapids based on my own opinions, beliefs, and I do so as if I was alone on the river. It's my belief that this is the most "conservative" way to boat.. and hopefully the one that will keep me safe for many years to come.

Marty, JJ, Evan, Lief, Frenchy, Adrian, etc.. I hope to see you guys on the water in a few weeks. Keep it safe and have fun. Again, thanks for posting this thread.


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## yourrealdad (May 25, 2004)

Adrian, glad you are okay besides a little hand wound that won't heal at all until the season is over. It is nice to be paddling with the best crew you could get in the Fort.

I have to agree with you trusting your intuition. Many of the times that you have an ugly run is because you are tired or head gamed yourself right out of the rapid. It is guaranteed that you will live to kayak another day if you opt out or walk. If you run the run then you waive that guarantee. I have told myself that I would never pull my skirt on Lowers because to just walk away from that rapid after a swim is pretty lucky. Leif glad you can do that and I consider you very lucky. Happy B day.

If I may, this same situation happened to me and while everything turned out all right, I spent about 30hrs wondering if my friend was alive. I have learned the hard way that gear is cheap and not to tether into a boat unless it is class III. I also echo the float bags in the boat. Since gear really isn't cheap, if nothing else it will lessen the chances of a broken boat.

When shit hits the fan it is going to spray everywhere, the good boaters are the ones that can clean up and come away with none on their gear. That is pretty hard to do and requires practice.

Glad everyone is ok, and I plan to see you all out there.


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## Meng (Oct 25, 2003)

Marty said:


> Leif,
> 
> I know we talked about it, and I respect your ability in a boat and the decisions you make for yourself, but for other's sake... we were side-by-side at the top of lowers... my reactions 10-20 years ago would have been the same as yours... but with 2 kids under my belt, my responsibilities go beyond what happens on the water... and so I elected to get out and run down the road with my boat (due to the 2 kids and life in my 40's I was probably about as knackered as you at the bottom). One unexpected benefit of being higher up on the road was to get an excellent appreciation of how things were unfolding and better manage the response.
> 
> Cheers, Marty


It sounds like both of you reacted well, like top notch boating partners and rescuers and within your comfort zones, striving like mad to make sure there was a non-tragic outcome. Well done, educational and inspirational. Seems like a case where having all bases covered - in the water and out was a good option - from an outsider/readers view, that's what I'm seeing.

So glad everyone came out ok. I like Adrian's "trust your intuition" reminder, probably one of the most important river running lessons I learn over and over again.

One question I have (which may have been covered) - was the tether catching and/or not releasing under pressure? Or was it just pilot error, which seems unlikely - if you are trying to drag a full boat to shore (and its downstream of you in current) with the tether released in solid current, it should go.


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

During my last real swim about the only thing the guys could do for me was continue boating right along side me. My friend just talked to me in a reassuring voice as I conserved my strength by ferrying river left and timing my breathing till I got to the bottom and my swimming could have a real affect. I think sometimes thats all you can do is be there for the other guy encouraging them as it all plays out. I prefer that to a guy jumping around like Daffy Duck trying to "save" me. I recognize that sometimes all my friends can do is "all they can do" and I don't want them to put themselves into potentially an already dangerous situation.

While I might not be able to immediately help my friend I try to be right there as I can. If chasing, I try to let them know that I'm right behind them and they know I will be there when they stop. I know it's comforting to me anyway to hear my friend near me.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

scott, "no i in kayak", as in team is the best way to be. there are heavy drops that i have wanted to run but decide not to based on, not sufficient safety and i will never run those drops with out a team, don't want good ol murphy to bite me in the ass.. im sure you have been in the same situation. just because theres safety ,deffenetely doesn't warrant running every drop like you said.

and i agree about being conservative. i personally don't want somebody to end up belly up because of my careless actions and i don't expect them to put them selves into a careless posituation. that has alot to do with the group safety and what everybody should expect. i personally am the type willing to jump in as leif did to help out. sometimes its just what we do regardless of the consequences. so many fine lines through out the sport.

wether you want your boating buddies risking their life for you or not more than likely they will try their hardest. 

unless you are yakgirl and grifs throwing turkey legs.


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## Ture (Apr 12, 2004)

Force said:


> So here's my observations,
> ...
> 2. Chasing a swimmer through a long 5+ rapid probably wasn't the best decision. Even though I've paddled lowers at that level, was planning to run on that lap, and know about every rock, wave, and hole in their the added pressure of a good friend swimming was over the top. When I made the decision to run it my thought was it was, someone should be in the water to possibly get to the other side of the river or place inaccessible from the right bank or worst case pull and unconscious swimmer from the water but I came close to being another victim. I don't remember much from that run other than rolling a couple times and being offline at the bottom. A better option would be to have run with my boat down the right bank and get back in at the bottom of the rapid to help as needed.
> ...


I think you made the right decision. If one of my team swam into a rapid that was within my skill level my instinct would be to follow them down in my boat, especially if someone else was already running down the bank.

I think the reasons you list for making the decision to paddle it are the same things I think about when I am chasing a swimmer. I would have been thinking he was going to be drowned by the time he reached the bottom and that someone needed to be in a boat so they could bail at the bottom and swim him in.

It is probably a tough call which way to go (paddle or get out and run) with a rapid that intense, but I really think you made the right one. If it were me I would have had to get out and run but that is only because V+ is way over my head. You made it down fine.


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## adrock (Apr 28, 2004)

Along those same lines Theophilus, I helped a swimmer through a very long CV- swim on the Clearwater in Idaho years ago (I was in a playboat and had never run this section but did roadside scout). She missed a bag and could have flush drown but I was coaching her through the rapid and staying as close as possible, and then I was able to help get her to shore when things calmed down about a 1/2 mile later. I think here again, an intuition call. You are taking a big risk but the risk is yours to take and great experience helps you manage big risk. She mentioned that what gave her hope in the water was having me in the water with her. Sometimes you just have to make that call on the fly...


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## JJH (Oct 14, 2003)

We were obvioulsy very lucky with the turn-out. 
I didn't read all of the above posts, but it looks like almost everything was covered. 
We were fortunate/unfortunate to be on our local run/with roadside. It allowed us to roll 9 deep, blue angel style. (which was so sweet for 2.9 laps). 9 deep can be a cluster when things go bad. It allowed for Swimmer 1 to know were to swim and what hazards were downstream in a class 4+ rapid, that would probably be read and run. Swimmer 2 was so comfortable in the class 2-3 runout, (entrance) he made a bad decision. It also allowed us to push our selves down three runs, which was fun but tiring. The road provided easy and fast availability for rescue attempts, by being able to sprint downstream even with boats. The road also provided a false sense of safety as our group seperated very quickly from each other, with very little communication. 

To me this exposes many things to consider as the Big South season comes into play soon. There are often large groups with lots of familiarty, high comfort levels, little communication and fatigue. Which means lots of fun but the need to be aware in there.

I do have to credit Marty, who made some of the best decisions of the day. One of which was staying in the middle of the green bridge rapid to communicate with both, the paddlers with the swimmer and the paddlers coming down into a rapid with a new hazard, a boat in the landing zone and giving extremely sound advice. Thanks for watching my back.

There were other great, sound, experienced, instant decisions made by the group, which is why it is so great to paddle with this crew.


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## Zorba the Geek (Jun 15, 2007)

Reading this, the last thing that comes to mind is that the group 'imploded'. It sounds to me like things went bad on a stout stretch of river at high water, and everyone came out OK. Had you guys not been as on the ball as you were, you easily could have lost at least one life. 

It's always a dynamic situation, and you made the best of it. There are always lessons to be learned, good decisions and bad decisions made, but the fact that you're all here to talk about it speaks volumes. 

Thanks for sharing the situation.


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## blutzski (Mar 31, 2004)

Force said:


> 2. Chasing a swimmer through a long 5+ rapid probably wasn't the best decision. Even though I've paddled lowers at that level, was planning to run on that lap, and know about every rock, wave, and hole in their the added pressure of a good friend swimming was over the top.


On the other hand that may have been what saved his life. As other people have stated here, just being there often gives the swimmer what he needs to not give up. I know one guy who pulled through on a near death swim only because he wasn't going to give up when he saw his paddling partner risking his life to stay near him. Not saying that anyone should risk their life to go after a swimmer, but your gut instinct may have been the right one.


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## bobbuilds (May 12, 2007)

Happy Birthday Leif, you guys are good boaters.


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

On tethers:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Frank 
I have been removing my tether if I am paddling class 5, and I would probably want 3 minus to warrant clipping in. I usually just float along side the boat and wait for it to pin, unless it is super mellow, or I REALLY like you.
I do think they are useful for unconscious swimmer rescues and backup lines, even on class 5 runs (but in manageable water/situations).

Just to be clear, I sometimes remove the tow system, for harder woodier runs, where i would not be likely to use it. 

Be safe out there.

I do NOT remove the chest harness.


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## AKATief (Mar 2, 2008)

"There is an inherent risk in living..." "I know what I am capable, others must choose for themselves" - Mark Twight. I would gladly risk everything rather than standby and watch a freind flounder on their own, much less drown. You guys are bad ass... nice work taking care of each other. At the Fire House we always say "Everyone Goes Home..." You made that happen.


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## Phillips (Feb 19, 2004)

Thanks for sharing guys. Big water swims are horrifying. Lower Narrows is very powerful at high water. I was stuck in the 2nd hole below airplane once at high water and it scared the hell out of me. Luckily I did not swim and managed to claw my way out. The river gods were on your side that day it sounds like. Sounds like we've all learned some important lessons.

Ketn


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## Schizzle (Mar 26, 2004)

Meng said:


> One question I have (which may have been covered) - was the tether catching and/or not releasing under pressure? Or was it just pilot error, which seems unlikely - if you are trying to drag a full boat to shore (and its downstream of you in current) with the tether released in solid current, it should go.


Good question. I've had a tether-caused swim before and I felt like a *real dipshit* for it because someone more experienced than me told me right before I did it that it was a bad idea. I think what happens to people is that the tether doesn't release as easy as you expect, you panic a little bit because you know you're being dragged towards something with teeth, then you flip or miss a stroke and lose momentum, then you and the towed object, your dangling tether, and the rest of your shitshow are all headed downstream at the same speed. If you flip, the tether cockblocks your roll, then you swim.

I'm with Dave on this one. My tether stays in my bag more often than not nowadays. The only time I drag it out is total beginner runs where you're just going to be picking up pieces all day long, or, and frankly maybe this is a bad idea, when it's continuous fast water and I can potentially foresee needed to pluck an unconscious swimmer from the water. Still, I almost think that laying an unconscious swimmer over your cockpit and paddling for it might be a better option than clipping into dead weight (no pun intended). Fortunately I have never had to do either though.

On another note, Casper mentions something (it hurts me to say this) that I have thought about before and I actually think it's a good idea. If one of the admins reads this, could we setup a safety forum? I have a bunch of experiences that I could post to it -- assuming I can setup an alias!


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## hullflyer (Aug 22, 2004)

Hey all, lots of discussion on this thread. I can't second guess what went down and there are some damn good boaters who were there so good on everyone cause no one got hurt.
I have my tether on all the time, except when I'm rafting. I almost never use it. I wrap it around the opposite way it was intended so it's super tight up against my PFD. I have come pretty close to clipping in to a boat on the Upper Animas at around 4.5 ft. and someone came behind me and said "I wouldn't do that" which was a good thing since we were still in Ten Mile and it was a ways to the runout. 
I still have it on every time I run Vallecito because there are some pools to catch the boats and have some time to regroup so I bring it, but have never used it there. I generally take it off on the Embudo because it's so continuous and little use in clipping because you would just release it around the next corner.

I have pulled a unconscious / non-breathing victim out of No-Name on the Upper A. He was a client and I was safety boating. The guy was probably 220-230 lbs. and no way could I have heaved that dude onto my deck. I did not have a tow line then. Really could have used one. I just grabbed the shoulder of his PFD and swung him from eddy to eddy one handed until I was close enough to shore to bail and drag him onto the rocks. Yeah, he lived. He woke up on the train ride down.

The tether tow systems work great and I used them often on the Futa in Chile. We even used them in tandem, one on the rescued boat and one on the rescuers bow to act as a tug boat. this was a coordinated team effort and only used when asked for and no one ever clipped to anything down there until it was perfectly clear to do so, with room to manuoever to shore. Big water has alot different rescue scenarios than steep fast colorado rivers. I would _never_ clip in Class V! That's setting everyone up for an epic. 
I saw a guy swim Entrance in Inferno Canyon and there was nothing to do but coach his swim as he surfaced every 10 meters. He swam 1/2 mile until we thought it safe to pull him in. Dude was super tired, rattled but fine. 

Scene safety and don't become a victim. 1st rules in SWR I. 

"Let's be careful out there" Sgt. Esterhaus (Hill Street Blues)


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## gh (Oct 13, 2003)

> If one of the admins reads this, could we setup a safety forum? I have a bunch of experiences that I could post to it -- assuming I can setup an alias!


We have an access and safety forum, if at some point it seems like the right time, we can move this to that forum for historical purposes. Well its safety alerts. Do we need more than that?

Happy to hear everyone is ok. I have seen an experienced boater attach to my boat and it pinned and he couldnt release. Eventually he got free. Made me feel very guilty that I swam. Test those tethers from time to time! I do it since that incident.


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## yak1 (Jan 28, 2006)

*Strong work*

To Marty and crew, first I'm delighted no one got dead. Strong work on the rescues. Second to steal a quote from an old friend "If you're still boat'n you're just between swims". Third equipment is cheap. Fourth, tethers do work.... in the right situations. Those situations are usually in relatively flat water. If you are trying to rescue a swimmer or a boat in the middle of a rapid in a boat chances of success are low and chances of something bad happening to the rescuer is high. When your swimming know when to swim and when to just go with the flow and take a lick'n.
Lastly Thanks for sharing the story it has generated some great discussions and at the very least may get folks to think beyond the next move or next drop.
moran


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

GH be sweet to change the safety alert to general safety. lots of good threads that could be placed in that forum. theathering. rope skills, zdrag set up. shit about not standing up in the river ever. and of coarse the gnar i've learn this story that everbody has. it would be good and a little easier to access the good knowledge without digging back through for 3 hours.


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## Cheyenne (Oct 14, 2003)

I would rather see the safety alerts forum/section "left alone" and create a new forum/section for "safety lessons learned".

My reasoning is that I view the safety alerts section as an immediate heads up notice that something is happening. A lost and deployed throw bag in a specific rapid, a new strainer, etc. Having a bunch of discussions out lessons learned will cause the real alerts to be lost in the noise.

I think having a "safety lessons learned" topic would be fine where discussions such as this one can be moved to


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## Tye (Feb 6, 2004)

*Thank you*

Now that I've had a few days to recoup and think about what happened, and believe me I still have flashes of my experience, which is pretty surreal. I really wanted to thank each of you for your efforts in helping Adrian and myself. Once I knew Adrian was safe and I'm even more thankful for this after hearing about his swim adventure, I remember seeing his boat and not Adrian. I asked my friend who was also in the Eddy where Adrian was and if he was alright, once this was known my mission was on the boat. Frenchy and I stayed on the boat for the rest of the run. we were getting close to end of Middle with some slack water in between the last rapid and the final eddy, and then I remember specifically making the decision in my head not to clip the boat at the time that I did. I know how to use my tether and I know how it works, although I do not thread it in the way the manufacture describes because I believe that creates too much friction. I'm glad I threaded it the way I always have and in the end that might have been one of my saving graces. That was probably the scariest part was swimming above narrows and being attached to a boat, knowing this was almost eminent death in my head. I work hard to get unthreaded, but by the time I looked up the boat was already drifting away, now my next mission was a self rescue....the whole damn way. I made a mistake that I've taught people not to do, I did this to myself and made this choice myself, and have now learned first hand from my own lesson and lessons shared by others. I made a choice and in the middle of it all I excepted that choice, it's a shame because the saddest part of all is that it was just for gear. I would never want anyone to put their life at risk on my behalf, especially for gear. I wish Leif hadn't chosen to go into Lower, I already knew in my head that there was nothing he could do for me. Evan and Scott for being there and being prepared as much as possible. Frenchy and Marty for your experience, chasing my boat, and helping me process afterward. I felt that damn throw rope that Evan hit me with and after reaching for it wildly, which it seems I wasn't, I missed it and then I felt the tension of the rope for a brief second as it passed by my neck. I was already exhausted at that point and rag doll the rest of the run. I knew that throw was my only chance for what I thought might be my survival, so after that doing the rest was going to be up to me. Knowing that you guys were there that fast already on the side with a throw bag is a true testament to your experience level and abilities to rescue. JJ, Adrian, and Dan, I know you missed a lot of what happened, but knowing that you were there was extremely helpful, knowing that some of my friends and regular paddle crew were there boosted my confidence level in my swim. Thanks everyone else for your support during, after, and helping me process what happened. 

None of us should put ourselves at risk for gear, and typically not for people, sometimes choices are made. 

Thanks for being the crew that you are and next time we'll all be a little better off in our choices for future adventures. I'm thankful that I'm here, and also thankful in a way that the experience was mine. Thanks to the river for teaching us these lessons, afterall the rivers are some of my closest friends.
Cheers my friends and thank you, 
Tye

Motto "Choices...only you can make them....only you can live with them"


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## Cheyenne (Oct 14, 2003)

From a little article I wrote years ago about kids learning how to take risks...


> Some of nature's more harsher tests are a pass/fail grade with no chance to take the test again, it's much better being able to take some of the smaller pop quizzes.


Sounds like your adventure was one of the more major tests... glad you passed


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## FLOWTORCH (Mar 5, 2004)

Wow, this thread has been some food for thought. I'm glad i'm not the only one who has swam there this year...kidding, I dont wish anyone a swim, 'cept maybe withdrawn1. Once was a pin in the early season, didn't swim but it could have evolved into a worse pin, but Scott was on it and got me a rope fast. The other time I swam, just below green bridge, Adrock and Scott grabbed my shit before going into narrows at about the same flows. Muchas Gracias for that again. The pitoned bow just popped out the other day.

Other times I've been the one pulling boats or boaters out of that spot just before lowers, by either bulldozin or tether. This post raises some good points which will surely factor into future decision making. Glad Adrock and tye and the rest of you guys are ok. Your all solid. I couldn't imagine swimming lowers at that level. The swim below GreenBridge kicked my ass as it was. Way to hang in there!


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## MikeG (Mar 6, 2004)

*To chase or not to chase*

This thread seems to be exhausted but since this might be archived for others to learn from, I thought I'd throw one more in. 
Chasing a boating partner down, particularly a close friend, is such a difficult choice in these situations, as so clearly shown by the various reactions in this situation. A number of years ago, a group of four was running the S. Fork of the Salmon at monstrous flows. Above the biggest class V drop (we didn't realize it at the time) we decided to punch through a breaking wave before eddying out to scout. We all misread it and three of four of us cartwheeled for a long time before washing out. One swam out and there was no rescuing him before the big drop. The rest of us were able to pick our way through the drop without scouting but it was pretty scary. I don't think I would (could?) do so today but if we hadn't, my best friend would be dead today. He was barely able to hold onto a boat at the bottom, probably suffered from a concussion, and was puking up water when he got to shore. Tragically, one of those four paddlers died a few years later when she selflessly attempted to rescue another paddler on a class V run she knew well. 
So what's the right choice? Every paddler has to make that split second decision in the moment and won't know if they chose wisely until the end. If you play it through in your mind beforehand, learn about (and practice) all the rescue options available, and use logic instead of emotion in the situation, your chances are a lot better.


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