# Eagle River Rescue



## Powdawg (May 27, 2009)

Just curious if anyone has more details.

Four rescued from Eagle River in Edwards, only one wearing life jacket | VailDaily.com


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Sounds like some yahoos out in pursuit of a Darwin award. Everyone was OK, they got the boat to shore, and the guide and passengers should have learned a lesson or two. Not sure what other details there are that are important, or that should be shared publicly, other than, "Don't be this trip."

Rig to flip, dress to swim.

-AH


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## Sherpa9543 (Jul 22, 2014)

I thought there was law in Colorado about PFD use..? Am I wrong?


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## aman (Apr 24, 2017)

Sherpa9543 said:


> I thought there was law in Colorado about PFD use..? Am I wrong?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz



As far as I know no fines were given. So I would assume no, unless it's a permitted section. The boat captain was given a full debrief on the use of safety gear and it's necessity to the use of safe river running. Hard lessons were learned the hard way for sure. 


Feelings are just visitors. Let them come and go.


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## theusualsuspect (Apr 11, 2014)

Sherpa9543 said:


> I thought there was law in Colorado about PFD use..? Am I wrong?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


Private trips have to have them on board but not worn. Commercial trips they must be worn. Different rules for kids but I don't remember the age cutoff for mandatory pfd wearing.


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## She devil cat (May 21, 2016)

I think the cut off age is kids below the age of 13 have to be wearing a pfd


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## oslek (Apr 30, 2009)

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/05/13/four-rescued-from-stuck-raft-on-eagle-river/


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## tkatauskas (May 14, 2017)

*5/13 Eagle River Rescue*

Here's a link to the official Eagle River Fire Protection District press release with details about the 5/13 Eagle River rescue in Edwards:

https://www.facebook.com/EagleRiverFireProtectionDistrict/posts/1722927537724665


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## stinginrivers (Oct 18, 2003)

No idea what went down with this incident, but one thing that should be a takeaway for everyone is to dress properly for early season boating.

From the short clip of video on the news it shows a guy in shorts.

At this time year please dress to swim. That water is super cold and I can't imagine being in a wrap and swim situation without having some protection on whether it is a wetsuit, dry suit, or at least some layers and splash gear.

It was a nice warm shorts type day in the eagle valley and it probably seemed like a fine idea to wear shorts until they were in that situation.

Always be prepared to take care of not only yourself but your partners, once you get hypothermia you are now a victim.


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## Nemophilist (May 15, 2017)

A friend of mine on Facebook posted this yesterday:



> A friend of mine was on this boat. They are all ok but mild hypothermia. Idiots where not wearing life jackets. Lucky! Life jackets are probably in glenwood springs by now.


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## CROE (Jul 29, 2008)

at lest one death a few hundred yards downstream of there a few years ago, though I don't know the details re then...no lifepreservers on UGH!!!


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## CSHolt (Jun 4, 2011)

I used to guide on this section, and I can honestly say I have never even heard of people of rafting this section with out PFD's, helmets, dry/wet suits etc.

Even the early/late season fisherman always wore PFD's!! WTF!!!

The comments on the ABC new thread from all the non rafting folk are pretty funny... my favorite "the fact that anyone would ever want to raft during spring runoff is beyond my comprehension"


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## Sherpa9543 (Jul 22, 2014)

I strongly feel that any boater competent enough to run this section, would have the brain capacity to make sure everybody in their group is wearing a proper PFD. 
......some people should just stick to the upper C. 


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## Tim Kennedy (May 28, 2004)

I think I saw this crew putting in at the Avon boat ramp access at Bob. I was taking out. I have no input on what may have taken place with them on the river. The river level was around 1200 cfs at Avon (3.75' on the Dowd Chute gauge), 70ish degree air temp. My girlfriend and I wore drysuits during our run from Meadow Mtn to Avon in our Shredder. The water was definitely cold. There were two boats (two separate groups) putting on in Avon, and from what I saw, most of the people were dressed in swimwear and t shirts while prepping the boat. The guy rowing the private boat in this story was wearing a shirt with a local outfitter logo (which made me assume that he may have had some experience). I didn't stick around to see what everyone was finally wearing when they hit the river. It's not entirely clear, but the story and thread seem to imply that they weren't wearing or lost a couple of their pfds. The section from Avon to Edwards sanitation plant is mostly class III-ish at that level. Definitely not an Upper C style booze cruise, but not really that difficult in a 14' raft either. The continuous nature of the Edwards mile does keep you on your toes. Looks like they wrapped in the top of the Edwards mile, behind the Riverwalk (in a spot that I have never seen a boat wrapped before). As has already been stated here in this thread (and reinforced by this incident), always wear a securely fastened pfd and dress for a swim when running the river, or you may find yourself the subject of negative (social) media attention or much much worse.


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## aman (Apr 24, 2017)

Unfortunately I know the group in question, and believe you me he got quite an earful for not only underdressing, but allowing others to get in his boat without pfds on. Lucky for him and his friends they were able to walk away from what could have been a much worse scenario. 


Feelings are just visitors. Let them come and go.


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## Managan (Mar 9, 2015)

https://www.facebook.com/EagleRiverFireProtectionDistrict/videos/1722889137728505/


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