# Gauley death



## Xtraheat (May 10, 2010)

I read that there was a death on Iron Curtain? Anyone know what happened?


----------



## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

more here:

BoaterTalk: BoaterTalk - death on ug today

my condolences to all.


----------



## afaust (Jun 14, 2010)

I hate when these things happen. I know what it is like to lose a loved one suddenly and it is possibly the hardest thing I have dealt with in this life. Prayers for the family.


----------



## Xtraheat (May 10, 2010)

Yeah, it is about the most painful feeling in the world... Just awful. I heard that there were 2 fatalities??


----------



## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

sounds like another one today

BoaterTalk: BoaterTalk - Another death on the Gauley today!

I feel ill.


----------



## COandWVGirlGuide (Sep 21, 2010)

*What I heard... *



Xtraheat said:


> I read that there was a death on Iron Curtain? Anyone know what happened?


 
I am not anyone to be taken at 100% because I'm hearing all this second hand.

I heard that the first death on Sunday was a college age girl who somehow found her way down 18 feet where it was possible for her to become caught under the undercut rock. It happened above Iron Ring... the rock is called Magnet Rock. It's a rock with a pool below that rafters have been flipping off of for years to give their crews a good time. I feel bad for the family, but I also feel so terrible for the guide who was out from CO guiding for the season. How was she to know that that would happen? She'd had it modeled for her by other guides for years. I also find it confusing that in simple dumptruck that a girl was pushed down 18', in an area that doesn't have too stong a current, to become trapped... I would think that the PFD would have kicked in by then. ??? 

The second death was a guy named Matt (?) who was a guide from the Ocoee River who was out on a private trip. They borrowed the boat from the same company that had the death the day before...  The guide was caught underneath Fingernail Rock, a known undercut that people stay far away from. It should be easy to, as the water all flows to the opposite side of the river from Fingernail... I wonder if the crew knew where they were... an experienced person would have known not to wander there.


All in all, super sad and I hope guides take warning and becareful... I love all my friends too much to loose any of you! I'm sorry for these families, but I also feel blessed that it didn't happen to anyone I knew.


----------



## echohollow (Oct 12, 2009)

This is a terrible tragedy and strikes very close to my nerves. I have been kayaking the Gauley for a mere 2 years and have witnessed more accidents in such a short amount of time here than any other river in the West. I was with the crew that "fished" for the man under fingernail and my heart goes out to the friends and family that were on his boat. In fact, everyone on the river that day feels pain for the crew and loved ones of those who passed this weekend.


----------



## sko2riva (Sep 10, 2010)

I paddled by the body recovery on Sunday. It was at Iron Curtain (not ring) Iron Curtain Rapid - Rapids of the Gauley River Video Tour below the rapid. You can’t really tell from the video but there are very strong eddy lines in that rapid (they eat playboats if you go too far river left) and I wouldn’t be surprised if they flipped on accident or had a tube sucked down but I honestly don’t know what the cause was. If a customer was sucked down in the eddy line they probably would have come up disoriented and not swimming strongly (at least that’s how most rafting customers act). I’ve saw the rescuers on top of the giant slanting obviously undercut rock but I also heard it might have been the smaller on upstream. It was a very sobering experience and my heart goes out to the family, friends, and guide. 



If your on the gauley assume every rock is undercut.


----------



## cadster (May 1, 2005)

sko2riva said:


> If your on the gauley assume every rock is undercut.


For confirmation watch these:
YouTube - gauley 300cfs


----------



## afaust (Jun 14, 2010)

How in the world did so much of the river get undercut?! The rivers in utah don't seem to be undercut like this at all.


----------



## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

Time. Given enough time water will dissolve anything.

The New river is one of the oldest in the world and the Gauley isn't much younger.


----------



## afaust (Jun 14, 2010)

Time is definitely the answer... We have the Grand Canyon out here in the west which took significant amounts of time to carve. I just wondered why the undercuts seem to be so much more prevalent out east. Maybe it has something to do with the geology... actually it probably has everything to do with the geology.

Sorry to hijack this thread a little... I am done now.


----------



## spiderguide (Jun 4, 2009)

anyone know when the dam was created?


----------



## scagrotto (Apr 3, 2007)

spiderguide said:


> anyone know when the dam was created?


Google knows everything. The dam was dedicated on 9/3/66 by LBJ, on the same day he dedicated the new Summersville post office. Interesting trivia: Dams are typically named for the nearest town when they're not named for a person. Summersville wasn't the closest town, but after a bit of consideration the ACOE decided they didn't want to call it Gad Dam.


----------



## sko2riva (Sep 10, 2010)

afaust said:


> How in the world did so much of the river get undercut?! The rivers in utah don't seem to be undercut like this at all.


 Like someone said age has a lot to do with it, the new is the second old river in the world. But I think the main reason is that our riverbeds out east are formed by different types of rocks which wear down differently (at least thats what I hear i'm not a geologist)


----------



## Xtraheat (May 10, 2010)

The new has very few undercuts though


----------



## sko2riva (Sep 10, 2010)

Not as much as the gauley but I can think of at least 7 fairly serious undercuts just in the lower gorge. There is also Manns Creek that feeds into the New which is ridiculously undercut and the Meadow which has rapids such as double undercut and sieve city. The main minerals in the area are sandstone, shale, and coal with the last 2 being relatively soft and prone to weathering hence undercuts


----------



## Xtraheat (May 10, 2010)

The Meadow has got to be about the most undercut run in the country


----------



## possumturd (Jul 13, 2006)

*gauley*

This is second hand so consider it that.

4 people tried to run finger nail rock from left to right in a Super Puma and hit the rock. 2 climbed onto the rock and 2 went under and only 1 flushed.


----------



## wheretheriverflows (Mar 4, 2010)

All, the reason that there are undercuts in large quantities in the east as opposed to the west is exactly the geology. Limestone, sandstone and shale are sedimentary rock and as such, weather very differently than igneous rocks such as granite and basalt. Both rocks react differently to the effects of water - sedimentary rocks have a high carbon content from the organic material that was compressed to form the rock and may cleave easily depending on the density and composition of the rock. Igneous rocks generally are highly compressed from the internal pressures of the earth and have no layering of materials that cause cleaving in sedimentary rocks. A great example of this is the granite all throughout the rockies - far less cleaving and undercutting. Also, the dramatically increased precipitation in the east as opposed to the west causes a much increased weathering of the eastern rocks. The eastern appalachian mountains are also far older and more weathered than the rockies and cascades of the west and obviously have a different composition that encourages undercutting. 
That said, 
I have worked on rivers throughout the country and I can tell you, knowledge is power. Study the rivers that you run, learn the hazards, keep your safety training current and keep your gear and your wits in good shape. There was a post on the buzz talking about a cook who came from Aspen and claimed that the people in West Virginia are ignorant. Just like anywhere else, if you take the time to think about the world that we live in, you'll find the knowledge that will help you along in this life. Like the old saying goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. If you don't educate yourself and manage the risks that you take, then you will end up like many people - in West Virginia or West Africa for that matter - ignorant of the world around you and therefore unprepared. 

My deepest condolences go out to the families of the river runners that have died on the Gauley, as much as I love the canyon, I was sure upset on Sunday with the news of the fatality and even more upset to learn that a fellow Ocoee guide died on Monday after I was off the river and on the road. Y'all take good care out there and be well!


----------



## Junk Show Tours (Mar 11, 2008)

The New has many undercuts. Some are in bad places, some are not. A few notable ones are clamshell in Lower Railroad, an undercut on the right in the first warm up rapid, Meat Grinder is full of sieves, Cigar Rock in Dudley's Dip, Butcher's Block, Table Rock, Julie's Juicer and other rocks in Double Z, the low water entrance above greyhound, the rocks on river right at the entrance to Miller's Folly and the huge undercut in Fayette Station Pool. 

I also agree with the post about the Lower Meadow, that shit is crazy undercut.


----------



## Xtraheat (May 10, 2010)

Paddle Iraq said:


> The New has many undercuts. Some are in bad places, some are not. A few notable ones are clamshell in Lower Railroad, an undercut on the right in the first warm up rapid, Meat Grinder is full of sieves, Cigar Rock in Dudley's Dip, Butcher's Block, Table Rock, Julie's Juicer and other rocks in Double Z, the low water entrance above greyhound, the rocks on river right at the entrance to Miller's Folly and the huge undercut in Fayette Station Pool.
> 
> I also agree with the post about the Lower Meadow, that shit is crazy undercut.


I know, all I was trying to say was that for a class IV river, it doesn't have a particularly large amount of undercuts


----------

