# 2015 Swim Board



## soggy_tortillas

Starting the season off right with a swim on Westwater, in a no-name rapid. Hit a rock, flipped and didn't even try to roll. Came up hollerin' about being cold (quote: I'm cold! I'm COLD!!!!), even though I was actually relatively warm. I think I was more just shocked than anything... not used to big wide rivers, didn't know which way to swim, and being cold was just the first thing that came to mind. By the time I got out of the water I was already warmed up. Silly swim... wish I would have at least tried to roll... plus nobody threw me a turkey leg. Maybe it was because I didn't have my whistle... oh well, lessons learned.
Boyfriend swam on Funnel Falls... first time in three years I've seen him swim. 
I figure this means it's probably going to be a pretty awesome year.


----------



## glenn

Need some impartial referees. 2 guys on a very windy trip.

Guy 1 gets pushed over by the wind in shallow otherwise flat water and pulls skirt fumbling for a bit.
Guy 2 sees fumbling and goes for hand of god prior to guy 1 exiting the boat.
Guy 1 paddles a very swamped boat to shore but exits on land without ever technically swimming?

Bootie beer?


----------



## soggy_tortillas

Are there separate consequences for hand of god rescues?


----------



## TravisaurusWrecks

Glenn: I'd say guy1 owes either a bootie beer or at very least beer for the owner of the hand used for said hand of God rescue. 

So Monday I went for my first lap of the season. I flipped on Shoshone in the first wave and dislocated my shoulder somewhere between the brace failure and roll set up. Pulled the skirt and swam. I even paid tribute with a pre-season bootie beer at the put in, guess that didn't work out for me.


----------



## Blade&Shaft

TravisaurusWrecks said:


> Glenn: I'd say guy1 owes either a bootie beer or at very least beer for the owner of the hand used for said hand of God rescue.
> 
> So Monday I went for my first lap of the season. I flipped on Shoshone in the first wave and dislocated my shoulder somewhere between the brace failure and roll set up. Pulled the skirt and swam. I even paid tribute with a pre-season bootie beer at the put in, guess that didn't work out for me.


Did you finish your run? How was the flow? Bummer on the shoulder man, sounds like having a season-ending crash on opening day on a green run, get better!!


----------



## SteamboatBORN

TravisaurusWrecks said:


> Glenn: I'd say guy1 owes either a bootie beer or at very least beer for the owner of the hand used for said hand of God rescue.
> 
> So Monday I went for my first lap of the season. I flipped on Shoshone in the first wave and dislocated my shoulder somewhere between the brace failure and roll set up. Pulled the skirt and swam. I even paid tribute with a pre-season bootie beer at the put in, guess that didn't work out for me.


Have you done this before or new injury? If its common, slide it back in, and go about your day. Mine slides out literally 2-3 times a week if I am not careful. I am bout to hit deductible (Baby) so going to get some surgery done in later summer/fall.


----------



## TravisaurusWrecks

SteamboatBORN said:


> Have you done this before or new injury? If its common, slide it back in, and go about your day. Mine slides out literally 2-3 times a week if I am not careful. I am bout to hit deductible (Baby) so going to get some surgery done in later summer/fall.


 First time, but I'd say I'll be full speed far before the start of the season which unless I've changed zip codes won't start for six more weeks.

On the plus side the shoulder has full range of motion and deep muscle soreness but not much "pain" and the dry suit test went well although I had planned on initiating it under different terms.


----------



## SteamboatBORN

TravisaurusWrecks said:


> First time, but I'd say I'll be full speed far before the start of the season which unless I've changed zip codes won't start for six more weeks.
> 
> On the plus side the shoulder has full range of motion and deep muscle soreness but not much "pain" and the dry suit test went well although I had planned on initiating it under different terms.


I bet that felt great pulling arm through drysuit sleeve.


----------



## TravisaurusWrecks

SteamboatBORN said:


> I bet that felt great pulling arm through drysuit sleeve.


Easier than a dryTOP sleeve... ha.


----------



## spider

I took a swim in the lochsa falls. Again??? Oh well had fun reflip was cake. Had to flip the new cat. Hot times.


----------



## craven_morhead

Oh yeah, forgot about this thread. Had a swim in Lair of the Bear on Bear at 250 or so. Pitoned pretty hard after the main ledge, that threw me sideways and upside down into a pin on the rock that splits the right and left channels. Rolled once, then pushed back down, and then hammered down the right channel upside down until I didn't want to hit rocks anymore. Boat recovered in downtown Morrison.


----------



## craven_morhead

Also, let's hear the story behind this news post.


----------



## KSC

craven_morhead said:


> Also, let's hear the story behind this news post.


Sounds like a typical story and a good reminder that if you swim and lose your boat it's a good idea to contact the local authorities so they don't freak out. When people find an unmanned boat there's a tendency to assume the person whom it belongs to is in trouble.

I know there are A LOT of unreported swims already this year. I personally like the swim thread tradition.


----------



## Caleb125

Swim team captain checking in... Swam at the gore playpark a few weeks ago... Yes I swam at a playpark, the same day I got my first loop...


----------



## ajacobo

I got dump trucked in mile 232.1 rapid on the Grand Canyon. That'll teach me to ease up on the indulgence right after a resupply at Diamond.


----------



## KSC

Yeah, so I guess I should have kept my mouth shut. At least I won't be held in suspense as to whether or not I'll make it through a year without swimming.

So there I was. Bear Creek. Empty parking except for Brian, of course. My partner bails after the scout so I jump on with Brian and Lucas. I did the the run with roughly the same cfs on the gauge from my previous run after the floods, but the calibration has obviously changed as there's clearly quite a bit more water in the creek than when I ran it before.

We do a couple sketchy log portages, but we cruise through No Fun Falls without incident (it was fun once I was through it). We eddy out above the lower slide into the double ledge holes. We commit. 

I've scouted my line and know where I want to be at the crux, the first of the ledge holes. As I enter, I'm so focused on the overhanging branch at the horizon, my position at the horizon line, and the boater in front me making it through that I fail to notice the branch right above my head grabbing my paddle. It almost causes me to flip as I pull my paddle free but by the time I'm straightened out I'm already at the lip. I throw a boof stroke with no speed, but there's a big boil and you need speed and a boof to clear it. 

I'm surfing, kind of hoping that Brian might slam into me from behind. Every time I flip my paddle drags across some boulders and almost gets torn out of my hand, but every time I roll up I'm locked into a side surf. 

It felt like I was surfing it a long time. I managed to work my way back to river right a little bit where the surf wasn't quite as violent, but every time I thought I could move a little and I'd try to twist my stern back into the pour over, I just went back into a side surf. 

During all this Brian got out of his boat and walked back upstream to try to grab my bow. I tried surfing back towards him, but he couldn't quite reach. I dug a couple more times towards him, but I got put in a funny spot where I was having trouble holding a brace and kept getting dumped underwater.

I probably should have just gone with it at that point and tried to roll again on the other side, and hope I could get another shot a Brian rescuing me. Unfortunately, I was getting tired and stopped making optimal decisions, so I punched out. It actually took me a few tries to get my grab loop, which was an unpleasant feeling. 

Swimming sucks, but all my gear was immediately recovered, woohoo! And somehow we survived another sketchy log portage and the rest of the run.

The real Bear Creek is back and angrier than ever.


----------



## ~Bank

*KSC's swim...*

His incredible ability to hold is impressive. His valiant effort lasted well over a minute...You can see it here at 1:50
https://www.facebook.com/brianbank13/videos/vb.1649088310/10203410073526402


----------



## craven_morhead

_His incredible ability to hold is impressive. His valiant effort lasted well over a minute._

Yeah, I've heard that about Kevin before.


----------



## KSC

craven_morhead said:


> _His incredible ability to hold is impressive. His valiant effort lasted well over a minute._
> 
> Yeah, I've heard that about Kevin before.


She told you about that?


----------



## craven_morhead

I think I heard it from you.


----------



## deepsouthpaddler

Great video Brian! And way to hold on Kevin! Awesome. I pulled Koontz out of that hole before, so the hustle up and yank your buddy out of the hole move is doable.

With all the carnage we should give that hole a nice memmorable name...


----------



## ACC

deepsouthpaddler said:


> Great video Brian! And way to hold on Kevin! Awesome. I pulled Koontz out of that hole before, so the hustle up and yank your buddy out of the hole move is doable.
> 
> With all the carnage we should give that hole a nice memmorable name...


Since its "Bear" creek and that hole awakens in the spring, and you want memorable, I'd suggest "fecal plug." (see North American Bear Center - North American Bear Center)


----------



## BrianK

Bear Creek has to have the highest swims per attempt ratio in Colorado.


----------



## crackeryaker

ACC said:


> Since its "Bear" creek and that hole awakens in the spring, and you want memorable, I'd suggest "fecal plug." (see North American Bear Center - North American Bear Center)


How long have you been waiting to use that one Alex? +1


----------



## Dave Frank

That hole needs one of those poles with a hook like lifeguards have by the pool.


----------



## fella

Dave Frank said:


> That hole needs one of those poles with a hook like lifeguards have by the pool.


 
If I recall, there actually is one of those body retrieval poles stationed next to a notorious undercut on the Yough in PA. Don't know that anyone has been successfully pulled out of said undercut with the hook though.

Suppose it could work as an extendo-hand-of-god hole extrication tool though!


----------



## smauk2

sigh... SSV was juicin today. First lap was solid; pushy, steep, and all around exciting creeking. First lap down 1/5 went well enough. Hike back up for a second run on 1/5 and subbed out in the entrance hole, didn't get a good stroke off the drop and plugged. I rolled up and could see my legs, another skirt implosion with this new snap dragon skirt. My swamped boat and I started getting pulled into the cave on river right and that's when I swam. Got pushed deep on the first cycle and as soon as I popped up got smacked in the face with a rope, phew!


----------



## Nathan

smauk2 said:


> sigh... SSV was juicin today. First lap was solid; pushy, steep, and all around exciting creeking. First lap down 1/5 went well enough. Hike back up for a second run on 1/5 and subbed out in the entrance hole, didn't get a good stroke off the drop and plugged. I rolled up and could see my legs, another skirt implosion with this new snap dragon skirt. My swamped boat and I started getting pulled into the cave on river right and that's when I swam. Got pushed deep on the first cycle and as soon as I popped up got smacked in the face with a rope, phew!


High side of medium, just starting to get pushy. Going to be high tomorrow. My throw bag hasn't had so much action in years.


----------



## smauk2

Nathan said:


> High side of medium, just starting to get pushy. Going to be high tomorrow. My throw bag hasn't had so much action in years.


Either you're sandbagging or RiverBrain is super conservative. A safe bet of 450 in the Narrows today and RiverBrain puts 400-as high. 

Saint Vrain, South Fork - SSV - Confluence to Picnic Grounds - River Brain


----------



## Whetstone

*Dump Truck on Staircase*

I dump trucked on top of Staircase, S.F. Payette at 2800cfs, last Sunday. Clipped rock with the bow and spun into the first drop. I was the sweeper so no help coming. Swam 2 drops and recirculated in 2 holes. Finished with a beat down on a few boulders but found bank above the rock garden. 
The other boats had my Diablo about a 1/3 mile down river for me. It faired well. Apparently it flipped twice in the second hole after I was ejected. I never saw that. 
Biggest Double Nasty Swim I've experienced. Not in a hurry to repeat.


----------



## qdidily

First Swim of the year for team member lilboof. Forgot how much swimming shallow creeks sucks. Reminded of that again. Hit a lateral sideways and ended up pulling the skirt and swimming the crux of Dowd Chute. Total Bottom Feeder Status. DVBF FOR LIFE.


----------



## adgeiser

first swim in a couple years.
my last swims were Rigor on CC and Deer creek on bailey (tried running it backwards :roll eyes: )

anyway last weekend i managed to swim some class 2 (maybe 2 plus )section on bridges... 

all i'll say is that if you ask your friend if something is Boofable and they check it out and say "no, No.... no".... my suggestion is to not say F'it i'm doing it anyway.

and if you do say that and your buddy says "no" again, well.... you can guess what happened to me. Now the missed roll was my fault.


there are proof of the bootieBeer somewhere out there, many were taken with accusations that i only swim for free beer.


----------



## Blade&Shaft

Whetstone said:


> I dump trucked on top of Staircase, S.F. Payette at 2800cfs, last Sunday. Clipped rock with the bow and spun into the first drop. I was the sweeper so no help coming. Swam 2 drops and recirculated in 2 holes. Finished with a beat down on a few boulders but found bank above the rock garden.
> The other boats had my Diablo about a 1/3 mile down river for me. It faired well. Apparently it flipped twice in the second hole after I was ejected. I never saw that.
> Biggest Double Nasty Swim I've experienced. Not in a hurry to repeat.


Was up in the Payette drainage last few days, gotta say Staircase looked STOUT, especially the fuck-off hole dead center of the already long rapid. Kayaked it a few years ago with evidently a lot less water, definitely a different beast currently, with enough moves with consequences for me to decide now is not the level for me. Ran Swirly Canyon and Main Payette with lots of hot springin', plenty happy with that - must have been a burly swim!!
-$$$


----------



## Whetstone

Blade&Shaft said:


> Was up in the Payette drainage last few days, gotta say Staircase looked STOUT, especially the fuck-off hole dead center of the already long rapid. Kayaked it a few years ago with evidently a lot less water, definitely a different beast currently, with enough moves with consequences for me to decide now is not the level for me. Ran Swirly Canyon and Main Payette with lots of hot springin', plenty happy with that - must have been a burly swim!!
> -$$$


Still feelin it in a joint or two. Took notes. Wont miss that move again.


----------



## sfornst

*KSC's swim*

Thanks for posting, it's fun to see the creek at levels I'll never see from a boat. Kevin, good work


----------



## jwburdge

Got flipped on the 2nd drop in the Boulder garden on Foxton Saturday. Missed a roll and washed over the next drop upside down, not the preferred method. Got a beat-down in my boat. Managed to pull my skirt and went for numerous recircs before I found a way out. Sometimes in the roughest swims you tend to stay in one place.....


----------



## bigben

damn, i haven't gone swimmin' since quartzite falls on the salt 2 years ago.
gotta step up my game i guess...


----------



## jwburdge

try running shit upside down


----------



## adgeiser

I'm telling you it's a great way to get a beer if you "forgot" to bring some yourself. 


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


----------



## hojo

Lazed into Cripps hole today. Still not a good idea. Fought it to the point that the front third of my boat was actually in the eddy. It's a cruel cruel hole to give you such hope then drag you back in only to ender you. The third ender I pulled the plug.


----------



## High Combat Roller

*1st swim of season.*

Rigo ate my lunch yesterday. Boat & paddle lost, but recovered.


----------



## deepsouthpaddler

Swam out of a hole on bear creek at high water. Got my ass kicked, recirced out of the boat, lost my boat. Hiked upstream to get across the river, but got cliffed out and then added insult to injury by climbing some significant vert up rotten scree canyon walls. Generally sucked all around. I was perked up at the end of the evening when my more seasoned paddling partner noted "I consider it a success if I still have all my teeth in my mouth at the end of a run". Full success on that count.

Found the boat the next day... it turned from new boat to mank boat in a hurry.


----------



## spider

Add another flip for me in lochsa falls. I was a passenger this time in my cat.


----------



## CBrown

I swam at the entrance to the Narrows on Clear Creek last week. I flipped over and abruptly made contact with the bottom of the river. I scraped my face over the rocks resulting in a smashed chin, chipped tooth and smashed nose. I then had some kind of ankle wrenching as well which is now the size of a grapefruit. I got out right away but not quick enough! Boat and paddle went way downstream, to be recovered a short while later. My Burn is now "crashed and burned". Good times!


----------



## craven_morhead

Swam in the runout of Jihad on SSV on Sunday; came through the top part of the drop with too much speed, got spun around before the flume, then ran the flume backwards. Almost made it through, but got flipped and then smashed onto my face a few times. A couple roll attempts were knocked down by more rocks and then I was out of air.


----------



## Sarge6531

Swam out of the c2 yesterday during slalom race in Lyons. Oops, should have practiced a roll first. At least Charlie nailed it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


----------



## hojo

I swam is said race. Totally forgot to post. 

Sent from my XT1254 using Mountain Buzz mobile app


----------



## Ka-Pow

1 in 5 on SSV is 1 in 3 for me. I wish I had remembered to take a stroke going over the lip.


----------



## mikesee

Swam just above the last blind corner on Dark Canyon last week. 

Had stepped out to scout, but the eddy I'd hastily grabbed didn't allow me to get back into the main flow in time to make a few not-required-but-HIGHLY-recommend moves before an undercut. Hiking back up didn't look possible, as there were no eddies in sight further up, that I could see.

Tried to wheelchair through some F-U rocks instead, and flipped on exit into deeper water. Knowing the undercut was coming fast I didn't even try to roll ("panic" is the proper word) I simply ejected, popped up, and ushered boat, paddle, and self into the last eddy--a boat sized cave on river left.

Been kicking myself ever since.


----------



## nwcbrew

*1st time out this year*

Epic swim on moonshine in split mountain. Got picked up drained kayak and seal launched off of raft, only to notice drain plug was still open. Got picked up again only to have the raft that picked me up flip in a hole. I drank a lot of the Green River last Saturday.


----------



## SpeyCatr

*Chilliwack River BC swim*

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bf1WQfPSRlQ

My swim last Saturday - tame compared to what most of you guys describe!!


----------



## Issip

*Race Course*

Took a couple swims in my IK messing around on the racecourse. Started getting bored so I started going right at Souse Hole and left at Big Rock, my first attempt at each ended in a swim. The raft photo girls were there for my first swim at Souse last week...


----------



## MT4Runner

Dumptruck in Termination on the Lochsa yesterday.


I was out and back in in about 4s....but still counts as a swim, and I have to drink my bootie, lhowemt!


----------



## sarahkonamojo

*Been there. Done that.*

Twice this year.
First one was excusable. Second was just carping.
Time for a little ice cream headache roll practice and kill the carp.
S


----------



## craven_morhead

Given all of the lost gear posts, it seems like this thread should be even busier...


----------



## Mopdog

Whetstone said:


> I dump trucked on top of Staircase, S.F. Payette at 2800cfs, last Sunday. Clipped rock with the bow and spun into the first drop. I was the sweeper so no help coming. Swam 2 drops and recirculated in 2 holes. Finished with a beat down on a few boulders but found bank above the rock garden.
> The other boats had my Diablo about a 1/3 mile down river for me. It faired well. Apparently it flipped twice in the second hole after I was ejected. I never saw that.
> Biggest Double Nasty Swim I've experienced. Not in a hurry to repeat.


I drove up and looked at it at about the same flow. I chickened out and ran the main. I used to run it in my cat but my rafts flip much easier and swimming staircase really really sucks. Good to see people out pushing it and having fun though.


----------



## azpowell

*Grand canyon swim team*

Well since he hasn't posted yet I thought I would share our varsity swimmer on our grand trip....
first swim was in Indian dick rapid mile 23.5 dump trucked off a lateral, and was pulled out missing his pants
second swim was the next rapid Georgie white rapid at mile24.5 was a flip. 
Next swim was at upset rapid rower got bucked out....


----------



## sfornst

*should have posted earlier*

Jake has a point. 
I have felt bad about not posting about getting stuffed under the undercut at BR, swimming, a good buddy saved my boat.


----------



## jjeco5

I got pinned on wall slam on the Santa Cruz yesterday... missed the eddy on river right and went into the undercut rock backwards and got sucked under, stern underwater bow in the air, pulled my skirt as soon I felt stuck. Thankfully it washed into a nice eddy. my boat was stuck there pretty solid and we barely got it out.

Shortly after I missed a boof and pitoned on Lada Drop and put a sweet dent that separated the top half from bottom on my boat. didnt swim from that though!


----------



## Gremlin

On the second day of a Gates of Lodore trip we came to Upper Disaster Falls and scouted it. At 2600 Cfs there is an easy tongue left of center to enter the rapid and avoid the ledge and rocks center and right. I decided to continue through on my 10' paddlecat although this was probably the biggest rapid it had been in yet. With eleven rafts, three kayakers, and an IK and full dry gear and helmet I turned on the GoPro and went for it. The entrance was no problem but I kept thinking about what was said about a dangerous right channel that leads to an undercut and should be avoided. The channel split and I went left around an island even though the current, and rafts, went right. My wife, in a the IK followed me left but didn't understand why I went that way. It was easy water through there but as we came to the bottom of the island I could see that there was a lower part to the rapid that we didn't see from the scout and that I was going to be rejoining much faster water. Except for far right, along the cliff, the the river was full of pour over rocks and I began to pick my way through them. Like a rafter, I was looking at the next rock and the one below it and picking a line when I felt the back half of the right tube suck down and I was swimming. My head popped above water and I saw the paddlecat moving away from me quickly down the right side. A couple waves came over my head and I put my feet up in front of me and began going over rocks. I saw the left bank was going to require a hard swim and I threw the paddle away preparing to make a move as soon as possible. After going over another rock I saw one of our kayakers quickly coming to get and Helen pulled me to shore. Thank you Helen!

My cataraft, being towed by John


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


----------



## mattoak

I'll finally add mine since I paid my dues via booty beer yesterday....6 weeks later, in fear of a swim consequential of neglecting the penance.

Westwater end of April....first time in the boat of the year....second day....playboat at low flow around 4-5000 cfs. In the end of last chance rapid got flipped by a lateral wave or something - not sure. Tried to roll three times, but was stuck on an eddy line and couldn't manage to come up. On the third try I was actually upright most of the way, and was able to look at the guy in front of me while trying to brace three or four times. I just couldn't manage to successfully brace and flipped once again. Don't know why I gave up, but at that point I had enough and swam. Self rescued literally 5 feet from where I exited my craft. Only thing hurt was pride.


----------



## Andy H.

OK, I better get this over with...

Wednesday morning on Split Mountain at 9K cfs, up at the top of Moonshine, I didn't square up to a lateral that seemed to come out of nowhere ("...and all of a sudden, there it was: a rogue wave!") and got dumptrucked off the raft. Was really glad the whole thing didn't go over and that my nephew managed to stay in the boat and pull my soggy ass back in. Looking at my nephew's go-pro footage of it and I was amazed that without even thinking of it, I grabbed a beer can that had also gotten washed out of the boat and tossed it back into the boat. Don't I get a couple of points for not littering?

Rig to flip, dress to swim. Even on the easy stuff, especially in big water.

-AH


----------



## soggy_tortillas

Had another swim last night... in C Hole... mostly due to complacency in having successfully run the meat at just about every flow. In fact, I remember thinking to myself just above the hole, that I was feeling far too relaxed. I did at least attempt a roll this time, and I had a great, 100% self-rescue! Though I did let my boyfriend drain my boat for me  So all in all it turned out to be a pretty good swim.


----------



## zbaird

Finally dumped over the 12'er. Ive had a couple swims out of her and some close calls but never dumped her over until sunday in browns at 4500ish. I was cheating most everything big ( since i was in the 12' with a light 3 load crew) until we got to staircase. The consensus was to run the big wave in 7 so we did... T'd up and got bitch slapped hard. It was the perfect storm. The boat was small and the crew was light. The wave was steep, big...and it broke perfectly. I saw it was about done building as we came over the wave above it and as we headed up it, it broke hard and instantly corkscrew flipped us. The swim was uneventful. I grabbed some paddles on the swim and the unscathed, well dressed, un fazed crew had the boat flipped back over in about 2 minutes on the left bank. We were headed into widow maker with all our paddles in about 5 minutes. About as good as it could be expected to go. Glad I was in the drysuit, water is still chilly. There would have been great footage from tom who was behind us in the dory but his go bro crapped out. At least he rescued a couple paddles. Our kayakers in the right eddy had a great front row show.


----------



## readNrun

Ok - my turn. Brown's run on 6/20. This was the second of the day and we thought we were hot sh%t because we could nail the entries since we had already run it once. At the top of pinball we hit the first drop hard and the two of us in the bow went over the left side of the front tube. We immediately got flushed out and I had my paddle and then grabbed that of the other paddler. Of course, this was the top of Pinball and we went for quite the swim. The last wave hit like a ton of bricks and gave me a much better appreciation of swimming in whitewater. We were able to get to the shore right before the ledge and collect ourselves. It was one of the roughest swims I've done to date - but it's all good when you can look back and smile at it.


----------



## hojo

Boy, I've seen a lot of reference about the Cripps hole in other threads, but not so many in this thread. I get it, you've been boating and don't have time to post. That's what work is for. Work is a time to avoid work and post and troll on the internet, including Mountain Buzz.


----------



## Cphilli

I had a great one this week in Vallecito. We had a great lap the night before at 2.3 something and put on the next morning at 2.2. I was running standard through bouffant when I got flipped by a rock. Set up for several rolls but kept getting raked over rocks. The last one was a hard hit and ripped my paddle out of one hand. I had to pull Once I resurfaced I was at the first lip of Paddle Bitch. I got bitch smacked by every rock in that rapid, no fun. Right near the bottom I body pinned on the upstream side of a rock, just enough time to scout an eddy to swim to. I got to the river left eddy between paddle bitch/no way out and was exhausted. From here I was walled out with a super slippery rock to climb. Partner tossed a rope from river right to left, over the rock and winched it off for me to climb up. Once on top of that rock I had to climb up one more and I was out of the water. The soon to be realized part was that I had to swim ferry between bouffant and paddle bitch to get the last gulch to climb out on river right. This proved to be the scariest part. I was able to get across and to the eddy, only to have a good 200 foot climb out of the gorge. Partner got my paddle to me for the climb and was able to get my boat just downstream. Quite the humbling moment on a run that can be oh so sweet. Booty beer was absolutely delicious, and deserving.


----------



## Ka-Pow

There has been a slight delay posting this swim but here goes. Upper Clear Creek at 2250 CFS turned out to be pushier than anticipated. I flipped in wave hole after Double Knife. Lost a hand on the paddle and a knee out of the hooks. I pressed on downstream carping away rolls until I made the call that I'd need some energy for a swim. Pulled and charged to shore without subjecting myself to too much down time. My boat however, was not so lucky and finished the run without me. Thanks to the efforts of the Golden to Idaho Springs bike path crew it had the pleasure of running all their artificial drops before we miraculously caught up to it by car. A dented nose that popped out was somehow the only damage to the boat but alas my GoPro was gone. At the end of the day I was happy to repay my debt to the River Gods with a delicious booty.


----------



## hojo

I had an interesting swim yesterday. It was a calculated swim from a pin. While chasing a boat through 1/4 mile I tried to get it into an eddy. At the bottom of the eddy were two rocks wide enough for a boat but narrow enough that when I shot past the boat I was chasing I nosed into one rock and swung into a tip/tail broach. I managed to get an aggressive downstream lean and moved a bit to see if I could get unstuck. It seemed that I was not going to be able to move myself off sufficiently to guarantee a full flush so I just hung out for my crew.

From shore I was handed a rope, pulled skirt, flushed about 4 feet and pendulumed into the eddy, boat and paddle in hand. Shortest, easiest swim on 1/4 I think anyone will likely ever have at 800ish cfs.


----------



## mattoak

hojo said:


> Shortest, easiest swim on 1/4 I think anyone will likely ever have at 800ish cfs.


Not quite so. I'll post up mine to content for shortest easiest swim, OUT OF cripps hole (sort of). 

A little back story: Missed my line through elbow (too far left) and dropped off the pillow/lateral right into the upper hole, which promptly flipped and flushed me into the stickier hole just downstream. After a short beating and side surf I flushed and rolled up extremely exhausted. We continued downstream, I flipped and rolled in the boogie water before the eddy and entrance to the 1/4 mile...no biggie. I was still determined to run the left boof over cripps instead of the right sneak. The line was easy to make, but with absolutely no boof off the lip I landed with too much forward angle in that swirly river left water, bow dug in and then I started getting pulled backwards and my boat was leaning backwards towards the meat. Next thing I know I am upside down thinking "oh shit, you're stuck in cripps hole and no one ever makes it out". So for some reason the smartest thing to do was not even attempt to roll and just pull my skirt, even though it felt pretty calm and in hindsight I was NOT in the meat...who knows how it would have ended up if I rolled though. Regardless, I surface and immediately grab my boat, float/swim a couple feet to the left bank, and literally stand up in the river left eddy, stash my paddle, flip over my swamped boat, give a wave downstream that I'm ok, drain the water, get back in and continue down the rest of 1/4 mile to the takeout. Half bootie completed since I self rescued, figure that's more than enough. Swam maybe 5 yards. 

That might be the easiest swim ever in the 1/4 mile. One theory afterwards was maybe my quick wet exit upside down was enough to catch the green water and flush me before the recirculating water pulled me back in. Or I was already downstream of the hole and would have been fine but panicked anyway. I know when I resurfaced I was a decent ways away from the hole though. I guess I'll never know for sure. Still determined to keep running the far left line though!


----------



## hojo

mattoak said:


> Not quite so. I'll post up mine to content for shortest easiest swim, OUT OF cripps hole (sort of).
> 
> A little back story: Missed my line through elbow (too far left) and dropped off the pillow/lateral right into the upper hole, which promptly flipped and flushed me into the stickier hole just downstream. After a short beating and side surf I flushed and rolled up extremely exhausted. We continued downstream, I flipped and rolled in the boogie water before the eddy and entrance to the 1/4 mile...no biggie. I was still determined to run the left boof over cripps instead of the right sneak. The line was easy to make, but with absolutely no boof off the lip I landed with too much forward angle in that swirly river left water, bow dug in and then I started getting pulled backwards and my boat was leaning backwards towards the meat. Next thing I know I am upside down thinking "oh shit, you're stuck in cripps hole and no one ever makes it out". So for some reason the smartest thing to do was not even attempt to roll and just pull my skirt, even though it felt pretty calm and in hindsight I was NOT in the meat...who knows how it would have ended up if I rolled though. Regardless, I surface and immediately grab my boat, float/swim a couple feet to the left bank, and literally stand up in the river left eddy, stash my paddle, flip over my swamped boat, give a wave downstream that I'm ok, drain the water, get back in and continue down the rest of 1/4 mile to the takeout. Half bootie completed since I self rescued, figure that's more than enough. Swam maybe 5 yards.
> 
> That might be the easiest swim ever in the 1/4 mile. One theory afterwards was maybe my quick wet exit upside down was enough to catch the green water and flush me before the recirculating water pulled me back in. Or I was already downstream of the hole and would have been fine but panicked anyway. I know when I resurfaced I was a decent ways away from the hole though. I guess I'll never know for sure. Still determined to keep running the far left line though!


I concede defeat.


----------



## lhowemt

My first swim in years, and not in a friendly place to swim. I am super glad I had my gopro running, I have lots to learn from this video. I am even more glad to boat with such rock solid people.

https://vimeo.com/138700739


----------



## spider

lhowemt said:


> My first swim in years, and not in a friendly place to swim. I am super glad I had my gopro running, I have lots to learn from this video. I am even more glad to boat with such rock solid people.
> 
> https://vimeo.com/138700739


Nice one! I'll have to make my way over to the Payettes next season. Looks fun.


----------



## Caleb125

Forgot to post when it happened, but on my first run down Gore about a month ago I got worked on scissors and swam, cracked my boat, lost my paddle, but then found it right above tunnel! Still an epic day but not without a WALLACE!


----------



## lmyers

Got my annual swim out of the way yesterday. Stupid situation. Ended up upside down against a rock in Numbers. Should have tried to roll a couple more times because it took me 3 tries to get my grab loop....


----------



## DP767

Here's a video of my first swim. I'm new to rafting, purchased my first boat in early June. since then logged about 25 river days on 9 rivers in MT. To finish off the "warm" season a group of us decide to run the Bear trap canyon. 2 of us got our boats through the Kitchen sink rapid, with no issues. Our friend running the third boat decided she didn't want to run it, so myself and another buddy hiked back up and ran it. Well almost ran it! Please enjoy my lack of skills

https://youtu.be/V6yg6syE8xk


----------



## hojo

I had a fun one. Took a reporter down the Garberator Drop in a Duo. We styled the drop and then crashed the eddy line (apparently waiting for the stern paddler to enter the eddy before leaning results in fish counts). We crashed hard and my plan was to hang out until the reporter pulled, then I'd roll the boat. I failed to communicate this to the reporter for as he came up he held onto the duo (duh, just like you're supposed to do) resulting in my exit from the boat after three failed roll attempts. The awesome news is that for a first whitewater swim, which took him down the next drop, the reporter held onto the paddle!


----------



## knumbskull

DP767 said:


> Here's a video of my first swim. I'm new to rafting, purchased my first boat in early June. since then logged about 25 river days on 9 rivers in MT. To finish off the "warm" season a group of us decide to run the Bear trap canyon. 2 of us got our boats through the Kitchen sink rapid, with no issues. Our friend running the third boat decided she didn't want to run it, so myself and another buddy hiked back up and ran it. Well almost ran it! Please enjoy my lack of skills
> 
> https://youtu.be/V6yg6syE8xk


I think to post in this thread you have to actually swim and not just float aimlessly down the river :twisted:

Thanks for posting the vid, looks like a fun stretch.


----------



## spider

Got my swim on in Cramer, ran the meat in the 10.5' RMR loaded with gear an guitar in tow and got served up a good slap down. MFS was totally awesome and my guitar still works.


----------

