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From: wildwater <wildoats_at_ionet.net> subject: [Paddlewise] Fwd: Near Miss Report 1997 Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 10:35:44 -0600 · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:46 PDT

This was forwarded to me and I thought it might be of interest to the group,
especially those of us that paddle whitewater also.

Alice

> >Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:31:43 -0500
> >From: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
> >Subject: Near Miss Report 1997
> >Close Calls 1997
> >
> >Near misses have a lot to teach paddlers because they serve as an early
> >warning system for future accidents. They also show how ordinary paddlers
> >work successfully under pressure, ideas which can help you if you face a
> >similar problem yourself.  they also help us develop new skills for
> >avoiding and dealing with trouble. Although many close calls are never
> >reported outside of the small groups that regularly paddle together, those
> >which are sent to us are always interesting. I received ten reports in
> >1997. I’d like to thank those who sent them in for their generosity, and to
> >encourage anyone who survives such an experience (or hears about one) to
> >share it with the readers of American Whitewater.
> >
> >Slim Ray forwarded a near-miss report from the AKC website
> >(www.alpine-kayak-club.org) that occurred on the Amahac River in Mexico.
> >Rip Harwood was with a group running the river when he was shoved to the
> >right side of a drop. The boulder was undercut, and he and his rodeo boat
> >were shoved under the rock. His kayak pinned, he bailed out, and he was
> >carried still further down. He opened his eyes, swam for the light, and
> >popped out in the pool below. He was under water about 30 seconds. His boat
> >and paddle never reappeared, although a pair of sandals which were not tied
> >in washed through.
> >
> >Bill Robertson and Michael Stein from the Three Rivers Paddling Club of
> >Pittsburgh were entering River’s End Rapid on the Lower Yough on July 18th
> >when he noticed two people on the shore gesturing for help. It turned out
> >that a woman on a self-guided raft trip with friends had  fallen out of her
> >raft at the top of the rapid and become wedged at the hips, head
> >downstream, between Snaggletooth and the adjoining rock. She fought to keep
> >her head above water but was rapidly becoming exhausted  Her friends were
> >in the downstream eddy but they could not get close enough to help.
> >
> >Bill and Michael eddied out below. Bill exited his kayak, grabbed his throw
> >bag, and started to work his way across the rocks. As Michael shouted
> >continuous encouragement to the trapped rafter, Bill scrambled to the top
> >of a huge boulder above the accident site. Once he slipped and dropped his
> >throw bag, but Michael snagged it and tossed it back to him. Bill could not
> >see his target from the top of the rock, so he threw the rope in upstream
> >so it could drift to the target drift to where it was needed. The rope
> >allowed the woman to pull herself free. Thanks to their alert action she
> >was able to continue the trip after a brief rest.
> >
> >On July 20th there was a near-miss on the Limestone Run of California’s
> >Kern River. Four kayakers, two using older small-cockpit kayaks and two
> >using sit-on-tops, were attempting this Class IV run at 920 cfs, a very low
> >level. At Joe’s Diner one of the boaters pinned end-to-end at the bottom,
> >between a mid-stream rock and the right shore. After several minutes he
> >flipped and tried to extricate himself, but he was quite tall (6’2) and
> >cold not do so. He was under water for 1-2 minutes before other members of
> >the group could get to him. Dan Mulvahill, who submitted this report,
> >arrived at the scene just after the victim was revived with CPR! The victim
> >is doing fine, with no problems except some residual pain in his legs from
> >a too-small cockpit.
> >
> >Eric Hendrickson dropped me a line about a close call at Coliseum Rapid on
> >West Virginia’s Cheat River. With the Albright Gauge reading 3.0’ a woman,
> >paddling second to last, missed the narrow right hand line and pinned under
> >a huge log pinned against a giant rock on the left shore. Radwan Hallaba,
> >the sweep boater landed on river left and quickly climbed out onto the log.
> >He held the woman’s head above water until reinforcements arrived from
> >downstream. With the additional manpower they were able to release the
> >boat. The woman was shaken, but able to paddle out.
> >
> >A single-person oar raft missed an eddy and was flipped by a river-wide
> >strainer on Tumwater Canyon of Washington’s Wenachee River on August 30th.
> >This steep, class V run was carrying 1250 cfs, a low but prudent level. As
> >the boat went over the rafter’s legs became entangled. When the raft hung
> >up under the log it left him hanging in the current with his head barely
> >above the surface. His friends supported his body and took over 15 minutes
> >to free him. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
> >The raft was released from the strainer the next day.
> >A channel cut below the powerhouse at Thunder Rock carries water to the
> >Lower Ocoee River in Tennessee Crede Calhoun reported to rec.boats.paddle
> >that a very nasty hole is created when water from the Upper Ocoee drops
> >into this channel. He witnessed a female boater get trashed and
> >recirculated there. A companion made a daring boat rescue and plucked her
> >from the hole. An article in the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club Newsletter
> >reports a similar incident in which throw ropes were required to get the
> >paddler out. Several rafts also got stuck here and needed ropes to escape
> >also.
> >A New Hampshire man almost drowned after falling out of a commercial raft
> >at Little Poplar Hill Falls on the Dead River in Maine. This is one of the
> >fall high-water weekends when 5500 cfs is let go, turning the Dead into a
> >wild big-water roller coaster.  He was one of four paddlers who fell out of
> >the boat. Three were plucked from the river by their guide, but David
> >Thompson, 31, was recirculated in a hole. Guides from another company
> >pulled him from the river and began rescue breathing. An ambulance was
> >called; Thompson was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and
> >released.
> >Rescue Magazine reported that on the afternoon of October 6 three
> >individuals, paddling a tandem canoe and a kayak, accidentally ran the 30’
> >Sandstone Falls on the New River downstream of Hinton, WV. Two managed to
> >swim to shore, but a third was trapped at on a rock in a narrow chute at
> >the base of the falls. For nine hours NPS Rangers, rescue squad personnel,
> >and a Coast Guard helicopter attempted to reach him. The rescue was only
> >completed after the corps of engineers closed all the gates at Bluestone
> >Dam, lowering the water level enough that a park ranger could reach him by
> >boat.
> >
> >American Whitewater’s Steve Taylor, who serves as a liaison between the
> >paddling community and law enforcement authorities on the Lower Potomac
> >near Washington from Great Falls to Tidewater, reported a very unsettling
> >incident. The river rose sharply following heavy rains, then dropped to 6’
> >on November 11th, veteran’s day. A kayaker, wearing only light polypro and
> >no paddle jacket, flipped and swam the entire S-Turn and Mather Gorge from
> >the Observation Deck put-in below Great Falls, a distance of several miles.
> >The gorge is sheer-walled and the rapids, though not difficult, are fast
> >and squirrelly at these flows. His buddy was unable to rescue him and ended
> >up swimming also! The first swimmer ended up at the old George Washington
> >Canal cut where a climber found him barely able to move.
> >
> >The climber ran to the ticket booth and reported that he had found a
> >kayaker who was so cold he was delirious that he could not stand! The park
> >rangers called 911. This brings out a number of different rescue squads,
> >not to mention the newspapers! The rescue squads found the paddler’s
> >kayaks; the boaters themselves walked out under their own power and refused
> >assistance. But some very negative stories were published in the local
> >papers and heard on the radio the next day.
> >
> >Taylor writes, “Even the best of us occasionally swim. However, turning a
> >simple swim into a 911 incident by failing to wear cold weather gear has
> >consequences far beyond the immediate technical and medical ones. Just as a
> >wilderness river poses added risks due to its isolation, a river near a
> >large city has added problems due to its visibility. In this case, these
> >consequences included having to deal with the authorities, reporters, and
> >the general public who may think this sort of problem is typical. We must
> >therefore always be on the lookout for, and advise aggressively, any
> >inexperienced boater who appears to be headed for trouble.”
> >
> >Will Reeves from Clemson University forwarded a report of a rescue made by
> >a group of friends while making a low water (1.2) run of  Section IV of the
> >Chatooga River. This river forms the northern border between Georgia and
> >South Carolina. It is known for its bizarre rock formations. At the end of
> >Jawbone Rapid there is a large rock with a hole through it. Many people
> >have swum through “Hydroelectric Rock”, but there’s always a concern that
> >it could become blocked with debris. Tricky currents just upstream and
> >bigger drops farther above make the drop difficult.
> >
> >Reeve’s friends had just run the rapid after setting throw ropes at the
> >bottom. They were getting ready to leave when they heard a call for help.
> >Running upriver, they saw a woman pinned against Hydro. Her kayak was
> >jammed in the hole stern-first! She was stable for the time being, but it
> >was a precarious situation. The group was worried that she could slip
> >farther back into the hole. One person threw a rope right to her, and while
> >another person downstream got out of his boat and set up a rope to act as
> >safety backup. By this time others had arrived. It took four people to pull
> >her upstream, out of the hole. They ferried her boat to one side and
> >lowered her into a side chute so she could complete the drop.  Their fast
> >actions kept a dangerous situation from getting out of control.
> >
> >Help us learn from your experiences. Send your accounts of near-misses to
> >Charlie Walbridge, American Whitewater Safety Committee, 230 Penllyn Pike,
> >Blue Bell, PA 19422 phone 215-646-0157; fax 215-643-0668; email: Cwal_at_
> >Compuserve.com. If they are well written, send them directly to the editor
> >of American Whitewater.