A couple of weeks ago we took a couple we are acquainted with paddling on a local lake. Dan was all stoked about a bluegrass festival that was going to have a kayak race through some Class 4-5 waters in Hope Alaska. I told him I do not paddle whitewater and that Six Mile Creek is for expert paddlers only. I told him I planned to paddle out in Western Prince William Sound and he was welcome to come along. Things turned out pretty well for us. My dog caught herself a 5 lb salmon. Things turned out not so good for Daniel https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/2017/08/15/daring-rescue-on-six-mile-creek-caught-on-video/
I just watched this video yesterday on Mountain Buzz. Yikes. I’m glad it all ended up ok, but what a scary thing to watch. He should have been with you & Paris instead of trying to paddle Class IV/V whitewater in a rec kayak, wearing chest waders.
Although a rescuer was able to temporarily stabilize the swimmer, two things very nearly certain. The swimmer was absolutely unable to hear any of those instructions shouted to him, and having would be rescuers doing nothing but shouting instructions was a waste of time and manpower. Secondly, when a swimmer is pinned in current that strong, extraction requires applying an upstream force. Just like a key going into a lock, the only way the key is likely to come out intact is directly back out in the direction it came.
The guy who heroically did the strong swimmer rescue eventually figured that out, but it took some time. That was a scenario in which a Type V PFD with a quick release belt could have been used to good effect. The strong swimmer could tether on a rope attached to his PFD and be belayed by a couple of other rescuers on shore. That might have allowed the rescuer to grab hold of the pinned swimmer and allow him to be extracted in an upstream direction by the on-shore rescuers pulling on the rope.
As it turned out, the swimmer was able to grab on to the swimmer’s upper body and pivot him over the log, extracting his legs, but that involved a good deal of luck.
I am rather speechless that individuals would loan gear to someone to paddle this type of water when he was very clearly unprepared for it.
@pblanc said:
I am rather speechless that individuals would loan gear to someone to paddle this type of water when he was very clearly unprepared for it.
The rescuer was using borrowed gear.
The article does not say anything about the rescued person using borrowed gear. From the description of his gear, I doubt that his gear was borrowed from any white water paddlers.
@pblanc said:
I am rather speechless that individuals would loan gear to someone to paddle this type of water when he was very clearly unprepared for it.
The rescuer was using borrowed gear.
The article does not say anything about the rescued person using borrowed gear. From the description of his gear, I doubt that his gear was borrowed from any white water paddlers.
Wow. That was a real poop-in-chute pin. I lost a good friend to a submerged root ball in something like that once–and my friend was a VERY experienced Cl.V paddler who just went down the wrong line ) Not for nuthin’, I’m sure you probably told him he didn’t have the skill set to be in such water, but did you mention a rec boat has no business being used there either? (Not forking any blame here, just curious about how he responded to your original warning.)
@spiritboat said:
Wow. That was a real poop-in-chute pin. I lost a good friend to a submerged root ball in something like that once–and my friend was a VERY experienced Cl.V paddler who just went down the wrong line ) Not for nuthin’, I’m sure you probably told him he didn’t have the skill set to be in such water, but did you mention a rec boat has no business being used there either? (Not forking any blame here, just curious about how he responded to your original warning.)
@spiritboat said:
Wow. That was a real poop-in-chute pin. I lost a good friend to a submerged root ball in something like that once–and my friend was a VERY experienced Cl.V paddler who just went down the wrong line ) Not for nuthin’, I’m sure you probably told him he didn’t have the skill set to be in such water, but did you mention a rec boat has no business being used there either? (Not forking any blame here, just curious about how he responded to your original warning.)
Kind of blew me off but I did not think he was going to try this in his rec boat.
glad it worked out, I saw plenty I liked and plenty I didn’t like with the rescue- while the footage was neat to see, sometimes you have to put down the camera and become involved. I don’t know if the person filming could have assisted with a tag line or stabilization line (being on river right and the other rescuers were on river left might have been very beneficial) or if the person filming had any rescue knowledge to assist. But there’s definately a time to put the camera down and get involved. Kudos for someone getting a rope to the victim quickly, and for the decision of another “to go” when things got critical. Overall, I think a sense of urgency was missing by some participants in the rescue and little coordination going on but I’m sure it felt totally different in the moment. No so much a criticism as an observation.
The person who actually got pinned was going for a darwin award. He simply doesn’t know what he’s doing, literally in over his head. Most of us have done something stupid at some point and gotten away with it. Unfortunately, as the environment gets more demanding things don’t always end so well when both judgement and skill are lacking. To his credit, he had a pfd on and at least wore some sort of helmet, way better than nothing. The whole thing reminds me that I need to take a river rescue class again.
Saw Daniel this morning. He is recovered. Invited him to do a class 1 float in a duckie. He politely declined. Still sore from having ribs broke during cpr.
