-- Last Updated: Apr-05-06 1:46 PM EST --
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06095/679439-140.stm
Click the link below the picture for descriptions of the proposed changes.
Donât know the precautions
the State is going to advise be put in place but;having rafted with Laural Highlands 3x on this river I agree with the last sentence.
People need to understand the Yough isnât like an amusement park ride.
Sounds like a lot of folks studied all options and decided-for once- to leave nature alone and concentrate,instead, on the human factor.
Ever since summer 2000âŚ
the State revists this the beginning of each season on the Yough. I donât think that the State is ever going to alter the river in any way. If they do alter dimple or the river, suddenly they ARE liable for any mishaps. I think the DCNR will close the river before they change itâs flow. I really feel for the families that have lost loved ones, but as previously mentioned, whitewater is NOT a amusement park and nature can be dangerous.
-MEAT
PA ignors main human factorâŚ
Ohiopyleâs business model is pretty much the cause of most fatalities on the Lower Yough. You can have as many safety videos and warning signs as you like, but as long as the outfitters continue to make $$$$ by sending tens of thousands of unguided novices down the river, there will be deaths.
Pretty much every time Iâm on that run during the tourist season, I wind up pulling a bruised/bloodied raft customer out of the water below Dimple. On a summer Saturday, you can eat lunch at Swimmerâs (playhole a couple hundred yards below Dimple) and watch a steady stream of raft paddles, empty rafts, and bug eyed swimmers drift by on river right. Or if youâre into carnage, you can eddy out across from Dimple and watch all the raft and duck flips.
Itâs not the rapidâs fault - itâs a straightforward class 3 move. Itâs the fault of the outfitters whose idea of a âguidedâ trip is 30 rafts with one guide in the lead boat who stops at each drop, stands on a rock, and pantomimes directions to the clueless passengers.
In a way, itâs a testament to how forgiving that run really is that more tourists havenât died there.
I have not been up there in
about 30 years, but thats exactly how I remember it, except we had a guy in kayak in the lead doing the pantomime. Inexperienced touristas think they canât get hurt in a raft and generally pay no attention to pre launch saftey talks to boot.
There areâŚ
There are inherent risks & possible natural consequences for those who engage in whitewater paddling of any sort, be it canoe, kayak, duckie or raft.
Signs, videos, assumption of risk waviers & verbal/written warnings will not stop the flow of moving water, nor will they stop the flow of tourists looking for cheap thrills in rafts.
The ones I really hate to see are the family groups in rafts on class 3 & class 4 whitewater with little kids. Some of the rafts are self guided & Dad âdoesnât have a clueâ! Will never forget the look of terror in the eyes of kids Iâve pulled out of the water after their rafts had capsized, and dads & moms were barely able to help themselves, much less the kids.
Some people âjust donât get itâ.
BOB
I have intimate experience at Dimples
I guided in the '70s, hard-boated, and now occasionally raft with friends (and former guides).
I helped evacuate a drowning victim from Dimples - this was before the days of the rail-trail and easy access. This victim was in a group of experienced private rafters, and she simply rolled off the upstream side of the raft as it tipped against the pillow.
Two summers ago I watched in horror from river right as a commercial group ran the rapid. Back in the day, we metered out the customerâs rafts, with a guide standing on Dimples giving hand signals and standing by to physically push rafts off the rock. A safety kayak stood by just downstream and another guide was down at Swimmers. But this particular company simply let all the rafts go at their own convenience. The result was a monumental pile-up, throwlines everywhere, at least a half-dozen swimmers, and tragically, one customer suffering a heart attack and death. While the death was not directly due to the poor guiding practices, one wonders if the guy (who was over 400#) had not been thrown from the raft if he would be alive today.
But I agree that doing nothing is the best alternative.
Jim
Maybe things hsve changedâŚ
But during the summers of '96, '97, and '98, I ran a program out of a local Boy Scout camp and ran the lower Yough every Thursday for 9 weeks each summer. I was always gone on a âguidedâ trip with one of the local outfitters. This usually meant about 25-30 rafts (4-5 people per raft), maybe 5-6 guides in kayaks, 2 guides each in a shredder, and 2 guides in rafts with other paddlers. We entered Dimple exactly as Jim described it. One guide let boats go one at a time, One guide on Dimple rock giving hand signals, and pushing off wayward rafts. Many guides on shore with throw lines, and many kayaker guides in water below the rapid. Yeah, one or two rafts always flipped. This was usually people not willing to paddle hard. Dimple is a finese rapid in a raft. You canât paddle too soon or two late. You have to enter the rapid with your raft a 2:00 until you hit the channel right infront of Dimple rock, then paddle like hell past it turn left, paddle like hell again, then turn right. I have never witnessed a guided trip that just let boaters run Dimple, but it has been 8 years, things may have changed. Now, outfitters also just rent equipment to boaters to just go down on their own. Who knows how well these people know how to paddle. I think a lot of people go on a guided trip, then think they can just raft it on their own the following summer. Usually not the best idea. Dimple is tricky but there is a fantastic portage on the left hand side and no lack of warnings (one at the outfitters, a video at the put in, and signs on the river). Paddle at your own risk.
-MEAT
The issue of modifying the notorious Dimple Rock in the popular Class 3-4 âLowerâ run of Pennsylvaniaâs Youghiogheny river has arisen again in a news item yesterday with the jury ruling issued in an inquest into a rafting outfitterâs client death last summer (in a raft with no on-board guide). They have suggested the âoffendingâ boulder should be moved or modified to eliminate the hazard. (I doubt even experts could predict how this might affect the route.)
They did tighten some rules after previous deaths here (itâs a badly undercut boulder at a chute where the wrong entry line almost guarantees a flip, with two other entrapment sites in the flow just past it). Having done this section myself (in kayaks) I admit I question why outfitter rafts are allowed without a guide or certified experienced rafter on board. And I question why this group with no on-board guide was allowed to be the FIRST raft to enter this rapid, which all guides know is the most dangerous on this section of river. When I was a guide I would never allow clients to go ahead of me or another guide, whether on a hiking trail, snow route or water. Especially on water, where a guide would always pass through a section first to show the line and then turn in the next eddy or flat section to watch the subsequent craft come through so we could react promptly to observe and rescue any paddler ejections.
I have to admit I am uneasy about the idea of deliberately modifying a natural feature because of accidents surrounding it. That might open up some real environmental and legal cans of worms. Lawsuits could allege because you âcanâ modify wild landscapes to âeliminate hazardsâ, failure to do so would leave those who own or oversee them liable to negligence or âwrongful deathâ suits. I know from my years with outfitters that the âwaiverâ forms that we had all clients sign (acknowledging that they understood they were participating in a potentially dangerous activity in a natural environment) would NOT really protect us if someone got hurt, even if it was due to their own stupidity or failure to follow instructions.
There was a notorious court case in 1989 against Yvon Chouinardâs pre-Patagonia climbing gear company that forced him into bankruptcy. Suits with huge settlements were won by people who mis-used equipment purchased from them. And juries have awarded settlements to people who ignored warnings about climbing over cliff railings or who actually illegally trespassed on property and hurt themselves.
On one hand, Iâd like to see small to moderate size low head dams on US rivers converted to navigable weirs (like they use in Europe). However, though that is modifying an existing human built infrastructure, it might predictably lead to pressure to convert existing natural rapids to weirs by justifying it as a âsafety measureâ.
I wonder how my fellow paddlers feel about a potential trend of âsafe-teningâ the natural landscape.
The Chouinard outcome:
Show me a class II plus river in the mountains and I can probably show you similar rocks like Dimple Rock. Are going to go around and blast rocks away to make then âsaferâ?
The original idea of a portage path is the right move and during the pre-float safety talk, the use of it should be encouraged, if not manditory for inexperienced paddlers, EVEN IN A RAFT. I spent a lot of time on the Yough when I was younger and people think nothing can happen to them in a raft, so they get a false sense of security, especially once they have made it through a few minor rapids. Sometimes this leads to bad things happening. Usually not fatal, but I have pulled people out with concussions and broken bones.
Bottom line is these people are apprised of the risks, sign waivers and guides provide reasonable levels of preparation and direction on the water. Beyond that, if someone elects to take on something over their skill level, its on them.
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