Boise County Sheriff Sgt. George Erskine said the man was operating a 16-foot cataraft at Jaws Rapids about 20 miles north of Horseshoe Bend when he was thrown from the raft and into the river at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The man, described as an expert rafter, floated downstream for almost a mile before other boaters pulled him to shore. Emergency workers and boaters performed CPR for an hour before the man was pronounced dead at the scene, Erskine said.
The man´s name was withheld Saturday night pending notification of relatives.
He had 25 years of whitewater experience and was wearing a life jacket, helmet and wet suit, Erskine said. He was boating with a large group of friends.
It was the man´s first trip on the North Fork, where the rapids have an advanced-level rating of Class V. The North Fork is described by guidebooks and experts as boulder-dense and horizontal with steep drops.
Saturday´s accident was the second drowning on the Payette in 10 days.
On Aug. 14, a 27-year-old New Zealand woman drowned while rafting the Class IV Staircase Rapids on the South Fork of the Payette. Caroline Granger was with her sister and a friend in an inflatable kayak when she fell out of the craft and into the water. The three women were not wearing life jackets or helmets.
On Aug. 16, 1999, a 30-year-old man died while kayaking the North Fork of the Payette below Smiths Ferry. The man, Richard Thomas Carson, was a Briton working in Memphis, Tenn., at the time of the fatal accident.
Kayak instructors offer the following tips for river
paddling:
Nicholas Conant of Coeur d´Alene was operating a
16-foot cataraft at Jaws Rapids about 20
miles north of Horseshoe Bend when he was thrown from
the raft and into the river at about
10:30 a.m., according to Boise County officials.
Conant, described as an expert rafter, floated
downstream for almost a mile before other
boaters pulled him to shore. Emergency workers and
boaters performed CPR for an hour
before Conant was pronounced dead at the scene.
Conant had 25 years of whitewater experience and was
wearing a life jacket, helmet and wet
suit. He was boating with friends, officials said. The
North Fork´s rapids have an
advanced-level rating of Class V.
Saturday´s accident was the second drowning in the
Payette in 10 days. On Aug. 14, a
27-year-old New Zealand woman drowned while rafting the
Class IV Staircase Rapids on the
South Fork of the Payette.
Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 08-26-2002
The group was divided into two groups of four. Both groups pulled
into the eddy at Jaws to decide which run to take. The group decided
the left hand run would be the best one to take. Two of us had done
the left side the night before. And I had done it the weekend before.
The moves for the left-hand run were explained to everyone in the
group and all said they understood them.
I am still working on what exactly happened next. But I do know that
the set of moves to run the left side was not followed, leading to
the accident. I have seen 10 different boaters run the left side of
Jaws in the last few days. The moves required to run the left side of
Jaws is in my opinion, very sound ones. I am not going to describe
the details of this accident on this message board out of respect for
the people involved.
The decision to run the NF is a personal one. At this time I am
asking myself a lot of what if's. But it's too late for that now.
Everyone in the group accepted the risks they were taking. Did
everyone completely understand the consequences of those risks? Only
each person can answer that question.
I hope this helps some of you with the question you have. Some might
say that the NF should not be run. Maybe, maybe not, maybe we should
not skydive, race cars, or bungie jump off bridges. The decision to
do these things is a personal one. Sometimes these choices end in
tragedy and we have to live with them.
They just announced the name of the victim on the T.V. MY thoughts
and sorrow go out to my Friend Roger, the father of the victim and
his family.
Chuck
Caroline Granger was with her sister and a friend about 2 p.m. when
she fell out of an inflatable kayak, hit her head on a rock and disappeared under the water,
according to Dennis Putnam of the Boise County coroner´s office.
None of the women were wearing a life jacket or helmet. The three were riding in a kayak
designed to hold two adults. Authorities didn´t know whether the women bought or rented the
kayak.
The two women who survived told rescuers they had expected the stretch to be similar to the
Boise River. Instead, it offered Class IV rapids that are challenging even for experienced
kayakers.
“Had I seen someone on the river without a helmet and life jacket, I would have pulled them
out,” said Tom Long, owner of Cascade Raft and Kayak. “Very seldom do I see people on the
river without life jackets.
“All trips should be guided up there,” said Long, who helped retrieve Granger´s body from
the river. “It´s a very forgiving section of river if you´re prepared. It´s very dangerous if you´re
not.”
Experienced boaters on the Payette usually stop people who seem ill-prepared for the
advanced-level rapids, he said, but traffic on the river Wednesday was much lower than
usual.
Long, who has 25 years of experience as an outfitter and rafting and kayaking instructor,
said he believes a good life jacket and helmet would have saved Granger´s life.
Such accidents are typically called “flush drownings,” he said, because the person dies after
hitting his or her head, losing consciousness, going underwater and drowning.
The Boise County Sheriff´s Office responded to the accident, along with several Payette
River outfitters. The outfitters frequently assist in such emergencies because of their
experience and familiarity with the river.
Granger´s body floated about a half-mile before it was pulled from the river about 10 feet
before the start of the Slalom Rapids, Putnam said.
Boise County Coroner Larry Abbott said Granger apparently was riding backward in the
kayak, facing the other women, when she fell into the water and hit her head.
Authorities were not sure how the surviving women made it to shore. The women were in
shock after the accident, but told authorities they encountered a boater after Granger fell
backward into the water, and that they rode to shore with the boater.
Staircase Rapids was changed by mudslides in late fall 2001 and during the winter. Shifting
silt and rocks changed some of its nuances. But outfitters say the rapids´ trademark features
— rocky terrain and shallow spots — are still a strong part of the Staircase profile.
Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 08-15-2002
The body of a Portland woman was recovered Sunday from the frigid waters of
the South Fork of the Boise River after a rafting trip turned deadly.
Amy Gerver, 41, was one of two people who died during the spring outing in
the river's rocky, steep canyon. The body of Robert Russell Campbell, 58, of
Boise was found Saturday, after a raft carrying four people flipped over.
Two Boiseans -- Jim Bigelow, 49, and Molly O'Leary, 48 -- made it to shore
and were rescued.
The party's raft overturned about 3 p.m. Saturday below Little Fiddler
Creek, about halfway through the 16-mile canyon stretch below the Danskin
Bridge launch point. The bridge is about 10 miles downstream from Anderson
Ranch Dam, which is a 75-minute drive from Boise.
"They happened to hit a rock and flipped over," said Toni Noland of Elmore
County Search and Rescue. "They all hung on to the raft. They went through a
couple more rapids."
The rafters were wearing life vests, helmets and wet suits. But rescuers
believe the victims suffered from hypothermia, she said.
Bigelow, an experienced rafter, told Jim Noland, director of Elmore County
Search and Rescue, "I yelled to everybody to abandon ship and head for the
shore."
Bigelow and O'Leary made it and were on the bank about 45 minutes to an hour
before they were picked up by another boat.
People in a second raft with the rescue party came upon Campbell about 1 or
2 miles downstream and tried to revive him, but he was dead.
They reached Neal Bridge, at the end of the canyon, and the search began for
Gerver.
About 25 people joined the search by boat, light airplane, helicopter and on
foot. They were from the Elmore and Ada counties sheriff's offices, Elmore
County Search and Rescue, Civil Air Patrol, Mountain Home Air Force Base's
Outdoor Adventure Program and the Idaho Army National Guard. Residents of
Prairie also helped.
Searchers in a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter were unable to spot
Gerver's body with night vision goggles at 2 a.m. Sunday, but found it about
8:30 a.m. on a later trip. The body was wedged under a log in the river.
Two Guardsmen dropped down about 6 feet from the chopper and stayed with the
body until rafters with the Mountain Home AFB group came by and took them
out.
The victims most likely drowned, Elmore County Sheriff's Deputy Donnie
LaBelle said.
No autopsy will be performed, he said.
Several boats were waiting at the Danskin launch point to run the canyon
stretch when rescuers arrived Sunday morning.
The flow is 1,600 cubic feet per second.
I suggest everyone spend a few minutes on the river discussing a plan for
handling what the river throws at us: flips, high sides, falling out, etc.
best regards,
Jim Bigelow
The body of Patrick Gildea, 16, was found floating west of Indian Creek. Gildea has been
missing since being pushed into the Snake River near the Lunch Counter rapids south of Jackson
on July 3, 1999.
• Prepare for cold. Even a hot day doesn´t noticeably
change the water temperature of most
area rivers. Dress in layers.
• Have a working knowledge of any river or lake before
boating, or travel with an experienced
guide.
• Use a proper life jacket at all times.
• Don´t drink alcohol.
• Don´t take on stretches of river for which you´re not
qualified.
Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 08-25-2002
Catarafter who drowned identified
Authorities have identified the 35-year-old North Idaho
man who drowned Saturday morning
while rafting in the North Fork of the Payette River.
I was one of the members of the group on that trip.
Questions are
being asked about the accident. Out of respect for the family I will
not go into details of what happened yet. I will answer a few of the
questions being asked as to the ability of the boaters on the trip.
Four of the boaters are highly experienced, class 5 boaters. They
have all ran the NF top to bottom, lower half, and lower five miles
for over 10 years. This group has thousands of miles and I mean
thousands of miles of backcountry, class 4 + and class 5 runs under
their belts. The other four were new to the NF, but had the
experience to accept the challenges of the NF. Two in this group had
run the lower Five with us the night before.
New Zealand visitor drowns in Idaho rapids
Kayaker hit her head on a rock; friend, sister OK
A 27-year-old New Zealand woman who was visiting her sister in
Boise drowned Wednesday in the treacherous Staircase Rapids
stretch of the South Fork of the Payette River.
2001 Idaho Boating Fatalities
South Fork raft trip kills two
Portland woman, Boise man likely hit by hypothermia
By Charles Etlinger
The Idaho Statesman
"Either way, it was accidental," he said.
He said Campbell also had floated the river before.
Jim Noland said that although the water is very cold, it is popular with
boaters.
"The river looks really good. It's not too low, not too high. The
temperature is the biggest danger," he said.
Noland advised river runners to wear a dry suit to keep them warmer should
they overturn, and to go in a group with more than one boat to rescue
floaters or to go for help should they capsize.
The Idaho Statesman article about the drowning on the South Fork of the
Boise (http://www.webpak.net/~rafter/01fatal.htm) is accurate. I do suggest
an addition to the advice of Jim Noland at the end of the article -- always
have a plan appropriate for the conditions. Had we agreed upon a plan for
flipping in 35 degree water, such as swim for shore -- and followed it --
Russ and Amy might still be with us today.
Body in Palisades Reservoir identified as teen pushed into river
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) - Lincoln County, Wyo., officials have identified a body found in
Palisades Reservoir Idaho's Sunday as a Jackson teen missing for nearly two years.
Andrew Smith of Jackson was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in January 2000 for Gildea's
death and sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Gildea and a friend were throwing fish at Smith's raft as he was going through the rapids.
Smith then pushed both boys into the water. The other teen made it to shore, but Gildea never
resurfaced.
Smith later said in court documents that he did not mean to hurt the boys, but just wanted to
embarrass them.
Lincoln County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Malik said search teams had been searching for Gildea's body
again just a few weeks ago.
"He just turned up in a place where no one expected him," he said.
Patrick would have graduated Friday from high school, with a little luck, said his mother,
Kathy Gildea. Patrick had attention deficit disorder, and school was a challenge for him.
At graduation, his 150 classmates paid tribute to Patrick. And after graduation, his friends
presented Patrick's mother with his 2001 tassel. Several days later, the county coroner
presented Kathy with a tennis shoe. Not the one that had been kicked off in his struggle to
stay afloat, but the other one.
"The river was giving back something that needed to be given back so people could put it to
rest," she said. "The river does not always do that."