It truly is not my intent to make this situation even more difficult or painful for those close to it, nor to question the legitimacy of safety talks and single out this one company, etc. in this situation, but I want to address a couple of points to clarify my opinion.
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What do you propose the add should say "Death Ride- You’ll Never Come Back"? The fat of the matter is that there has NEVER been a commercial death on the upper until now.
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It would certainly be appropriate in this case, now wouldn't it? That is exactly what it was for one paying customer. But I am not suggesting that. I am suggesting it irresponsible for companies to even book class V trips and take money from people who really, despite the intensity and warnings of safety talks, don't understand what it means for them when their guide has a bad day at work or they, the customer, are like most and can't paddle worth a shit or when shit just happens. The fact of the matter is that everybody has bad days at work and it is not an issue of if you ever flip a raft in your life it is an issue of when. The fact of the matter is that this will not be the last commercial death in rafting either - somebody taking sombodies money who they know has not the experience to be on the water and is trusting in luck. Custy's have died in Fractions, Brown's, etc. Class V is a big jump up from either one of those streches as are the risks to a customer if they are in the water. Class V guides are very good and very competant rafters and I am not suggesting otherwise in this case. But they are good from their experiences, their years on the river in that enviornment. A customer has no such experience - they are taking a far more dangerous gamble with their lives than they truly understand, safety talk or no safety talk and somebody is taking their money to do this to them; to expose them to risks they will only truly appreciate from years on the river and I guarantee you if most actually understood the risks and experienced nasty swims, which are inevitable for somebody - it will happen on commercial trips the question being who - their would be a lot less class V trips booked.
Further, a couple hours of throwbag experience and practicing the whitewater swim position in much calmer water is hardly a replacement for a nasty thrashing, the experience that gives one and the power and knowledge it provides that person to make a truly informed decision on what they are getting themselves into. I am not questioning this one companies procedures, with the exception of sending an R-1 down and calling it a safety boat, or their intent to make very clear to the customers the risks, or the quality of rafter that Darrel or other class V guides are - I am questioning putting amatures into expert conditions, expert conditions that in every other element of boating the people are there through years of experience and would not be there otherwise. How many yakers go practice kayaking and swimming mild whitewater for a couple of hours and then go tackle rivers like this? They don't, and if they suggested such on this site they would be harshly chastized, because they would be swimming it. A swim with a competant class V guide for any one particular customer is hardly inevitable and dosen't mean that the raft has become unusable at that point like it does with a kayak, I understand this, but a swim for a non particualr customer is inevitable. It happens, it will continue to happen.
Ask yourself this. Of those that apparently understood the risk and real danger of swimming such water from a phone conversation and a pre trip safety meeting that were in the same raft but manged to get to shore, do you think they have their next adrenline wild whitewater trip booked for next summer yet? I would suggest that they will probably never set foot in a raft again after having experienced what it means to swim such water and witnessed how merciless it can be instead of just being told about it.
I certainly know more than one kayaker that has stepped up to class IV after some time on the river, have taken quite the thrashing in a swim and has either never gotten back on the water or never back onto that level of water.
I am not suggesting that this or any other company does not do their best to explain the risks involved - I am saying that despite those best efforts a customer is highly unlikely to truly understand and accept them. And we all know this - it is not the fault of outfitter or guide or customer; it is merely reality. Customers see some XTerra commercial, think they just rafted some gnarly class IV through Brown's, etc. and do not think the risk that something bad can happen to them is as real as we who have daily river experience do. Those of us who have experience on the river have a much better understanding of our vulnerability to the river than a customer does or ever will through our experiences. It is with that knowledge that we make our decisions and it is with that lack of knowledge that a customer makes theirs - and companies knowingly take money from people to put them in that sitaution, where they are truly unaware, banking on the skills of their guides and the chance of bad things not happening. Bad thigs do and will happen and a hapless customer is at a much, much greater risk swimming in class V than say swimming Zoom Flume. Raft company owners love rafting and tend to be pretty cool folks - but they are in it to make money and even though most would be/are selective with who they let on such trips and no doubt turn away money from such trips, the fact remains they are profitting from putting people into situations that they know do not fully understand or appreciate the true risks of what they are doing and lack any experience to handle themselves when shit goes bad. I think that wrong - both in a responsibility for customer safety sense and an ethical one. Merely my opinion.
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Cat,what tourist(rafter)really does understand the risk? 5% maybe 6%,come on man...I started out rafting and took a few beatings and we tip you guides for them,I never had a heavy beating until I got in the water everyday...
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That is my point dude. They are making an uniformed decision and somebody is taking their money as they do it and is in many ways encouraging it. And somebody is now dead. We can only specualte, but I truly believe that if most people knew the actual risks and dangers and difficulties that exsist surviving in a flipped raft situation in class V and what it was actually like to swim those types of waters, hell if they swam Brown's at high water, they would not be there. I would also be willing to bet that the vast majority of customers that have ended up swimming such water probably have not been rafting on class V again as they had the fear of god put into them unlike what a safety talk can do. It became very real, their understanding of what the brief talk was all about. Exceptions - sure. There are exceptions to everything.
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The raft company gave the safety talks and directions like they and all the others have done a million times,and now this time it was'nt enough for us as paddlers to except?Come on!
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That is not what it is about for me, and although easy to say now, my opinion would be/was exactly the same despite this incident. Class V guides are typically very quality boaters and they (guides and companies) take precautions and exhibit discretion on who they allow on such trips and I have no doubt that that is true with these parties. Amatures do not belong on class V water, especially when they are there through paying somebody with catchy phrases to take them there that understands what they (the customer) does not understand. Again, nothing more than my opinion.
And again, look at the comments in the article of one who went through such safety talks and milo's conversation with one of them after the experience and I ask you the same question of whether or not you think the people who were in the flipped raft that made it out of the water have their spot reserved for another wild whitewater adrenaline rush trip next summer? Do you think they will even ever go rafting again? I don't.
Two people are dead. And I think it very safe to say that one of those people knew not the risk they were exposing themself to by rafting the Upper A - you pay somebody some money and you are safe. Fuck 'em eh? Their tough shit for wanting an adrenaline rush. Their choice. More appropriately, their uninformed choice. That is my issue.
Enough said by me on this subject and I am not pulling some I told you so attitude or trying to imply that this company is not selective on who they allow on such trips and who they allow to guide such trips. I also understand that the chances are that such trips are going to end up just fine with everyone having a great time. It is industry wide - exposing amatures that have no appreciation for the real risks of class IV+/V water that kills advanced and expert boaters every year. Amatures have no business being put into such situations, situations where they will only gain very real information to be able to make a truly informed decision on what risks they are willing to take through years of experience that they do not have, for the sake of a fucking dollar bill.
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