Swift water rescue on MSNBC video - Page 2

gh · 11-30-2006

Smokey, I was the only one that had commented on the video up to that point. If you werent referring to me then your right and I apologize.

Smokey Carter · 11-30-2006

I think I need to preface this conversation which I didn't and should have. Sorry about that. My parents actually witnessed this fiasco because they were driving past and saw an empty boat floating down the river (below the scene). My sister jumped out and grabbed it and they drove the boat back to the site where they then witnessed CF's herorics. Plus this video doesn't actually show the whole scene, which is a shame. The CBS one did.

Conrad happened to be up in Banks looking for an X-mas tree. He was stopped at Banks store when he got the call. He quickly grabbed a ducky, threw on a lifejacket and helmet, and caught this tiny little eddy in front of that rock. He was facing downstream and backpaddled towards the pinned boater, yelling at her nicely to hold the stern of the ducky so he could get out and pull her off. She was stable enough and aware enough to hold the boat while he crawled back and pulled her off. Pretty sick.

More info: http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/61800.html

fatyak · 12-02-2006

Here's a link to an AP page I got of the PDX boater page that shows a lot more of the rescue. You can see the water pounding against her back, her grabbing the raft, and how shallow the water is and how close she and the rescuer are to shore afterwards. Great footage, great rescue!

http://tinyurl.com/yxsqnq

Gary E · 12-02-2006

Conrad and I paddled together on the nf of the payette this year. He is awesome and fun to watch when the shit hits the fan. I wondered the same thing about the rescue crews and why things took Conrad to make this happen in 2+ water, no real whitewater or hazzards below. Glad he was there. From the sounds of what went down, Conrad said he had to pull her 3 times as she was pinned hard. Momentum was the reason he couldn't hold the boat. As most of you probably know, when extracting a hard pin by pulling you have to commit all your weight to go where you want the boat to go. Great Job brotha, see you when the payette goes big in the spring.

Gary