Mountain Buzz banner

Opinions on new Lower Animas features?

Tags
animas
11K views 45 replies 23 participants last post by  Brookey 
#1 ·
I went to the white water play park to check out the new features on the Lower Animas yesterday (3/19 at 1300 cfs) and people were standing around giving major side eye to the flows. What do you think Durango/visitor people? Are you happy, curious, sad, worried? IS that a sinker hole after the first drop?
 
#2 ·
I went through at 650cfs. Had to go far river left still. Current tries to suck you into the big eddy on river left. You have to push pretty good to stay right and hit the next two drops. They are abrupt and steep but smoother than I had thought they would be. I haven't been out since but am anxious to see how they develop at higher flows. I could see them being very sticky above 3000cfs. Kinda hard to hit the drops square when you're trying to push right... I don't think the parks and rec dept. gave much thought to river users. They just wanted more intake flow for the shit plant. And what are they doing down at ponderosa? I've seen an excavator with a big cutoff wheel cutting the cemented in boulders... Seems like they just keep fucking up our little whitewater park every time they try and change it.
 
#4 ·
Boat type?



What kind of boat were you floating? I am not sure what is up with Pondy. It will be interesting to see everyone trying to set up after all that to avoid a lateral hit. Also, there are a ton of bags above 9th street bridge on river right extending almost to the middle of the river...Does anyone know what is happening with that?
 
#15 ·
Missed opportunity

Yeah no matter what it's like it beats the Shit out of the mean trick they(CDOT and mostly the railroad) pulled in Palisade. They had a golden opportunity when the Price Stubbs lowhead damn had to be refitted with a fish ladder. A whitewater park was part of the plan at first but the all mighty Union Pacific didn't want to grant access across their tracks to where the parking lot was to be so even though a $1.4 million was pledged to build the WW park, they shot down the whole project when CDOT jumped in with them and said that bright shiny objects like Kayaks and IK's would cause drivers to lose focus and wreck into the concrete barriers that line I-70. Flipping brilliant! So keep watching what the different flows do and keep tweaking it and you will eventually get it right. It may be a pain at some points but it's way better than the low head dam east of Palisade that is only runnable at flows over 5000cfs.
 
#19 ·
Its a keeper

Boat stuck in the new brilliantly engineered recirculating ledge hole. Sounds like they dumped 5 of 7 the 2 remaining in the boat got surfed for 10 minutes and finally had to bail and get raked over the rocks on the next ledge. the boat was stuck in the hole for 40 min until they finally were able to lasso it with a throw rope and pull it out. At least the city was in the river widening corner pocket and ponderosa to make them safer;).
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Boat stuck in the new brilliantly engineered recirculating ledge hole. Sounds like they dumped 5 of 7 the 2 remaining in the boat got surfed for 10 minutes and finally had to bail and get raked over the rocks on the next ledge. the boat was stuck in the hole for 40 min until they finally were able to lasso it with a throw rope and pull it out. At least the city was in the river widening corner pocket and ponderosa to make them safer;).

Awesome! "Hey! Let's build a uniform, riverwide ledge. What could possibly go wrong?"
 
#20 ·
keeper ledge hole

I also had an interesting experience with the second feature on the left (after the Poop Shoot) on Saturday...

I ran it in a 10.5' raft with a frame and a passenger, and we spent quite a while side surfing the same spot the boat is stuck in the picture. My passenger ended up in the hole, and did not flush out, but was able to grab the chicken line while getting recirculated since the boat was still surfing. He made his way to the downstream side of the boat, and climbed back in, only to be dumped out again fairly quickly. He was able to climb in a second time, and avoided the rough swim downstream. I was aggressively high-siding during the entire surf, and after my passenger climbed in for the second time, the boat spun 180 and started to feel unstable even with 2 of us on the tube, so I jumped off the downstream side holding the frame, and used my body in the current to pull the boat out of the hole. I was successful getting back in before the next feature, but it was one of the most eventful town runs I have experienced.

It is going to be a rough year to be a rookie guide, and I hope that nobody drowns in the keeper that they have created when the water starts coming up. It is very retentive in my experience even at 1800... If you are scouting I would recommend bringing a bag (always a good idea, but not very common on the town run) so that if somebody gets stuck in there you have options.

Good times, but it seems to be worth a scout these days... The middle line has a FU rock below the second feature, and above Smelter that will be sure to cause some carnage as well.

I can't wait for the River Days parade! Hopefully there are some EMS folks hanging out, I have a feeling they may be needed...
 
#37 ·
Its been AWESOME watching people freak out over the new feature(s) in the lower Animas River. If you were anywhere else you would have gotten out, scouted your line, made a plan, had folks walk who were uncomfortable, and then made a judgement call to run it, line it or portage. Yet...here in Durango...folks are just sooooo used to floating down, pounding beers (which I love) and rolling through Santa Rita park like it ain't nothing but a thang.

Well those days are over. The center line is about as easy as it gets and at our highest spring flow so far (2300 +/-) it was still easy.

So tighten up your straps and get after it. Stop complaining and enjoy the randomness of the river and what's happening. Nothing is constant, everything changes, and so will this. How many rivers have I run where a rapid's changed making it more favorable or worse????? Plenty. Stop the whining people. Don't like "Frank" (the left ledge hole) then run center.

As for the features, they're amazing. We have 4...yup that's right...4 wonderful playspots at all levels and it's looking like they're getting better with more water. The 2300 flow we had made then all super good.

Chur and see ya down there :)
 
#27 ·
I think what we have is ledge that will change daily as the water rises. I predict it will flush at the very high levels. ( 5000 cfs and above) I HOPE! A river wide ledge whole during "TUBER" season will find the Durango Herald reporting River drama Daily. The Durango Fire Rescue will be on station there when levels go above XYZ cfs.
BUT! That's not the only drama. You have 3 marker rocks that hopefully will become pour overs but most of the time you will see Paddle boats wrapped on them. Were going to have some good drama this year. I just hope that no one from Texas dies..... again
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top