Royal Gorge video 3500. rapids labeled

Nice. You gotta love big water!

Really enjoyed the ride, nice roll too!

great vid. what were all the songs?

Thanks for the replies.
The songs are
Take it as it comes - The Doors
All along the watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
How far we've come - Matchbox twenty

I can't remember what the last one is. I'll check and
repost.
-rob

Loved it!

Why is the gorge closed to commercial boaters? Are there consequences for swimmers I cannot see in the video at this level that make it not worth it?

yes, drowning!

henrylightcap said:

yes, drowning!

Click to expand...

Yeah no shit? I had no clue that risk was part of whitewater.

Anyone else care to weigh in with some info?

Swank - the hydraulics are deep and powerful; getting air while swimming in the Gorge at high water is hard. Flush drowning is easy. Combine that with the fact that in many places, there is no bank- but rather a sheer rock wall riddled with man-made debris like rebar and stuff... and yes, swimming in Royal G at high water is extremely dangerous.

considering that rafts commercially run the upper animus and cherry creek I find it hard to believe that all commercial rafts where off. Even here in NM they run Taos Box commercially. Maybe they just need to hire better guides..... (i do agree that if someone does come out of the raft it could be very dangerous.)

Thanks for the info. I knew the Gorge was nasty with all of the extra goodies left by man. The high flow does look busy. Looks like some bigger cats would fit through there better at this flow.

Isn't it nothing more than an agreement between the outfitters that above a certain level they won't run it?

Water is moving very fast through there at this level. Last time I ran it over 3k it took from the middle of sunshine clear to just before the narrows to pull a swimmer from a private raft out. The raft was not able to move as fast as the swimmer. A group of unknown kayakers were his only hope.

Insurance carriers won't cover accidents if the water is running over 3000 cfs. This is primarily because the rapids become continuous and swims can be very prolonged. There is rebar in the narrows. Really, the run is not bad at high water as long as you don't swim. Big, fun roller coaster waves. Boat eater is probably the most consequential hole.

Makes sense to me. With that much debris in there it makes it even worse.

Awesome Video

Thanks for posting. Awesome video of the Gorge