A TR I never wanted to write.

[eirikainersharp]

I'm sorry for keeping this vague but I think the situation necessitates it.

I guide for a rafting operation in BC. One of our clients died on the river yesterday after their boat flipped in a continuous gradient IV+ canyon section.

I'm feeling pretty shitty right now. We are an experienced crew - I am the least experienced guide in the company with 7 years of international rafting under my belt. We were running a tight trip, and in our debrief none of us could think of anyway we could have handled the rescue differently. At the same time one of our clients died while in our care.

Are there any guides out there who have gone through anything like this before? I could use a little support from someone who knows what to expect.

- Eirik

[RootSkier]

Bummer dude. I have never been a part of a group that has had a fatality, but I have had friends die boating. It sucks, there is no two ways about it.

I realize it's probably not any consolation to you right now, but as you know, in whitewater, shit can happen and sometimes people get hurt despite the fact that you did nothing wrong.

[LeeLau]

eirik,

I nearly died ww kayaking. Class IV Thompson in flood. I've never been in a client - guide position where there's been fatalities. All I can say is that, in a high-risk sport, anything can and will happen.

Sorry to hear this and my condolences to the deceased's family

[summit]

Choices are made and risks are considered and accepted. We live life to live it. Sometimes those choices do lead to an inevitable catastrophe. When we arrive upon such disaster, the noblest action we can take is to do the best to do our duty to save those under our care. It is possible to do everything in our power and still lose. For that, you cannot blame yourself. It is hard not to. You should be proud of your efforts. It is very hard to be.

Talk with people you trust. If you need to, seek qualified counseling.

Condolences

[Yonder_River]

I'm sure you're still running the scenario through your head, but don't beat yourself up about it. Doesn't take much to flush drown if you have continous hydraulics and an inexperienced swimmer who goes for air at the wrong time or shit, even an experienced swimmer. Unfortunately, it can be a crapshoot sometimes no matter how experienced you're crew is.

[mtcham]

Keep your head up. The sad fact is seeing somebody die is something you will never forget or be able to erase from your mind, but it gets a little easier with time. Sorry you had to experience this.

When I guided on the Colorado (25 years ago) we lost a client who got tangled up in the chicken line and drowned. We were pretty much devastated for a while. The business was sued and out of business by the end of the summer.

I firmly believe most clients have no clue that when something goes wrong it can be deadly. I'm very pleased to see our local raft outfitters now have kayak safety boats along at higher flows. These guys are very adept at pulling people out quickly.

Condolences to the family and I hope you and your crew rebound quickly.

[chrismo720]

Thats a bummer man. I hope you can get past it and learn from it.
Hope all is well.

[Conundrum]

+++++++++++ vibes

That happened here last year. It sucks. Talk about it if you need to.

[The Dad]

Sorry to hear it -- for the guy who's gone, especially, but for you and the rest of your crew too.

[nate s]

bummer man, it sucks when people die who are under your care. Do be careful what you say if there might be litigation.


Only thing you can do now is learn from it. Make sure people realize the consequences of the activity if something should go wrong. I really think most people have no idea that bad things can happen if they are on a guided trip. They think they are paying someone to assure their safety.

Second thing is make sure your company is using adequate safety. If the section is really class iv+ and at a healthy flow, a safety kayaker and cataraft is not overkill in my opinion.

[skiing-in-jackson]

I've guided clients on mountain bikes since 2001. While I've not seen any deaths, I'm very familiar with many of the regional emergency rooms. People make their choices, albeit biking, rafting, skiing or climbing, and they must be willing to be responsible for them.

I've seen some pretty bad accidents. Its very easy to accept a C-note getting neatly tucked into my palm for a trip well guided. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult for me to watch a client writhe in pain when they though they were going to have a good time.

One client had a particularly bad accident last summer. It was tough as the mother of young children was seriously hurt. It was hard on me. I just focused on all the times I'd wrecked on my bike with friends and realized that shit happens and followed through on those thoughts to help put this incident behind me.

[eirikainersharp]

Thanks guys. I don't know why but its helps to hear that other people have been through stuff like this before, even if I don't personally know most of you.

I went and kayaked the section where the accident went down a bunch of times and played it through again and again in my head. I feel a lot better now. We got back on the river with clients yesterday. I was definatley feeling the heby-gebies but as soon as we ran clean lines through the big stuff and rafting was fun again.

Thanks again for the support.

[postman22]

Hey Eirik,

Heard you saved 4 out of 5 guys. Although I can't imagine what it must feel to lose someone you are responible for saving 80% of the crew in the raging kicking horse sounds like a reason you should hold your head up. Heard from Anja. Hope your getting better

[Alpine Dreams]

Hold your head up. ++++vibes++++

[DougW]

Heard about that on radio. River was looking big when we drove past on Monday.

The inherent danger is why people want to do it and sometimes not everything can be controled. We try the best we can.