7/24 Missing PCT Hiker

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gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Jul 26, 2017 - 03:28pm PT
Edward Earl, the first person to climb all 140+ peaks with 4,000' of prominence in the Lower 48 (or CONUS, as Edward liked to say), died in a river crossing in 2015. Their use of a rope didn't prevent the tragedy, and may have contributed to it by giving a false sense of security.
gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Jul 26, 2017 - 03:50pm PT
For those who knew Edward, a fitting biography:
http://www.peakbagger.com/climber/climber.aspx?cid=601
jstan

climber
Jul 26, 2017 - 04:39pm PT
A "pendulum traverse" can work, with one end of the rope attached to the opposite side of the stream, rather than a taut line across the water, and the stream crosser holding the other end (but not tied in). If the person crossing loses footing, they hopefully get pendulumed to the bank they want to reach

The NPS has given counsel that a belayed crossing causes the person to submarine and to be drowned, Might want to see if this counsel can be updated.
clifff

Mountain climber
golden, rollin hills of California
Jul 26, 2017 - 05:10pm PT
jstan, Over years of kayaking white water I've never seen or heard of a problem with submarining when rescuing a swimmer from white water with a rope. But in kayaking everyone is wearing a life vest for flotation. This is probably the difference. And good kayakers know the value of being able to hold one's breath for at least 2 minutes or more. Another critical difference. So a little submarine of a minute or so is no big deal for a good kayaker but could mean death for a novice river adventurer. It is common for a real novice to panic after just a few seconds under water.

I just did a google search you might want to look at:

https://www.google.com/search?q=river+rescue+throw+line+kayak+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

https://www.google.com/search?q=hiking+crossing+rivers+dangerous&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Safety Tips for Fording Streams and Rivers

https://www.appalachiantrail.org/docs/default-document-library/Safety%20Tips%20for%20Fording%20Streams%20and%20Rivers.pdf

https://sectionhiker.com/safety-tips-for-fording-rivers-and-streams/

https://www.google.com/search?q=belayed+stream+crossings&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

cleo

Social climber
wherever you go, there you are
Jul 26, 2017 - 06:00pm PT
I don't think that a roped belay is a good idea either - if you need a roped belay DON'T CROSS.

Cliff is showing kayaking videos, and one thing to point out is that kayakers *never* attach themselves to the rope - they can always release. Even a rescue swimmer with a rope "attached" is wearing a rescue vest with a quick release, just in case of submarining. In other words, rescue gear is designed for exactly that scenario.

But you do have a point - there *can* be a rescue with penduluming... at minute 2:23 in the video below is a great example of a scary situation and an absolutely perfect execution of a rescue, by a highly skilled paddler. (In other words, not for a casual backpacker). He takes care of himself, has a perfect throw, and is positioned behind some rocks to avoid getting pulled in himself.

https://vimeo.com/79894971

clifff

Mountain climber
golden, rollin hills of California
Jul 26, 2017 - 06:43pm PT
Nice video Cleo.

Sailing has quick release devices for harnesses.
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
Aug 9, 2017 - 12:02am PT
Kings river claims a guy who should have been able to handle it.

http://www.10news.com/news/san-diego-man-drowned-in-fresno-county-river

FRESNO, Calif. (KGTV) - A man who drowned while camping along the Kings River in Fresno County was identified Tuesday as Luca Chiarabini of San Diego, a highly-skilled member of the San Bernardino Cave and Technical Rescue Team, according to a fellow team member.

Chiarabini and two friends camped overnight and were leaving the Yucca Point area August 3 when the accident happened, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

The three men wanted to cross the Kings River, deputies said. Chiarabini went in the water first while wearing a helmet, wetsuit and fins.

He also had a rope tied around his body and secured to a rock, deputies said.

The current overwhelmed Chiarabini and caused him to drift into the rapids, according to deputies. His friends activated a satellite emergency beacon, which notified the Fresno County Sheriff's office to respond.

Deputies in a helicopter found Chiarabini submerged underwater within an hour and removed his body from the river later in the day.
WBraun

climber
Aug 9, 2017 - 09:26am PT
Did this happen because he was tied into the rope and couldn't release his tied in rope or the anchor?

As usual, the media report is unclear.

Another tragedy ......
Radish

Trad climber
SeKi, California
Aug 9, 2017 - 09:59am PT
The chatter I heard was that it was more than him that got in trouble and it seemed like a multiple victim scenario. Sad situation for sure! Meanwhile further up River there is a car that's been in the water for several days now that can't be accessed due to the swift water of the Kings. It drove off a cliff and plummeted down many hundreds of feet. They think it belongs to two students from Thailand who have been missing. Lots of news on this one.
mooch

Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
Aug 9, 2017 - 10:48am PT
Rene -

I think you recall a similar incident I was involved with up in Kings Canyon. Only a tree, which my car impaled, prevented me from plummeting into a raging Kings River. Note to all: no destination is important enough to drive late at night and be sleep deprived.....pull over and get some sleep!!
Radish

Trad climber
SeKi, California
Aug 9, 2017 - 10:59am PT
That Kings River is Raging!! I saw it a few weeks ago and it was solid white water with rooster tail whips of water going next to the road, which it was even with! Don't know if they got that car out yet. I know they were going to try again yesterday. The CHP is handling it. They were going to go down with a Heli and camera gear to try and get a better look. All you can see is the top of the car down in the river according to someone who saw it just days ago.
mooch

Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
Aug 9, 2017 - 12:01pm PT
Same here, Dingus! I was on my way to meet Munge and Mucci to fix lines on 'Freak Show' the next day.....had only 5 miles to go to reach Cedar Grove. It was past midnight. Fell asleep on a right hand bend and went off the road, went airborn and hit a tree. The tree impaled the right side windshield. Had someone been sitting next to me......lights out! Found myself 10 feet from the raging Kings River, suspended 6 feet off the ground. Not a scratch. Flagged down a set of headlights.....which ended up being an off-duty ambulance for the park. Both EMS's were blown away that I walked away without a nick or bruise (well' a little bruised from the seat belt).

Sorry for the drift. Stay safe folks....not matter what the discipline.
cleo

Social climber
wherever you go, there you are
Aug 10, 2017 - 11:11am PT
This is a classic case of why you NEVER tie into a rope in whitewater. It also looks very likely that this rapid was only class III-IV - survivable by swimming. But deadly if your rope gets snagged and you can't release.

Full writeup -> https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Accident/detail/accidentid/13165/


Luca tied into the rope and swam out. He did make it further, about 2/3rds of the way, before he signalled that he wanted to be pulled back. However, because of the current dragging on the rope, they had fed out a lot of rope to keep it loose on Luca. They could not pull the rope in fast enough to keep Luca from being swept into the downstream rapid. Once into the rapid the rope went taught and Luca was trapped. He may have been using a releasable knot, but was not able to release it under the preasure of the current. Luca quickly lost strength and was not able to catch ropes thrown from shore. The partners cut the rope holding Luca and he floated downstream. However the free rope soon caught on rocks and held Luca underwater until his body was freed by rescue personel later in the day.

...

Initial analysis: Being tied into a rope in whitewater is clearly a grave danger. It is worth questioning why tying into a rope seemed reasonable to 3 pretty experienced individuals. In this situation, anchoring the rope was equally dangerous.

Canyoneers often rappel on ropes in waterfalls into pools and have developed techniques to quickly release the rope. There are also a number of well known canyons that exit onto rivers where the canyoneers rig ropes to help their team members cross those rivers. Luca and the other team members had these experiences. They likely had not tested these techniques on a river that was 100 feet wide and which had nearly 3000 cfs. What seems also likely is that they had not practiced swimming rapids. If they had been more familiar with swimming rapids it seems likely that they would have assessed the danger of swimming the next rapid is being much safer than tying into a rope.

In this case the rope was intended as a safety feature, to pull the swimmer back if necessary and to pull the others across. This is a common mistake where we think that more gear makes us more safe.
Anchoring the rope was equally dangerous but probably seemed equally sensible to the team. If the rope had not been anchored, the belayer could have run inland away from the edge of the river and had a much greater chance of penduluming the swimmer into shore. Also when the forces on a body belay become extreme, you know that the forces on the swimmer are equally extreme and unsustainable.

They could have all launched into the river individually and swam as hard as they could for the other shore. Given that they were all wearing wetsuits with a fair bit of floatation and the rapid just below is moderate, they probably could have made it across with only a few bumps. If they had brought lifejackets, boogy boards or river boards and flippers they could have made it across more confidently.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Aug 10, 2017 - 11:31am PT
Thank you for your post, cleo!
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Aug 13, 2017 - 11:38am PT
Kind of crazy story in the LA Times that the Fresno County Sheriff's Dept. were threatened with protests for their delay in retrieving the bodies of 2 Thai students, that are possibly in a car in the middle of the raging King's River. Fresno County has since had to prohibit any private company or individuals from carrying out a retrieval, due to the extreme risk involved. Some people obviously have little clue about what SAR entails, especially as we all know who would be called if a private recovery got into trouble.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-thai-students-river-recovery-20170812-story.html

Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
Aug 14, 2017 - 03:38pm PT
There is possibly a second car in the river, a couple from San Diego is missing

http://www.10news.com/news/chp-national-parks-service-search-for-missing-san-diego-couple

Fresno County Sheriff's deputies and the CHP flew helicopters over the river Sunday to look for signs of the white Ford Focus near the red car, which remains in the river.

Deputies spotted vehicle parts in the water upstream from the red car but they have not determined if the debris belonged to the Ford Focus.

Search and rescue teams are consulting with experts about water flows and weather patterns to create a recovery and investigation plan.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Aug 14, 2017 - 04:10pm PT
Pretty wild that this discovery came about from a Fresno sheriff's deputy watching TV coverage of a recovery operation for the other car and noticing a license plate in the bush!

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article167038957.html
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Aug 15, 2017 - 06:39am PT
For anyone interested in what happened in the Luca Chiarabini accident, there's a good discussion on Canyon Collective, that corrects some of the info in the American Whitewater report. One of the people posting was with Luca that day.

http://canyoncollective.com/threads/luca-rip.24847/
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Sep 30, 2018 - 09:13pm PT
Related to the accident mentioned directly above:

https://norcalrecord.com/stories/511528521-wrongful-death-suit-filed-by-parent-of-man-who-drowned-on-kings-canyon-national-forest-trip

FRESNO – The parent of a man who drowned while on an expedition in Kings Canyon National Forest has filed a wrongful death suit against one of man's companions.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Sep 30, 2018 - 10:53pm PT
hey there say, kunlun_shan... oh my, :(


thank you for sharing... sadly, drivers don't realize
rivers are something to bargain with, when driving, :(


it's hard to comprehend, :(
but, it can happen...


my condolences and prayers, to the families and,
thank-yous to all the search and rescue folks...


edit:
oh my, this is so very very sad... :(
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