Strainer Rescue on South Sauty
Out on a creek recently I was behind another paddler arcing across a fairly open section from left to right. He was heading toward a slot on the right of center. I couldn’t see into the slot from our angle of approach, so I peeled a bit further downstream to the left of it. Continuing my left to right momentum our paths would intersect so I looked upstream. What I saw was him with a piece of wood across his stomach completely stopped.
There was a small eddy with a few small trees in the back of it directly behind the rock forming the right side of the slot. I darted into it to attempt to access him. When getting out of my boat there was no place to put my boat. The eddy was small and deep, with a small rock for me to stand on about knee deep. We were near the end of this rapid with about 50 more feet of class 2 runout, so I signaled and sent my boat down to the crew below. Now my mission was to figure out how to scale a vertical smooth rock face about shoulder height in front of me.
I let the paddler know that I was there and coming to his aid. The left and right sides of this rock were deep as well, the only way to him was over the rock. Two other paddlers had made their way upstream but couldn’t get out to access him quickly in the middle of the river. It took a few tries but I was finally able to push off a tiny foothold and pull my way up. I was able to shift the log and free the paddler. Then I floated down the runout to my boat.
A few takeaways:
A good rule of thumb is to scout it if you can’t see. In this case, had we chosen a different route it would’ve been easy to see into the slot. But since we didn’t have that line it’s always best to avoid that line and take the one you can see. Scouting can take many different forms, whether that is by having an eddy visible as your bail out spot or shore based scouting.
Practicing getting out in difficult places. I had to get out in a small eddy that was deep. If I had fallen into the water getting out, I would’ve been flushed downstream and lost a lot of valuable time. This is something you can make a game out of with your friends. Pick a safe but difficult spot to get out and see who all can do it without falling into the water. This skill is helpful in many situations that can become mandatory.
Paddle with experienced and safety-minded individuals. Me signaling to the boater below that I was sending my boat was quick because they understood and were already setup to assist below the rapid. While the shore based crew wasn’t as fast, they were already working a backup plan in case I couldn’t access the paddler. The time and effort put in to be prepared pays off in such situations. The quality of outcome of a rescue in many cases depends on your preparation beforehand. If you haven’t taken a Swiftwater Rescue Course, you should definitely do it. These skills and knowledge are extremely helpful on any moving water. Many people think only advanced whitewater paddlers need these skills but that isn’t true.
As a pinned paddler, don’t give up a stable position unless you are certain you can get clear. The paddler could’ve tried to fix the problem on their own but instead waited patiently for assistance. Had he tried to self rescue he could’ve ended up in a worse position without access to air.
I was thankful for the crew I had that day as well as all the fantastic people I boat with on a continual basis. I know that if the roles were reversed they would’ve been able to help me as well. Good teamwork helps avoid or manage these situations.
If you want to learn the principals to move safely downstream and avoid hazards we can help with that. Contact us for a class for you or your crew and we can make that happen!