Vertical Pin on Galla Today

[anthony]

I had the scariest moment that I have ever encoutered on the river this morning on Galla Creek. I will not name any names in this report, but I hope that some good do's and don'ts come from it.

This morning Galla was at the bare minimum flows for a good run. Myself an JH (this is his handle for this report) hit the water at 0800 right after a 1.5 inch rain just hit the Crow Mtn area in the last 12 hours. This was JH's first run down Galla and I have paddled with him for months now and felt comfortable taking him down the creek. Everything was going very well, JH's was hitting the right lines and missing the many trees that choke galla creek. At double ledge we cleaned the holes and I knew that JH was good to go for boof lube. We eddied out above boof lube and we walked to river right and JH got a very good look at the drop. He ran safety for me as I fired it up. After, I got back to the boulder on river right just beside the drop I asked JH is he ready and he just smiled and gave me the thumbs up. JH jumped in his XP10, (I have seen him run falling water, and run the falls at the tot, so we both thought the xp10 could handle boof lube) and his line up was prefect coming in to the boof. After JH came through the boof he came to a slamming stop, and hit the front of his boat on the rock on river right in the entrance of drop. This then force him backwrads into the river left (or middle portion) of the drop. He tried to right the boat, but it all happened to fast and his boat flipped and then pinned on the left hand side of boof lube. I watched and JH was able to look at me in between beat downs. Rolling was no use and the boat wasnt going anywhere. I yelled for him to pull his skirt and as soon as he did I threw the rope. As, soon as he exited the boated he got flushed under the lodged boat and the throw rope instanly went tight in my hands. I then saw JH in the hole in the bottom of the rapid, and the freaking rope that I was pulling on (hard) was wrapped around his neck. I freaked and let all tension off the rope. JH balled up and flushed out of the rapid, and then was able to get the rope untangled from his neck, and get anthoer hold of the rope. It took us both a few minutes to gather ourselves. The rest of the run was awesome and uneventful, but that 30 seconds on the river really shook me up this morning. We went back this afternoon at near perfect flows and fired it up agian.

Now, what the heck do you do in that situation???

[okieboater]

"Now, what the heck do you do in that situation???"

Answer:
You do what you have to do the best you can do it.

none of us reading about this incident can understand the situation like you and JH do, cause we were not there.

The standard recommendation to take a SW rescue course is always good because it puts you in rescue situations where you have time to work on options and then do them. Working out rescue scenarios in a safe situation with coaching available makes you better prepared for the real thing, no matter what the situation is.

This is not to say that taking a SW rescue clinic would have changed what you did this morning one way or the other, but it does help you develop a tool kit of rescue options that should help you prepare for future incidents. And, the more a person boats, the more exposure to unplanned accidents.

The good part is you two worked it out and are here to tell about it.

I am glad you and JH went back and rode that pony this afternoon.

[RandyJ]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Way to be heads up to realize you had a wrapped rope and you let it go slack right when you needed to, without totally letting go. And kudos to JH to keep his wits, unwrap, and re-grab the rope.

These days, a 10' boat sounds really long for creeking, but shoot, all of us were creeking in "long boats" prior to the late '90s. Long boats are all the better to bridge holes with anyway, right? :)

I think anyone in a close call will replay it dozens of times over in their head and wonder what they could have/should have done differently. As Okie says, none of us can picture the scenario like you, especially since many/most of us haven't run Galla and aren't familiar with that drop. Hard for us to critique, other than, "don't miss your line next time?" We all miss lines; thankfully the results are usually inconsequential.

Anyway, glad you're okay, and good on ya' for going back for that second lap. Appreciate you sharing the story.

[canoe]

I have run that drop many times, but never had any trouble hitting the river right rock, but can see how the middle rocks can be a major issue, did he bounce from right to left when he hit the rock? Dale

[anthony]

Yes he bounced from the river right rock then shot backwards across the middle, and then hit the left side drop sideways. After he was sideways he flipped, and front and the back of the boat was wedge on the rocks in the ends of the left side slot. His head was bobbing in and out the water. That dude was a cool customer the entire time. He never had a lick of fear in his eyes until after it was over. The next time down was after the huge rain we had after 11 and the rock he hit had a nice pillow on it. JH is a marine corps infrantryman and a OIF veteran, you could sure tell that he had been in a sticky situation before.

[ckuntz]

Wow, sorry I wasn't there to help my buddies.. Don't know if I could have helped much in that instance but wish I could have helped. Glad and hope everything is ok. Another reason for me to get a swift water rescue class.
Hope you guys drink a cold one for me!
Chris K :)

[anthony]

Chris, I think I am done padding class 3+ without the rule of 3's. To much can go wrong and I see now that goes wrong fast when it does go wrong.

[Cowper]

Chris, I think I am done padding class 3+ without the rule of 3's.

"I'm never going to drink that much again."

But that aside, I really can't say it any better than Randy and Okieboater already have. Your ability, and JH's ability, to quickly assess new information and constantly adjust your plan based on that new information is something to be proud of. If you come up with some "I should have done..." plan using 20-20 hindsight, then more power to you, you'll just be that must faster getting to a solution the next time you're faced with an unexpected situation. The discussion, the re-hashing, the thinking what you would do different next time is just part of the process.

I once met a boater who had some deep emotional scars because he witnessed a drowning where the victim was nearly decapitated by a throw rope around the neck. Different river, different geology and circumstances, but rest assured, your ability to recognize what was happening and give some slack could not have been more timely and correct.

Sometimes in "creek" situations, or really any situation where the throw is less than 20 feet, I'll consider using either my waist-band rescue loop (about 8 to 10 foot reach), or pulling 15' to 20' of rope out of the bag and then throwing the short end and keeping the bag. I have no idea whether that would have been a good idea in YOUR specific situation; I merely offer that comment for those who are trying to use your report as a door to considering some "what if" future situations.

Well done, and glad to hear that it sounds like JH found the right balance of recognizing it was "the real deal", without souring on a wonderful sport!

[waterhog]

yup theres pin potential when that dude is low

you say you went back for near perfect flows what time was that
i was there at 12 and the water was below the pilling and the gauge rock was showin did it get any bigger than that

[anthony]

At 1 the water was covering pillon on the bridge. That morning the water was at the the point where the concrete start curving on the pillon.

[anthony]

here is a video of a xp10 on boof lube during the afternoon run.
xp 10 on boof lube

you can see the left hand line where the pin happened at the end of the video.

[A Savage spanke]

Swift Water rescue classes are awesome. They make you so much more aware than anything else. Sounds like you were much more aware than we usually are anyways though. Good decision to set safety for sure, scary situation, sounds like you guys handled it well. Glad everything ended well.

Hopefully we can boat again Anthony before I leave for the summer, and if we don't that gives you a slight excuse to come paddle Colorado just to see me! Give Mason hell.

- Ryan

[anthony]

My wife can have the baby at anytime, so my future options for boating are limited to something very close to the house. Come down and hit Galla with us. Are you raft guiding this summer in Colorado?? Oh and mason has tendenices to kiss boys, gotta watch that kid.