RESCUE ON THE BLACK RIVER

The Black River near Watertown, New York , is a popular summer trip for Middle States paddlers. At summer flows it’s a straightforward Class III+ run with one portage; at 5,000 cfs it’s a demanding big-water run in a narrow gorge. This is what happened when Dave Hoover took a wrong line in “Rocket Ride” in June 1993.  He flipped, bailed out, and ended up in a recirculating eddy up against a seventy-foot undercut cliff referred to by some paddlers as the Wailing Wall. There is a pothole in the wall about eight feet in diameter, right on the eddy line, which is where Hoover ended up. For the next eight to ten minutes, he recirculated in this eddy, holding on to his boat for flotation. He periodically went under the cliff and could not breath roughly 50 percent of the time.

The group tired to coax Hoover into swimming toward them as they passed the eddy so they could pull him out with their boat, but communication across the river was impossible. Andy Stouppe paddled up against the wall near Hoover , but could not maintain his position. He then eddied out fifty feet downstream, and with Steve Benedict ascended to the top of the cliff. They carabinered two throw bags together and threw them into the current upstream of the victim, hoping they would wash down to him. When Hoover was the rope he swam toward it, grabbed hold, and swung out of the pocket into the current. As he washed downriver, he let go and was picked up downstream by another party member. He had to let go above a huge hold, but was intercepted again just downstream. On reaching shore, he was very weak and vomited water. After a rest, he walked out of the gorge.

SOURCE: Dave Hoover; Andy Stouppe

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eddies can be extremely unfriendly to swimmers. This rescue shows a high level of innovation and judgment.