Students jump into whitewater rapids to protect against drownings

(Dave Cawley, KSL, File)


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HEBER CITY – It was early May. The river's flow was frigid and fast.

About fifteen people stood at the edge of the Provo River just above Jordanelle Reservoir, eyeing the rushing water with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Days or even hours before, the water below was snow in the Uinta Mountains.

They’re students in a class called Swiftwater Rescue Fundamentals. Each signed up in the hopes of learning potentially life-saving skills.

“Most people that are showing up have at least some idea of what they’re getting into,” lead instructor Matt Haberman said. “They might not have an understanding of the specifics and that they’re going to spend so much time in the water but I think they know where we’re headed.”

Where they were headed was right into the river. One by one, they plopped down on their backs and bobbed along with the current. Some of them whooped and shouted, their voices drowned by the sound of water rushing over rocks.

By the end of the day, they all had swum the stretch of river repeatedly, practicing tasks like crossing waist-deep creeks in formation, vaulting over submerged obstacles and tossing throw bags to one another. Students also practiced what are called live bait rescues where a rescuer tethered to a rope swims out to pluck a “patient” from the channel.

“We’re trying to up people’s comfort levels in the water and to do that you do have to expose people a little bit,” Haberman said.

The lessons, though, began in the classroom, not the river.

Swiftwater Rescue Fundamentals is an intense, day-and-a-half course offered through the University of Utah College of Health’s Remote Rescue and Wilderness Medicine program. Haberman and program coordinator Andy Rich have each spent the better part of a decade teaching pre-hospital medicine and technical rescue skills on river banks, avalanche-prone slopes and cliff faces.

The importance of the rescue training has come into stark relief this spring. Drowning deaths have already occurred on the swollen Blacksmith Fork River, Ogden River and Parleys Creek. Late May and early June will bring the highest flows of the year to many waterways as warming temperatures melt out the remaining high-elevation snow.

Veteran river runners often speak of such big water with reverence. They tell stories about the springs of 1983 and 2011, when snow melt caused no shortage of flood worries across the Beehive State, while also pushing rivers like the Green, Colorado and San Juan to epic levels.

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Snowpack from the winter of 2016-2017 has neared, or in places exceeded, that of those legendary years.

Over the years, students have included college undergrads, first responders, corporate clients and members of the general public.

This particular open-enrollment fundamentals class — aimed at recreational boaters, novice river guides and other people who enjoy spending time on moving water — is open to anyone willing to pay the $170 admission and devote the time.

“For the most part people are self-selecting and we try and put together a thorough enough piece of pre-course documentation that they can read through that and self-select,” Haberman said.

That documentation includes a waiver form with wording that is not for the faint of heart: Students are told they could face possible death or dismemberment. Potential students are also cautioned that they should be strong swimmers. In spite of the warnings, instructors emphasized the course's safety.

“It is an introductory level class, for sure,” Rich said.

Classroom instruction covers skills like risk evaluation and self-rescue. Students also receive dry-land practice with throw bags, a key tool for river rescues, and hands-on experience tying the knots necessary to build anchors and recover pinned boats.

“We’re giving people tools but we also want them to understand the limitations of those tools so that they can prepare properly, so they can bring the right equipment, so they can make the proper decisions and avoid needing to rescue each other,” Rich said. “All that’s just as important as the actual rescue skills themselves.”

By the time students reach the water’s edge, they’re equipped with knowledge about how to stave off hypothermia, a constant risk when dealing with snowmelt. For purposes of the class, Rich and Haberman suggest their students wear drysuits made with rubber gaskets at the neck and wrists, designed to prevent water from entering. Life jackets and helmets designed for whitewater boating are mandatory.

“We try to set people up for as much success as we can,” Rich said. “We certainly think that having the proper gear sets you up for success.”

Racheal Irizzary and Sam Gowans both signed up for the course after making plans for an outing down the Green River.

“Sam and I are planning a river trip down Desolation (Canyon) this year and we are bringing 10 people. We just wanted to be a little more prepared,” Irizzary said.

Many of her classmates had similar summer plans; others described close calls with disaster during past river trips.

“We definitely do get a lot of that,” Haberman said, "Where they’re coming after the fact and they’ve had some experience on the river where they think ‘I’m not quite as prepared as I thought I was’.”

For Gowans, the education came in an attractive package.

“The class was very interesting to me not just because we wanted the knowledge, but because it sounded really cool,” Gowans said.

Rich admits the training, while intimidating to some, can also be a lot of fun.

“Of course it’s fun. We like getting out and having fun and keeping people engaged and fun is part of that but ultimately the whole purpose is to be practical,” Rich said.

Editor's note: The University of Utah provided the author with discounted tuition to Swiftwater Rescue Fundamentals for the purpose of preparing this report.

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