Accident Database: Accident #256

River: Arkansas
Section: J. Parkdale Launch to Canon City
Location: Royal Gorge-Sunshine Rapid
Water Level: Low
Difficulty: IV
Accident Code(s): Swim Into Undercut Trap
Injury Code(s): Injured Shoulder, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal
Age: 45
Experienced/Inexperienced: Inexperienced
Private/Commercial: Commercial
Boat Type: Raft
Number of Victims: 1
Detailed Description:

On September 11 Terri Oldham, 45, was running the Royal Gorge at a low water when she was thrown out of her raft in Sunshine Rapid. Oldham , an experienced rafter, managed to grab a midstream rock.  When she let go of the rock to swim to her raft she was swept under an undercut midstream boulder, the site of a previous fatality. Rescuers worked for three hours to recover her body.

 

 

SOURCES: Rocky Mountain News; NORS Currents

 

Report Status: Completed