Accident Database

Report ID#69121

1994-09-11
accident date
Terri Oldham
victim
45
victim age
Arkansas
river
11. Parkdale Launch to Canon City
section
Royal Gorge-Sunshine Rapid
location
n/a
gage
Low
water level
IV
river difficulty
Swim into Rock or Sieve
cause code(s)
Does not Apply
injury type(s)
Other
factors
Commercial
trip type
Raft
boat type
status?
status

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