Non-Witness Narrative by (do not publish name) on 2006-08-02 (DO NOT PUBLISH): TEXT ATTACHMENTS Second Drowning at ACE Adventure Center on Gauley River May Challenge West Virginia?s Whitewater Responsibility Act. West Virginia?s limit of liability for whitewater rafting accidents and deaths may be challenged after ACE Adventure Center?s second drowning on the Gauley River. The body of Neville Williams, 67, of St. Michaels, MD was recovered a day after the drowning this June on the Upper Gauley River in West Virginia. Mr. Williams had been rafting with 14 other individuals, that included a scout group, when he apparently fell out of the raft on a Class V rapid called Iron Ring and was pinned under a rock know as Woodstock Rock. Mr. Williams may not have realized he was rafting what appears to be an experimental trip that day. Iron Ring rapid is considered one of the most dangerous rapids in West Virginia and ACE Adventure Center?s website defines Class V rapids as: ?Extremely difficult and violent rapids with significant hazard to life in the event of a mishap. Rescue is very difficult and there is significant hazard to life. Waves may be huge, numerous, and breaking. Life-threatening obstructions, such as undercut rocks and “keeper” hydraulics may be numerous. Many Class V rapids are relatively long stretches of whitewater that require constant maneuvering. This puts a premium on teamwork between the crew and the Guide.? (www.aceraft.com/rapids.html) Ace Adventure Center?s problem with liability comes from the West Virginia?s Responsibility Act, which protects outfitters by placing a cap on liability for ?standard? trips. ACE may face trouble with providing information that a summer Gauley trip at low water flow (900 CFS) could be considered a ?standard? trip. Apparently only 6 of the 17 outfitters in West Virginia offer a Summer Gauley Trip, which is usually run in the fall at higher water levels. Of these 6, it appears that only ACE runs the trip at lower than 1000 CFS. ?This time of year is not the normal season for whitewater trips on the Upper Gauley, commented Chief Ranger Gary Hartley, ?but Ace Adventure Center has apparently been doing summer trips for several years. Compared to Gauley season in September and October, the water level is lower.? ?(But) the rapids can be more technically difficult,? he said. * American Whitewater has this to say about the rapid: ?At low water the drop is distinctly broken into two drops and there are more exposed hazards. Many don’t run this drop below 1500 cfs due to the pin hazards particularly along the left..? Comments from paddlers implore paddlers to scout this rapid carefully at low water. (http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/2378) In a recent call to the West Virginia DNR department Lt. Larry Case reported that ?I don?t know if they had and safety people at the rapid? ?As the water comes down the rocks come up and (the river) gets more technical? ?I don?t know what is safe..what is safe to you might not be safe to someone else? The Nantahala Outdoor Center in Western North Carolina report that they have two safety people at every difficult rapid on the Chattooga River, also considered to be a technical river similar but smaller and less dangerous than the Gauley River There are other discrepancies with the accident. Chief Ranger Gary Hartley reported that Ernest Kincaid (co-owner at ACE Adventure Center) said that ACE ?has been doing (summer Gauley) trips about 10 years and average 25 trips per month.? But it appears from DNR whitewater rafting reports** that in 2002 ACE only took about 400 people down the Summer Gauley and this trip ACE pioneered appears not to have been offered before 1999. Jerry Cook, the major partner at ACE Adventure Center, also pioneered a trip that ended at a Class VI rapid (Big Wesser Falls) on the Nantahala River in North Carolina in the eighties. The ACE website defines Class VI as: ?Class VI Nearly impossible and very dangerous. Can be run only by teams of experts with significant danger to life.? (www.aceraft.com/rapids.html ) In a recent call Mr. Cook refused to confirm if scouts were on the ill-fated trip on the Gauley River or if they had safety ropes in place. In their last drowning on the Gauley River, it was discovered that the video boater erased the video footage of the death. It was also unknown by DNR and ACE if video footage exists of this drowning. All of these unknowns and discrepancies, combined with ACE?s record of having the most accident reports on it?s trips year after year***, may prove to provide a challenge to the limit of liability imposed by the West Virginia Legislature. It may ultimately also lead to stricter regulation of the West Virginia?s whitewater rafting industry in the interest of safety and standards to provide more consistent trips for the state?s large visitor base. ? see: http://www.register-herald.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_166225630.html http://www.register-herald.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_165230836.html ** Call: Jena Weble, WV DNR, 304-558-2784 *** see: http://www.wvdnr.gov/LEnforce/White/RiverMgt/wvww_pubs.shtm Contact information: Chief Ranger Gary Hartley?304-465-0508 DNR, Lt. Larry Case, investigator, 304-256-6945 Ernest Kincaid, Jerry Cook, ACE Adventure Center owners 304-469-2651, or 888-223-7238 Nantahala Outdoor Center?888-905-7238 (www.noc.com) American Whitewater (http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/2378) Chief Ranger Gary Hartley?304-465-0508 DNR, Lt. Larry Case, investigator, 304-256-6945 Ernest Kincaid, Jerry Cook, ACE Adventure Center owners 304-469-2651, or 888-223-7238