Accident Database

Report ID#66149

2025-03-16
accident date
Steve Simoni
victim
n/a
victim age
American, North Fork
river
Giant Gap
section
Pin Ball Rapid
location
1.6 ft
gage
Medium
water level
IV
river difficulty
Pinned in Boat against Rock or Sieve
cause code(s)
Near Drowning
injury type(s)
Other
factors
Private
trip type
Whitewater Kayak
boat type
status?
status

Description

After entering the rapid and making the move from right-to-left in front of the first house rock which is undercut, I made the move back to center. As I made the move back to center I got caught up on a pile of rocks on river-right of the channel and went backwards and found myself in a sieve further river-right. I managed to escape this but please be aware of this hazard. Please be mindful of the fact that this rapid does come at the end of a long day, so there maybe more risk with getting off-course on your line. As for how I escaped and the rescue: I crawled back up stream after wiggling out of my skirt as I left that on the boat as I remember being concerned the sieve may narrow such that a body couldn’t escape. That said, it’s a possibility that somehow I flushed as one’s memory may not be reliable under such circumstances. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a GoPro on my helmet (maybe that was actually a good thing as it’s one less thing to snag!) and no one actually witnessed the escape as my paddling partners were scrambling with getting out of the their boats and preparing the rescue. Once I was free of the sieve, all went well with the rescue thanks to my paddling partners.