Report from Nathan Warner
On December 17th Adam Mayo and Nathan Werner put in on the upper section of the Rio Jalacingo near Tlapacoyan, Mexico. This steep, narrow, basalt lined jungle river is not run as often as the local classics because of several difficult portages. The pair, both expert paddlers, had known each other since 2008 and had frequently paddled difficult rivers together in Colorado. Mr. Mayo, 43, had run the river several times, including once the previous week. They were both staying with Aventurec, a kayak outfitter in the area.
The two men put on at approximately 12:30, leaving plenty of time for the five-hour trip. The pair's plan was for Mr. Mayo to lead and Mr. Werner to follow because of Mr. Mayo's knowledge of the run. With Mr. Mayo leading they ran a series of Class III-IV slides. Mr. Werner's memory of the exact events leading up to the event are incomplete as a result of the accident. He recalled following Mr. Mayo through a series of slides and drops before rounding a blind corner and finding himself at the lip of a huge drop. It was the mandatory portage: a 70’ drop onto a rock shelf. Mr. Werner blacked out as a result of the impact, then regained consciousness floating in the pool below some time later. He saw Mr. Mayo floating face down nearby. Severely injured and in great pain, Mr. Werner crawled out of the river and collapsed on shore. It was 1:00 pm.
That evening Emmett de Maynadier, an employee of Aventurec, went looking for the two kayakers when they failed to return to the lodge. Mr. Werner heard his yells, saw his flashlight, and called back. This happened at 9:00 pm; Mr. de Maynadier called his lodge and rallied the other kayakers staying there. The terrain at the accident site was extremely rugged with no easy way to access the river. The group didn’t actually reach Mr. Werner until 11:00 pm, and the evacuation, which required ropes to navigate the steep terrain, didn’t reach the road until 7:30 am. The local authorities later recovered Mr. Mayo’s body.
Mr. Mayo was killed instantly. Mr. Werner, who had multiple fractures to his sacrum and lumbar spine and broke his scapula, was taken to a hospital in Mexico and later flown back to Colorado. He has begun a rehabilitation program that is expected to last 6-8 months, and he expects to make a good recovery.
Since Mr. Werner blacked out and his memory is incomplete, exactly what happened in the lead-in to the big drop is unknown. Speculation is Mr. Mayo either lost track of where he was, or flipped in the drop upstream and washed over the falls. The eddy above the falls is not hard to catch according to those who know the run, but without Mr. Mayo’s guidance it would not have been obvious for Mr. Werner to know which eddy it was. It should be noted that Mexico does not have search and rescue squads on call like the United States, and paddlers must be prepared to affect their own rescue and evacuation. Fellow paddlers led the technical aspects of the rescue with the assistance of local paramedics.
Kayak Community Mourns Death of Adam Mayo on Mexico’s Rio Jalacingo
(and Injuries to Nathan Werner)
By EUGENE BUCHANAN
DECEMBER 20, 2021
Friends and family, as well as the Colorado and Oregon kayaking communities, are mourning the death of kayaker Adam Mayo, 43, who passed away on Fri., Dec. 17, while paddling Mexico’s Class V Upper Rio Jalacingo near Veracruz, Mexico. Fellow kayaker Nathan Werner, of Ft. Collins., CO, was also severely injured in the accident with multiple spine fractures and a clavicle fracture.
According to reports, the incident occurred from the two expert kayakers accidentally running a mandatory portage on the classic, basalt-lined Mexican river in the Veracruz region, getting ushered over an unrunnable waterfall.
When reached in Mexico, kayaker Emmett de Maynadier, who helped affect the rescue, said he went up looking for the two kayakers when they failed to return to the lodge they were staying in. He started at the put-in and worked his way down yelling, eventually hearing a reply from Werner and initiating his rescue. He adds he didn’t realize Mayo had perished in the plunge until about four hours after his initial contact with Werner.
“It happened at about 1 p.m., I made my first verbal contact with Nathan at about 9 p.m., and then we didn’t get him back over the lip of the gorge until 7:30 a.m. the next morning,” he says of the vertical backboard extraction required to carry Werner out. “There were a lot of people involved, including members of the local search and rescue team as well as other kayakers experienced with rope work.
The water level wasn’t likely a factor in the accident, with the river running low to medium flows. But he adds missing the eddy “could be a relatively easy mistake because a lot of it looks the same once you’re in there.”
Other experienced paddlers agree. “A lot of it all looks the same, with its volcanic basalt,” says Mayo’s longtime friend and kayaker Marty Smith, who runs Mountain Sports Kayak School in Steamboat and had boated the section with Mayo before. “And a lot of the drops have long approaches where you can’t get out because it gorges-up.”
Mayo was a high-level kayaker experienced with the run, having run the river multiple times over the past few years, including once just a week prior to the accident.
“It’s not a hard eddy to catch,” adds longtime friend Taylor Barker, who kayaked the river with Mayo two years ago. “I can only speculate that they somehow went past the point of no return on it.
One of several on the run, the portage in question, adds Smith, comes early in the run, just three or so drops and slides from the start, and is a bear. “It’s about a mile long and took us two hours when we were down there,” he says, adding that the run is extremely low volume, maybe 50 cfs or so, and at times no more than five feet wide.
“That portage is super gnarly,” adds Dane Jackson, one of the top kayakers in the world who has paddled that section numerous times. “It’s basically a 60- to 70-foot drop that lands on rocks and a shelf that I have actually stood on. I’ve rappelled around it before to check out what was below it, and run the section to where you normally put back in.”
The first descent of the run, which has since become a classic among Class V kayakers in Mexico, was reportedly made in 2008 by a team including Rafa Ortiz, who called the river’s lower portion “a river section like no other.” Contrary to rumors, the accident occurred on a different section than the one five years ago when a team including world-class paddler Aniol Serrasolses accidentally paddled over a 90-foot drop known as the “Black Hole” below the take-out of the Lower section of the river.
Mayo, an attorney in both Steamboat Springs, CO, and Hood River, OR, two areas he loved, was a well-known and loved expert kayaker who also enjoyed snowmobiling and other mountain pursuits in his hometown of Steamboat. He was also a longtime board member for Friends of the Yampa, helping protect a river system he loved and cherished. “Adam not only played on the rivers and creeks of Colorado but he was also dedicated to protecting them,” said former FOTY president Kent Vertrees. “His legal guidance helped the Friends of the Yampa become a legit 501-C3 in 2011, and almost every year since then, Adam was an integral part of the Yampa River Festival, organizing the Fish Creek and Slalom races.”
He held equal status in local legal circles. “He was a real zealous advocate for his clients. He hated losing and loved winning,” said Kris Hammond, who has practiced law in Steamboat for more than 35 years and hired Mayo when he first moved to town nearly 20 years ago. He adds that Mayo was in the kind of law that’s almost analogous to his passion for expert-level kayaking. “He was a courtroom lawyer, doing all kinds of criminal law,” he said. “You’re there with no safety net, and you don’t get a do-over. It’s high risk and everything’s riding on the line — you either win or lose.”
Friends and family were quick to show their outpouring of support for both Mayo and Werner. “Adam was the best kind of friend, he always had his friend’s backs, no matter how much trouble they got into, was kind, humble, wise, kept you accountable, and was always up for or planning the next adventure,” says longtime paddling friend Chris Fleming. “He was pursuing the sport he loved in one of the most amazing places on earth. He showed a lot of us how to live a great life, be better people, and I am going to miss him immensely.”
Adds longtime kayaking friend Dan Piano: “We shared a lot of great adventures, laughs and times together — some of my best memories in life. The crazy thing is how much he packed into his life. He honestly lived it like he knew he wasn’t going to be here forever, squeezing everything out of every day.”
Mayo originally from Chapmansboro and a graduate of the University of Tennessee and the Denver School of Law, was preceded in death by his sister Emily Claire Mayo. He is survived by the love of his life Sallie Holmes, mother Connie Fort Mayo, father Barry Wayne (Dawn) Mayo, brother Matthew Fort (Ann) Mayo, nephew Rowan Manning, sister Lauren (Don) Bischoff, and niece Charlotte Bischoff.
Community mourns death of expert kayaker, local attorney Adam Mayo
Eugene Buchanan
ebuchanan@SteamboatPilot.com
Local attorney and expert kayaker Adam Mayo died Friday, Dec. 17, while paddling the Upper Rio Jalacingo in Mexico. He was well known for his paddling skills, work in the courtroom and passion for preserving local waterways.
The local paddling and legal communities are mourning the death of kayaker Adam Mayo, who died Friday, Dec. 17, while paddling Mexico’s class V Upper Rio Jalacingo near Veracruz, Mexico. He was 43 years old.
Fellow kayaker Nathan Werner, of Fort Collins, was also severely injured in the accident, suffering multiple spine fractures and a clavicle fracture.
According to reports, the incident occurred when the two expert kayakers accidentally ran a mandatory portage on the classic, basalt-lined Mexican river in the Veracruz region and were ushered over an unrunnable waterfall.
“It was just a terrible accident,” said kayaker Emmett de Maynadier, who helped affect the rescue, when reached in Mexico.
Mayo was a high-level kayaker who was experienced with the run, having run the river multiple times over the past few years, including once just a week prior to the accident.
“He was a great paddler and friend who did a lot for the community,” said Mayo’s longtime friend and fellow kayaker Marty Smith, who runs Mountain Sports Kayak School in Steamboat Springs and had boated the river in Mexico with Mayo before. “He’s going to be sorely missed,” Smith said.
Mayo was an attorney in both Steamboat and Hood River, Oregon, two areas he loved. He also was a well-known and loved local who enjoyed snowmobiling, camping and other mountain pursuits in his hometown of Steamboat.
Additionally, Mayo was a longtime board member for Friends of the Yampa, helping protect a river system that he cherished. “Adam not only played on the rivers and creeks of Colorado, but he was also dedicated to protecting them,” said Kent Vertrees, former board president. “His legal guidance helped the Friends of the Yampa become a legit 501(c)3 in 2011, and almost every year since then, Adam was an integral part of the Yampa River Festival, organizing the Fish Creek and slalom races. His enthusiasm in protecting the Yampa led him to participate in several strategic planning efforts and help with the Yampa River Awareness Project.”
Steamboat Springs attorney Adam Mayo was an expert-level kayaker in addition to being an advocate for local rivers and a strong presence in the courtroom. Mayo held equal status in local legal circles, too. “He was a real zealous advocate for his clients. He hated losing and loved winning,” said Kris Hammond, who has practiced law in Steamboat for more than 35 years and hired Mayo when he first moved to town nearly two decades ago. Hammond, who worked with Mayo when Hammond ran his own firm, Hammond Law Offices, added that Mayo practiced the kind of law that’s almost analogous to his passion for expert-level kayaking. “He was a courtroom lawyer, doing all kinds of criminal law,” Hammond said. “You’re there with no safety net, and you don’t get a do-over. It’s high risk and everything’s riding on the line — you either win or lose.”
Friends and family have been quick to show their outpouring of support for both Mayo and Werner. “Adam was the best kind of friend; he always had his friends’ backs, no matter how much trouble they got into, was kind, humble, wise, kept you accountable and was always up for or planning the next adventure,” longtime paddling friend Chris Fleming said. “He was pursuing the sport he loved in one of the most amazing places on Earth. He showed a lot of us how to live a great life, be better people, and I am going to miss him immensely.”
Longtime kayaking friend Dan Piano added, “We shared a lot of great adventures, laughs and times together — some of my best memories in life. The crazy thing is how much he packed into his life. He honestly lived it like he knew he wasn’t going to be here forever, squeezing everything out of every day.”
Mayo, originally from Chapmansboro, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee and the Denver School of Law, was preceded in death by his sister Emily Claire Mayo. He is survived by the love of his life Sallie Holmes, mother Connie Fort Mayo, father Barry Wayne (Dawn) Mayo, brother Matthew Fort (Ann) Mayo, nephew Rowan Manning, sister Lauren (Don) Bischoff and niece Charlotte Bischoff.
