Accident Database

Report ID# 117041

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Accident Description

 
Drowning on South Fork Yuba - 49 to Bridgeport - 4/19/23 around 800cfs medium/medium-low. 
 
Gavin Jostad, 17  "Senior finished high school early. Loading up, headed to California and then on to Idaho. Following his heart and his passions." 
 
The drowning on 49 to B on Wednesday happened above corner pocket. Some people call it “Tower 2,” it’s a rocky rapid right above Red Rooster. 
 
Flow was @ 800 cfs that day which exposes a sieve on river right side landing of a river right boof.
 
Very Rugged Country There are a few gorges where shore evac might have been tough/impossible. Granite domes makes rope extraction straightforward.
 
The 49 to Bridgeport section of the South Yuba is an iconic run, a local favorite and is generally seen as forgiving.  4 years ago it took the life of a Sean Manchester, who left a wife, 2 young children. Gavin's tragedy this week has awoken the pain and feels foreboding as CA snowpack is just starting to melt and high flows are soon to come. 
 
Responding: North San Juan Fire, Penn Valley Fire, and Nevada County Consolidated Fire, California Highway Patrol Helicopter (CHP H-20).

The paddling group has committed to writing an incident report after taking some time to heal and process.
 
The 49 to Bridgeport section of the South Yuba is an iconic run, a local favorite and is generally seen as forgiving (historically).  4 years ago it took the life of a good friend, Sean Manchester, who left a wife, 2 young children, and shook the CA community to it's core.  Many of us rationalized it as an outlier and many of us are still working through our grief.  
 
 

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