Lots of second hand information here, but the accident did happen. Another similar accident also claimed a life in 1999 at the same rapid.
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It happened in the rapid called Two Pair. The 18 year old was surfing just above it, or in it and got pulled into the sieve. His head was above water and the people boating with him had rescue gear and may have gotten a rope to him. He opened his spray deck and the water collapsed the boat around his legs and pulled him under the water.
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At about 4 p.m. Monday, Snellings was kayaking south of Downieville on a section of rapids called Two Pair, which are Class 4 and 5 rapids — with Class 5 being the most demanding.
His kayak flipped, and he became stuck underwater, according to his father, Tim Snellings, director of the county Community Development Agency. It took rescuers about three hours to retrieve Snellings and his kayak.
The elder Snellings said his son was a kayaking enthusiast who had planned to make 100 runs this year. Monday's tragedy marked his 32nd run.
"He really didn't do anything wrong," Tim Snellings said. "He was with three expert boaters very familiar with that stretch; his boat just got stuck in a certain stretch, and he couldn't get out of it."
A kayaker died last year along the same rapids, Sierra County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Stanley said.
Discussing the North Yuba stretch south of Downieville, he added,
"I'm sad to say it's claimed lives pretty nearly every year. I'm not a kayaker and I'm not a rafter, but it does happen. Maybe it happens in other rivers. I don't know — we get a lot of people up here."
