October 15th
While we were BWOBin' on the Upper Gauley during the recent tour - we were involved in this rescue. The video has been edited and shortened significantly - in reality, we were on the rock for some 15min... and the kayaker was stuck in there for at least another 5min before we managed to scramble back upstream and get to him.
I'm very glad we were there fast enough and were able to help out. Mad props to Eric and Mike and everyone else out on those rocks that day.
The rescuers used a slick rope system that’s worth seeing!
Go to https://www.facebook.com/african.river.rat/videos/1256292557850175/.
Better yet: stay away from the right side of Initiation Rapid when you run the Gauley! An innocuous looking chute flows over a crack between two giant rocks. Paddlers who go over there are flushed into the crack and pinned in their boat against a chock rock partly down. There have been two fatalities an innumerable narrow escapes here over the last three decades!
