Accident Database

Report ID# 407

Help
  • Caught in a Natural Hydraulic
  • Flush Drowning
  • Does not Apply
  • Cold Water
  • High Water

Accident Description

The West Fork of the French Broad River is a steep, Class V creek. Although a short, 30-minute run, access to this section of the river, near Rosman, NC, is limited. On the morning of November 11, 1996 The water was high (7 inches) after a stormy night. The day was cold with snow flurries, and the water frigid.

Jim Sheppard, 53, was an expert kayaker with solid boating skills. He had extensive experience running Appalachian rivers, including a run on the Green Narrows the day before. Sheppard and his partner put on the West Fork late in the morning. Near the start of the run are three large sliding drops which the pair negotiated without problems. The next rapid, Pinball, is a rock garden about 100 yards long which, under normal conditions, is eddy scouted. On this day, however, the eddies were small. A recent strainer blocked one of the eddies, so the pair got out of their boats and walked down to the next eddy, about halfway down the rapid. The next move required a ferry across the river, a move his partner described as “straightforward.” He made the ferry without incident, then got out of his boat to scout the last drop. Sheppard flipped during his ferry and rolled. Sheppard’s roll put him just above a nasty hole. His choices were to either paddle hard for the eddy, which seemed possible to his partner, or to turn and power through the hole. He did neither. His partner, standing on the bank, yelled for Jim to “paddle, paddle, paddle!” but Jim didn’t seem to hear him. He hit the hole with little speed, and was sucked back in and flipped immediately.

His companion grabbed his rope and started toward him, but Sheppard, who had by this time recirculated 2 or 3 times, had washed out of the hole. His partner quickly retraced his steps, got in his boat, and ran the ledge, powering through the hole that had just taken his partner. The current below here was swift and powerful but there were no more drops. After a quarter mile or so he caught up with Sheppard’s boat. He was beginning to think his companion had gotten out of the water when he saw something floating downstream. It was Sheppard, now floating face down. Cowart wrenched him onto his front deck, then popped his skirt and swam him to shore. There was no pulse or breathing, so he began CPR. After 45 minutes he ran to a nearby farmhouse and summoned EMS. The paramedics arrived and continued, unsuccessfully, to revive Sheppard.

SOURCE: By Chris Bell, Leland Davis & Slim Ray; Edited by Jim Gilliam & Charlie Walbridge

Non-Witness Narrative by CCW on 2006-01-20 (okay to publish): The West Fork of the French Broad River is a steep, Class V creek. Although a short, 30-minute run, access to this section of the river, near Rosman, NC, is limited. On the morning of November 11, 1996 The water was high (7 inches) after a stormy night. The day was cold with snow flurries, and the water frigid. Jim Sheppard, 53, was an expert kayaker with solid boating skills. He had extensive experience running Appalachian rivers, including a run on the Green Narrows the day before. Sheppard and his partner put on the West Fork late in the morning. Near the start of the run are three large sliding drops which the pair negotiated without problems. The next rapid, Pinball, is a rock garden about 100 yards long which, under normal conditions, is eddy scouted. On this day, however, the eddies were small. A recent strainer blocked one of the eddies, so the pair got out of their boats and walked down to the next eddy, about halfway down the rapid. The next move required a ferry across the river, a move his partner described as “straightforward.” He made the ferry without incident, then got out of his boat to scout the last drop. Sheppard flipped during his ferry and rolled. Sheppard’s roll put him just above a nasty hole. His choices were to either paddle hard for the eddy, which seemed possible to his partner, or to turn and power through the hole. He did neither. His partner, standing on the bank, yelled for Jim to “paddle, paddle, paddle!” but Jim didn’t seem to hear him. He hit the hole with little speed, and was sucked back in and flipped immediately. His companion, meanwhile, grabbed his rope and started toward him, but Sheppard, who had by this time recirculated 2 or 3 times, had washed out of the hole. His partner quickly retraced his steps, got in his boat, and ran the ledge, powering through the hole that had just taken his partner. The current below here was swift and powerful but there were no more drops. After a quarter mile or so he caught up with Sheppard’s boat. He was beginning to think his companion had gotten out of the water when he saw something floating downstream. It was Sheppard, now floating face down. Cowart wrenched him onto his front deck, then popped his skirt and swam him to shore. There was no pulse or breathing, so he began CPR. After 45 minutes he ran to a nearby farmhouse and summoned EMS. The paramedics arrived and continued, unsuccessfully, to revive Sheppard.

SOURCE: By Chris Bell, Leland Davis & Slim Ray; Edited by Jim Gilliam & Charlie Walbridge

ANALYSIS: (by the above authors) Jim Sheppard was a rock solid paddler. This accident is a good reminder that no matter how good or prepared you are, things can go wrong. Any time we get in a boat we knowingly enter an area that is hazardous to human life. Unless you and your loved ones can deal with the consequences, you shouldn’t be paddling. But there are circumstances that are worth mentioning:

1. The day was very cold, cold enough to snow the afternoon of Jim’s accident, and it was raining while Jim and Heath were on the water. Perhaps the combination of cold air and water, together with several rolls, had weakened Jim. In spite of his general fitness, an over-forty body just doesn’t tolerate a long swim in cold water as well as a younger one. There have been a couple of other incidents where older paddlers haven’t survived a swim that a younger person might have. Jim had on a dry top, but really wasn’t really dressed to swim. The debilitating effect of cold water can’t be overstressed, and over-forty paddlers need to get into the habit of overdressing in anticipation of a swim.

2. Knowing Jim and his aggressive paddling style, I believe that something happened about the time he flipped and rolled. It is possible that Jim hit his head, either while in the hole or during his brief flip. He did have facial contusions and a damaged spot on his helmet. However, the helmet damage could have been from an earlier run and the contusions could have happened during his swim. We do know that he seemed unresponsive to Cowart’s shouted instructions, and that his behavior going over the drop and in the hole was not up to his normal energetic level of paddling.

3. The hole where Jim encountered trouble is much worse than it looks. It will not release a boat. On a trip down the West Fork in September, at about the same level, I watched a paddler surf this for at least 30 seconds before he swam out of his boat. Luckily he managed to swim out of the hole after a few recirculations and make it to shore. The entrance drop that flipped these people is tiny (maybe 2 feet), but is really hard to read. The eddies below it are small enough that if you have to roll you will miss them. The pour-over, which is slightly left of center, looks like an easy boof and is very tempting. Although the rapid eases up after 2 more drops or so, it is a long way before there is a pool, or even an eddy, big enough to effectively rescue someone.

 

 

Exerpt from Chris Bell posting on Rec.Boats.Paddle (see acc/Sheperd1.doc) :

The West Fork is solid class IV-V: three V's and numerous IV's. Jim died in the last major drop on the river, Pinball, a class IV. [after a portage] Heath slid in downstream of the hole, ran a narrow spot, and caught the eddy below to boat scout the next drop. Jim slid in, flipped in the narrow spot, rolled up, but was committed to running the next drop, a big pourover dumping into a river-wide hole. Jim ran the ideal line -- just to the right of the pourover -- but didn't have much speed and didn't paddle aggressively to build up speed despite Heath's shouted instructions. Jim broke through the hole despite his lack of speed, but slowly got sucked back in by the back wash.

In Heath's opinion Jim would have broken free of the backwash if he had begun to paddle aggressively at that point, but Jim didn't. After a violent surf on his offside, Jim wet-exited and tried to swim out. Again he made it to the back wash, took a couple good strokes, and was sucked back in. By this time Heath was out of his boat with his throw rope and running over the boulders to the hole. He couldn't see Jim the entire time, but estimates that Jim was recirculated at least three times. By the time Heath got to the hole, Jim had washed free, was unresponsive, and floating down river. Heath jumped back in his boat and took off in pursuit, easily punching the hole that caught Jim. It took about a half mile for Heath to catch up to Jim and get him to shore. Heath administered CPR for 45-minutes, but to no avail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join AW and support river stewardship nationwide!