Victim in 50 ft rapids on the Grand Canyon river

[kaylalalaskyee]

western hahahahah the blue menace!!!!



[kaylalalaskyee]

western hahahahah the blue meanace!!!!

[obfg2]

This poster must be 12 and seeking attention: Whitewater classes stop at 6. Those waves were maybe 10~12 feet tall, and the swimmer was just a swimmer, not a victim. Grow up.

[zapzanderson]

@obfg2 The Colorado in the Grand Canyon has its own rating system. 1-10 Anyone that knows anything about rafting would know that.

[momosportsgeek]

That is the weirdest fucking cataraft I have ever seen 

[jpb252]

@momosportsgeek It's called a J-Rig, and it's the best motorized raft in the Canyon, much more stable than the rafts (G-rigs, S-Rigs, etc.) that use the "donut" shaped rubber tubes. The five long tubes can rise and fall independent of each other and aren't nearly as stiff as the other types of rafts. I believe the J-Rigs are operated exclusively by Western River Expeditions at this time.

[legfire9191]

@jpb252 No sir! I got off the Grand about a week and and Hatch runs them, Moenkopi, Western, and Grand Canyon Adventures all run J rigs. Have you heard about the Jrig disaster earlier this year?

[jpb252]

@legfire9191 I have to respectfully disagree, I saw all those companies and only Western had J-rigs. The S-rig looks similar from the side, but has a large donut raft with a straight tube on each side. The only J-rig 'disaster' I've heard about recently was when one stranded on the rock garden at Crystal (I believe that was in 2010). Please enlighten me.

[legfire9191]

@jpb252 you're very much right about the Jrigs on second thought...

I guess there was a commercial crew who dropped their clients off at the heli pad a few miles below lava and they had 2 days to get to pierce ferry. A few other commercial crews met up and they strapped their boats together and ended up drinking the night away, without tying up to shore...

apparently, in the middle of the night, a crew member woke up right as they were about to enter the pierce ferry rapid and woke everyone...

[outOFthePITT]

lol funny to see him clinging on like a rat

[joemyersjr]

thats where i came off sue !!



[ther1zzl3r]

Maybe the poster meant a 50ft long wave train.. lol. That is certainly not a 50ft wave.

Just a question though, how the hell are those monstrous "rafts" guided? I saw one guy in the back, but didn't see a stick. Maybe it was a rudder. But I didn't see any paddlers, so I can't see how they would move the thing. Is there a motor on that raft? lol.

Sorry if it's a dumb question, I've just honestly never seen/stick'd that type of raft

[thegunnydog]

50 ' rapids? Please. Pig boat. Buy a Kayak. ;-)

[TOTALLYCOOLBELIKEME3]

I don't think thats 50ft.....

[jlawbrook]

haha! 50-foot waves??! actually these look around 10-15. Just a giant fun wavetrain. Looks similar to Himalayas on the Futaleufu

[AlSwearengen15]

wow, an obvious gaper post. I've been a kayaker for fifteen years and have done the Grand and those waves were definitely not 50 feet

[LostForces]

ive done this before.. good times, good times...

[jauchiu]

I was the guide on this trip. I threw his fat ass out of the raft because he was annoying. Unfortunately he survived.

[AlSwearengen15]

This was obviously posted by someone who knows nothing about whitewater. 50 foot waves? Ha! And nobody really uses the ten scale anymore. Hermit is usually rated class III. Looks like III+ at that level. The thing is, on most every rapid in the Grand Canyon, there is a nice rescue pool at the bottom.

[P3teR0cK]

hahaha...what the hell is this thing?^^

[doctorwintercold]

one day a mafioso drowned an associate in the toilet bowl...

[jmr1068204]

I am curious as to where people are coming up with these numbers. 30 something feet high and 50 something feet high. Is this referring to how far the water falls given a length of hundreds of feet on a flat surface? Otherwise, I don't see any 3 to 5 story high waves...

[GalderIncarnate]

Zambezi river is boss. Check it out.

[frogjedi4]

Vid is complete BS.

[evantea1974]

Alright - I was the guide running this boat. For the record, the waves were likely 12- 15 feet in the gut and NO the swimmer was NOT a "victim," he was a just a swimmer. Pulled him in safely and headed on down to Crystal. Viva la Grand Canyon!

[purpleladydragon]

@evantea1974 when you fall off the raft.....what exactly happens to you??? do you have to swim back to shore by yourself or do they give you a safety line??? can you go rafting without knowing how to swim, as long as you have a life jacket???

[catnmus]

@purpleladydragon If you're close enough to the boat you try to swim toward it, and people will try to help you in. No ropes needed. If not, point your feet downstream till you're out of the rapid and let the boat come to you.

[ed3rd1354]

@purpleladydragon : I was on a boat trip with Evan this summer and I have some video of Hermit. His exact words (almost) to us were: "If you do fall off, relax, enjoy the ride. There is not a lot to worry about in this rapid and there is a big pool at the base of the rapids and we'll just pick you up." And, in fact, a guy on one of the rafts following us *did* get bucked off on the last wave...and that is just what they did.

[TheNairaa]

@purpleladydragon it depends on the rapid and the river and if you are on a commercial trip they usually tell you what to do if you fall out- you should definitely follow everything they tell you. It is not as important to know how to swim as to be physically able to get back to the raft and climb in if no one else is helping.

[grenadezeroone]

@evantea1974 I was also the guide and he double dieded both times

[bigbrutemudder]

Just looks lika Massive wave train with no hazards . Sweat lookin rapid !

[dremarques]

Clarification for those uninformed. The Grand Canyon uses a 1-10 rating, instead of I-V. But cut it in half and you've got the equivalent (basically). An 8 is like a IV, a 10 like a V (always flow dependent of course). When I ran this rapid at 15,000-18,000 cfs the biggest waves were 20-25 ft. tall. And in every guide book it is considered an 8, a big 8, but an 8 nonetheless... and, victims are dead, swimmers are people who fall out.

[robertsonator]

50? your a tool, get a q-tip and clean out your ears cuz they must have said 15... tops, 50 foot waves arent real

[pupplesan]

10-12 foot waves.

[zonzeven]

I did the canyon by kayak and never saw a 50 ft wave. Did someone die in this video ? I see a swimmer, not a victim.

The text is stupid.

[OnChThIs]

Looks like fun!

[rangelaeyer]

hermit was the best and biggest rapid on my trip. Much bigger then lava that year.

[PotatoGunsRule]

I raft quite often (weekly) on the New River....he looked like he was headed for fairly calm stuff.

[theCanyonwren]

nobody drowned on this video, I have worked in the canyon for 30 years and this company has never had a rafting death at Lava or elsewhere, rafting in the Canyon is safer than playing golf, if you look at the statistics!

[armadaskier175]

right but a ten on that scale is class IV, only lava or crystal could be called class V, and only at high flows.

[armadaskier175]

Not even close to fifty foot waves. More like twelve.

Calling those rapids a 10 is silly. Not a single rapid on the canyon is even class V at these flows. I would say that one is class III. I have paddled the canyon, and found it fairly easy, with the only consequence being the cold water.

[guaranic]

like you said with the waves nowhere close to 50 feet but the difficulty rating scale on the canyon is different; it goes from 1-10 not 1-6. this is rated as a 8-9 or basically a 4-5 on the normal scale..

[xjosie94x]

hermit was easy! i did it in the summer !

[Dynoriderx]

How do we know he dies? How do we know those are 50 footers?

[yamaha74]

captain lucky

[mjsandemt]

J boats are lame.

[Ajstinky12]

hermet was the rapid and its 31 feet high and you have to be retarded to drown

[jirouy]

it is technically possible to drown in 5 inches of water.

[guaranic]

@Ajstinky12 i don't even think that they're 31 feet high. the total drop in the rapid is 25 or so

[muchomusic94]

i was on that rapid a couple weeks ago and the waves were 45 feet i thought i was going to die but it was so fun! the water 18,000 cfs favorite rapid way better than crystal!

[timsta34]

i went down the lower gauley back about 3 years ago and that was my first time white water rafting.... Now ive gone down twice a year to both upper and lower gauley and i wanna try other good rivers

[jcn7vc]

Just because it is a 35 foot rig doesn't mean that the rapis are that high. I would say 15 foot at best.

Plus the length of the raft amplifies the severity of the rapids. I bet it wouldn't look that tough with a typical 14'. Lava falls is much more serious.

[kennethclay]

Just got back today from the Grand Canyon (with Western River). They called Hermit, Crystal, and Lava Falls a "10". For what it's worth, the Waves at Hermit were much bigger than Lava when we ran them both. Not the case the last time I ran it.

I almost got ejected off the front, just like the swimmer, so it was cool to see what it looked like.

[Hibiscslvr524]

good grief this is ridiculous

hermit is not 50 ft

nor is it even a 10

seriously

the waves are pretty sick in a kayak though

[LightningPeak]

Lame title and equally lame video. And as for the comment that Hermit is a "Class 10" that's wrong. It's an 8 on a good day. The only 10 in the Grand Canyon is Lava Falls.

[tardgo]

A 50 foot wave would be the single biggest thing you have ever seen.

[powskier]

That's one of the stupidest titles I've ever seen. First of all, it's the Colorado river. And those faces are 15 feet and best. And he wasn't a victim. He was a swimmer ... which was what you called people who are dumped from a raft. He had a life vest on and was never in any danger because he was just going through 15' wave trains and not in a recirculating hole. Please change your stupid title.

[kelbuc]

That raft, which is called a J-rig is 35 ft long. That last wave stood it straight up in the air, so you're right its not a 50 footer but it is bigger than 15 ft. That was Hermit rapid, my favorite rapid in the canyon. Its friggin huge!

[osteomina]

Why do you sound disappointed in not seeing the person actually die? It's a horrible thing.

[EagleEyes09]

hes not dead!

[SuperMario764]

i didnt see him die

[VietPriDe143213]

jesus that aint that crazy, i witness a person fall off the tower of doom..scary stuff

[blackfire108]

Crazy, I have been white water rafting for 25 years and never seen anything this crazy!!! Wow!!

[alexisisa8]

Really this rafter is crazy.I have seen many videos of such rafting accidents at splashvision . com.

[GalderIncarnate]

@blackfire108 Check out the Zambezi River. It will blow your mind.

[purpleladydragon]

@blackfire108 when you fall off the raft.....what exactly happens to you??? do you have to swim back to shore by yourself or do they give you a safety line??? can you go rafting without knowing how to swim, as long as you have a life jacket???