Larry’s Tips: “The Not-So-Benign Prerogative”

“The Not-So-Benign Prerogative”

A Carolina Paddler Article

By Larry Ausley

Considering everything that can go wrong in “extreme sports” in general, and whitewater paddling in particular, I’m sometimes surprised by the relatively low rate of serious accidents and even deaths. Maybe that has a little to do with the resilience of human nature. Maybe that has to do with the training that goes into introductions to the sports and preparedness for participation.

Participating in whitewater paddling gives us the prerogative to experience and even challenge difficult natural conditions in the belief that we can endure, conquer and ultimately enjoy and be emotionally rewarded by that challenge. Every time we make that conquest, we increase our internal sense of superiority over those elements. Sometimes that sense is supported by real improvements in our skill of remaining safe, but sometimes (probably even more often), it may be inflated by a false sense of security of having entered the tunnel on one side and coming out of it on the other, unscathed, again and again. We start to lose context of the hazards through familiarity and repetition.

We learn about a variety of known hazards in whitewater paddling and our need to assess them in deciding upon our own risk tolerance. From the beginning, even the International Scale of River Difficulty becomes part of that equation.  More specific hazards, even on a specific site can be assessed, considered and managed on a personal basis. For one, I’ve decided that the risk:reward of running Crack-in-the-Rock rapid on Section IV of the Chattooga is simply not worth it to me. It’s an easy walk around a potentially disastrous outcome. I’ve run Crack—successfully, but I can now also understand the consequence of any small factor not working.

There is one class of hazard I am going to opine is considerably more insidious than others. STRAINERS. A strainer is anything water will flow through that a solid object (like a boat and/or person) will not. We most commonly think of downed trees and root balls as strainers but other objects like nets, bundles of wire, fishing lines, etc. fit the definition. Parts/limbs of a tree hanging out over the water or extending above water are often sub-termed a “sweeper” but commonly exist as part of an underwater strainer. More often characterized under separate consideration, “sieves”, formed by holes in rocks or undercuts of rocks/banks, function as the same type of hazard; allowing water flow but halting the passage of solid objects. These situations create unexpected but immense forces against solid objects that people do not understand or appreciate until, in many cases, it is too late.

The American Whitewater Accident Database chronicles almost 1,400 whitewater fatalities this century and places strainers as a causal factor in over 20% of those deaths. Add to this sieves as a cause and the percentage rises above 30%.

There is no river we paddle that does not have strainers of some type or to some degree. We are used to them being there and we are used to paddling by them without incident. This familiarity with them can lull us into a false sense of security. There is no river we paddle on any day where we can say ahead of time that no strainer will be “in play” for us that day. We therefore can’t plan ahead, for ourselves or our group, to avoid potential strainers, no matter the degree of difficulty the river as a whole poses. We can’t say that a stretch of water we paddled safely the previous day does not now have a potentially lethal hazard, nor where it may be nor how many it may have. We might become so comfortable along a particular section of river that we drop our guard against such hazards. You see strainers mentioned in online forums because unlike most other natural features, strainers appear and disappear. It’s worth letting others know about those that are new and can’t be moved out-of-play on-site.

People new to paddling moving water might have a long history of paddling flat water, regularly paddling right up to, into and through trees, limbs, and features that pose little to no risk to them. If you are only used to paddling flat water, recognize One Big Difference between the two environments: On flat water, you move yourself somewhere. When you stop paddling, you stop moving. In moving water, you are moved somewhere. It is incessant until and unless you take action to change it or some other factor changes it for you. Note that I’m not saying Class I, II, III whitewater here. I’m saying moving water. When it moves, strainers become a serious factor. Be aware of your surroundings and what is coming.

Need even worse news? Strainers themselves can move. During high flows (a condition in which we commonly paddle), strainers can come to you! Keep an eye out behind you and up-river too. <facepalm>

Here are some suggestions I’ll offer for consideration:

• Never discount the hazard that all strainers pose. Your risk increases with every inch you move closer while in-line upstream of them. Recognize and avoid them by large margins where you can. Teach yourself to be looking up and away from your boat (for a variety of paddling-skills benefits) but particularly for this case. Be situationally aware for yourself and your group.
• Never discount the hazard a strainer poses. Never approach one from upstream. If you have to work around one (in a rescue, for example) approach and position yourself in the safety of its downstream side.
• Every time you stop and play a feature, consider whether there is a strainer risk immediately downstream should you capsize and/or swim or if for some other reason you could not maneuver away in time. Accept that it’s OK to say “no” to yourself (You may also be passively transmitting to others).
• Never run a blind drop or a blind curve without some means of knowing that the blind area is free of an unavoidable strainer (e.g. by scouting). Just because it was clear the day before does not mean it is clear now. We tend to paddle more after rains—exactly the time when strainers are likely on the move and likely to be present. Those of you who paddle the lower Haw with me will see me stop to boat-scout 3’ falls and Moosejaw every time I run the river if I haven’t just seen someone run the drops clean
• ahead of me. If you’re used to paddling a particular river, you can learn particular areas that are prone to this hazard and develop your own routines accordingly.
• Learn and understand hydrology that might cause strainers. Trees falling into the eroding side of a stream (usually the outside of curves) tend to cause strainers and sweepers more than on the inside of curves. BUT…know that the inside of curves generally have slower moving water and are areas of deposition that can be significantly more shallow than the outside of a bend. I’ve seen plenty of people get in trouble with a strainer by paddling toward the inside of a bend, only to have their intended line thwarted by shallow shoals and then pushed uncontrollably into the deeper, outside water and the strainer. It’s happened to me and I’ve lived (so far) to learn that hard lesson.
• If you find yourself inexorably being carried into a strainer, never allow yourself to be carried feet-first under it or underwater. Consider your battle to stay above water and to heave your body upward and on top of the strainer the only action that might save your life. Turn and swim toward the strainer and use your arms/hands to aggressively propel yourself over, proactively. If you can manage to at least get yourself to a stable, maintainable position but no further, stop, maintain that stability and wait for help (You’re with a crew that is watching out for you and capable of helping, right?). Don’t take an action that can change bad to worse. If you’ve taken an ACA Swiftwater Rescue Course you’ve likely seen and practiced this maneuver. If you paddle moving water and haven’t taken a Swiftwater Rescue course, sign up for one.

Now that I’ve said all that like some knowing sage, I’ll also say that I’ve failed to make every one of those considerations at some point in my paddling career and I’ve learned each of those lessons the hard way. In some cases, I made it through coming way too close to being a statistic. Scary close.

I think many of us know someone first- or second-hand who has lost their life or lost a loved one to whitewater. These are sports, environments and communities we all love and we all make the choice to keep dancing the dance. Let’s do it smartly, informed and awake and recognize that the prerogative we exercise, despite our best intent, is not altogether benign.

Be safe. Have Fun.