Case Study: Vallecito Creek, Colorado

Vallecito Creek
Durango, Colorado
Class V-V+
500-1000 cfs
250 feet per mile

River Description-
Vallecito Creek is a popular 1 mile stretch of class V whitewater in Southern Colorado. Paddlers start the trip at the take out and hike upstream. Typically, paddlers put in at the top or bottom of Superboof rapid. Regardless, there is only a few hundred yards of class II-III rapids before Entrance Falls. Entrance Falls is an 18 foot waterfall into a large pool. Behind the falls on river left is a cave. It is common for paddlers to end up in the cave. After Entrance Falls the creek quickly drops through Trash Can- a jumble of rocks and holes. After Trash Can is Pick-up Sticks, Fuzzy Little Bunny, Boofant, Paddle Bitch, No-Way-Out Gorge, and Finish Line. Once a paddler runs Entrance Falls there are only a few opportunities to escape the gorge overland.

Case Study-
On a late August afternoon, a group of experienced paddlers heads up to Vallecito Creek. Two of the paddlers, Mark and Bob have run Vallecito numerous times, the other paddler, Ted, has yet to run it. However, Ted is an accomplished paddler and has run many class V sections.

It has been raining the past few days and the creek has been rising accordingly. That morning rain had soaked the surrounding areas and large rain clouds can currently be seen to the north--the headwaters of the creek.


Vallecito does not usually run this time of year. But the fall rains have brought it up. The paddlers know that there is a short window before the creek drops back down to unrunnable levels.

The team of paddlers conducts a visual inspection of the creek and the gauge. The creek is running clear and the gauge reads 2.5 (old gauge). This is the highest level paddlers boat the creek, but both Mark and Bob have run it at this level and feel confidant in Ted’s abilities. The group decides to suit up and run the creek.

While suiting up, Bob mentions that he forgot his throwbag. Ted tells Bob to carry his.

Ted and Bob are using new boats. They test their sprayskirts in the parking lot. Both skirts fit, but not extremely well. They seem to pop off with very little effort. The group discusses this and decides that it should be alright.

“Just don’t miss your boof,” cracks Bob.

After the one mile hike up-stream the team reaches the put in. The hike is strenuous, with steep up-hill climbs at roughly 7000 ft elevation. Upon reaching the put in, the paddlers begin to suit up. Each individual paddler scouts the first rapid, but they do not discuss. Bob notices that the water is no longer clear, but rather muddy. Again, this observation was not discussed. The paddlers put in.

Questions:
Are any mistakes being made?
What are the paddlers options at this point?
What might complicate this decision?

Through the warm-up rapids each paddler stretches and prepares himself for the coming gorge. At the last eddy above Entrance Falls it is decided that Mark will go first with Ted following close behind. This will let Ted see the line necessary for the falls. Bob will sweep.

Mark and Ted proceed. Mark has a good line and eddies out above Trash Can. When he turns around to watch Ted’s line, he sees him miss his boof stroke and melt down into the hole. Mark then quickly gets out of his boat and grabs his throw bag. Ted resurfaces in the hole at the bottom of the falls. He makes several attempts to escape the hole in his boat before his skirt is blown. He comes out of his boat and continues to be recirculated in the hole.

Bob comes over the drop. He lands and sees Mark on shore with a throw bag pointing to the hole. Bob looks behind him and sees Ted recirculating in the hole. Ted again makes several attempts to escape the hole, but is pulled back and recirculated.

Mark makes a throw bag attempt, but the distance is too far. Bob chooses to paddle as close to the hole as possible and tow Ted out. This works.

Upon getting Ted to shore, the group rests for a moment and discusses their options. Ted no longer has a boat or paddle. They have disappeared downstream. Mark and Bob have heard stories of boaters climbing up the wall on river right. There is a chimney that is near vertical for approximately 100 ft. Ted assesses the climb and decides that he can make it. Mark and Bob will continue in their boats downstream. They will meet at the take out.

Mark and Bob now scout Trash Can. This drop is a jumble of rocks and drops 20 feet in about 20 feet. Upon scouting this drop, no rocks are visible and the drop is a river wide hole. At this point, they discuss the fact that the river is higher than they have ever seen it.

They put in their boats and proceed. The creek is flowing fast and their are very few eddies. The two remaining paddlers don’t have time to discuss lines, they are more or less on their own.

At Fuzzy Little Bunny Mark is in the lead and Bob is close behind. Fuzzy Little Bunny is a 10 foot waterfall into a narrow slot at the bottom. Bob runs the drop and his sprayskirt come off. He lands upright and attempts to paddle out of the slot. However, his boat begins to sink and he is being pulled back upstream into the hole at the base of the drop. He quickly gets out of his boat and is able to self rescue on river left with his boat and paddle. The paddlers take a few moments to regain composure and then proceed.

Both Mark and Bob make it to the take out without any other complications. They discuss the fact that the creek was enormous and much higher than either had ever seen. They then head upstream to find Ted.

They find him hiking on the trail near the take out. He is covered in dirt and has numerous scrapes and and wounds. He states that he had multiple overhanging rocks to deal with in the chimney and that he nearly fell three times. It was by far the hardest climb he had ever done without a belay.

The creek, which was running at 2.5 when the group checked the guage, had spiked to 2.9 while they were hiking up. This is the highest recorded decent of that creek, but was done without full knowledge and by mistake.

Questions:
What mistakes did this group make? What clues should they have been paying attention to? Why do you suppose they ignored those clues? What would you have done in their position?

Decision Making

When working or playing on the river, safety is always our first priority. We know that most accidents are not caused by one single action, but rather a series of small mistakes, that can ultimately lead to a devastating outcome. It is fair to say then, that our safety is contingent on our ability to see any given situation clearly, and make effective decisions.

We are experts at making decisions. A thousand times a day we decide what to eat, what to wear, what to say, and so on. In recent years there has been a significant amount of research conducted on our abilities to make decisions. And from this research, there are some interesting insights into human beings decision making processes that are very applicable to the river.

Most of us think that a good decision is one that has been thought through thoroughly. When making that decision, we would like to know everything there is to know about the decision and what its outcome will be. If we are buying a car we may ask: How many miles are on it? How many owners? When was the last maintenance? How much will it cost to repair? Perhaps we will even write out a list of pros and cons, and even weigh the potential cost of each. However, for most of our decisions, this technique is not applicable. We either do not have the time or the desire to ponder every possible outcome and rarely do we have all the information.

This is very true on the river. Our decisions must be quick. Should I go right of the rock or left? Rarely do we have even a fraction of all the information. There may be a submerged log in the river right channel. And we almost certainly have indefinite outcomes. If I go right, I may float over the log, or I may get pinned.

Researchers have found that one technique we use to make these quick decisions is to create rules of thumb, or as the researches call them--hueristics. These hueristics allow us to make snap decisions by using our past experiences to make a judgement. An example of the similarity hueristic would be that we know we enjoyed a book by a certain author, then we will decide more easily to purchase a book with a similar theme, plot, or characters.

These hueristics are effective and save us a significant amount of time in our daily lives. However, we should be aware that this kind of decision making can lead us in the wrong direction and possibly cause an accident.

In the outdoor industry, avalanche researchers have been the first to jump on this. What they found in avalanche fatalities was that 95% of the slides were caused by the victim or the victims party. They also found that the group usually had at least one member of the party that was trained and experienced. Furthermore, they found that the group had at least three clues that a slide was possible--there was sliding in the area, the forecast was considerable or higher, there was wind loading, they were skiing in an obvious slide path, there were terrain traps, etc.

From this research, they were able to identify six “hueristic traps” that the victims fell for. The acronym FACETS was developed as a tool to avoid future accidents and can be directly applied to river use.

Familiarity Hueristic- “Don’t worry, I have run this river 100 times.” We are more inclined to take risks if we are on familiar terrain. However, on the river, just as on the mountain, conditions change, and our experience before may not pertain to the current situation.
Acceptance Hueristic-When in a group, we choose not to speak up so that we gain approval from friends and peers. We don’t want to sound scared or overly worried, and we don’t want to go against the grain.
Commitment Hueristic- We have driven four hours and hiked two with these boats on our shoulder. We have come too far to turn back now.
Expert Halo Hueristic- “The lead boater has a lot more experience than I do, and he has been here a bunch, I don’t need to worry.” This, however, may not be the case, and if you are worried, then say so.
Tracks (Scarcity Hueristic)- “This is the last day the river will be at this level, we have to go now.” For avalanche terrain this refers to the possibility of others getting the first run down a fresh powder field.
Social Proof Hueristic- This is the lemming approach. “Everyone else ran the rapid, I should be fine.”

As you can see, these traps can easily be applied to the river. Although the research has not yet been done concerning river accidents, it is a logical conclusion that these factors could have played a role. I am sure you can think of a time that you have said at least one of these things to yourself. Next time recognize that this is a possible trap, and that this rule of thumb might not apply today.

Conditioning Tips for Rescue from Dr. Amtmann

Sports, mainstream and non-mainstream, can be very challenging mentally and physically. I admire the athleticism of the non-mainstream athlete (climber, kayaker, skier, etc…) as much as the mainstream basketball or football player. It is essential that coaches of all sports understand the requirements of their particular sport, and when I work with athletes I always set up the training program to prepare the athlete for the worst case scenario, but hope for the best overall outcome. For example, a grappling athlete needs to be able to out-work his/her opponent for the full duration of the regulation match AND the overtime round if needed – possibly 6-8 times during a tournament, but hope for a quick win by pin early on in the match. Successful coaches realize this and take the steps to prepare the athletes during the sport practices as well as additional strength and conditioning sessions.

It is just as important for the rescue professional to physically prepare for the inevitable rescue that will require solid physical conditioning. If you think about it, athletes competing on a regular basis have an advantage because they know when they’ll be expected to perform. For some athletes, it’s weekly or bi-weekly during the season. Some athletes have a full 12 weeks to prepare for their event. It’s easy for the coaches to maintain a consistent training regimen when the dates of the events are known. For the rescue professional the big call could be today, tomorrow or 10 months from now. Despite when that call actually is, you will have to be physically prepared.

When I work with the general public, I am much more forgiving when developing exercise programs. If the exercise program is too intense for the 50 year old administrative assistant who hasn’t exercised in over 20 years, the person will usually just end up quitting – so it’s better to gently train with low intensity than to not train at all. With athletes and/or rescue professionals, however, we have to train with the thought that we are preparing for that worst case scenario. Let’s not fool ourselves, a high level of physical fitness is beneficial in performing the basic duties of swiftwater rescue.

The tips I would like to emphasize specifically for the professional rescuer for this edition include:

• Cross Train – train for cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and strength endurance. In future issues we will provide you with time-efficient programs that will address all of these components in one training session per day.
• Train the entire body in a balanced fashion – don’t ignore any major muscle group. When the entire body improves in strength overall structural integrity improves and resistance to injury is enhanced.
• Train consistently – realize that your conditioning is directly related to your abilities as a rescue professional. Make it a part of your daily routine…I guess you can take Sundays off.
• Train with intensity – Prepare for the worst case scenario…

….but hope for the best.

Wilderness Medicine Semester with Aerie

Aerie’s Semester in Wilderness Medicine is a completely unique program in the wilderness medicine field, providing students with industry-leading certifications earned through unparalleled experiential learning opportunities. The rigorous academic program employs realistic scenarios, interactive lectures, as well as clinical observations in a variety of settings, including an urban American emergency room and advanced life support ambulance service, as well as in a developing-world rural health clinic to ensure a well-rounded, challenging and rewarding educational experience. The goal is not only to provide professional-level certifications, but also a broad education in wilderness skills to ensure that our students are capable of preventing and responding to emergencies in any environment.

Costa Rica highlights including staffing a health clinic based in the community of Mastatal, Costa Rica and making house visits for patients too ill or remote to walk into the village center. The clinic is an outstanding opportunity to practice patient care skills under the direct instruction of Aerie's Medical Director, emergency room physician Dr. Greg Moore, and volunteer RNs, aided by language translators for non-Spanish speaking students. Semester students additionally spend several days on community health work addressing chronic respiratory disease related to the longstanding practice of cooking indoors over wood fires.

Returning to Montana, students augment their EMT skills with instruction in avalanche and swiftwater rescue, managing patients in winter environments, and formal search and rescue training, including helicopter rescue operations. Aerie's strong community relationships allow us to offer human anatomy instruction at the University of Montana cadaver lab and vehicle extrication practice with local firefighters. You will not receive a more comprehensive education in wilderness and emergency medical skills anywhere.

Whitewater Symposium

WRI will be heading out to NOC for the Whitewater Symposium. We are very excited to be participating in this great event again. The Symposium is a unique opportunity to sit down and listen, discuss, and share thoughts about the whitewater industry. We hope to share some of our river safety knowledge, but even more than that, we hope to learn what else is happening on rivers. If you're in the area, come and visit. Should be fun!

Spring Has Arrived!

We have been busy since February, with courses in Costa Rica and here in Missouls. May looks to be even busier. We are offering a variety of Swiftwater Rescue Courses througout May, June and July.

We are very excited to announce a few new additions to the 2010 schedule. First, we will be offer two Advanced SWRT courses on the Gallatin River on May 15-16 and May 30-31. We will also be offering an Advanced course here in Missoula sometime in July.

Next, we are excited to be working with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad again. We are working with their containment teams in Havre, Montana and Guernsey, Washington. We will be helping them safely set up boom in case of derailments in streams.

We are also happy to be working with Sierra South in Kernville, California to offer the southern Sierra paddlers a boaters safety course on June 26-27.

We hope you too are having a great spring and we hope to see you out on the river.

Don't forget to visit us at www.whitewaterrescue.com! And stay tuned to YouTube for course videos. For the latest go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7u8b8zrfm8

Montana River Association

The Montana River Association (MRA) is up and running. It's mission is to provide education, stewardship, and advocacy for the river recreation community of western Montana.

MRA will be hosting a series of Rolling/Paddling session in the Currents Pool in Missoula. The first session is on Sunday, Jan 24th from 6-8pm. MRA will be asking for a $5.00 donation from members and $15 donation (this will include a membership) from non-members.

You can check them out at mtrivers.org or become a fan on facebook.