Emmet Suttil, and Christopher Melvin happened to be on the Adams River Monday, working to get Suttil's kayak away from this log jam it had gotten caught on. That day, the pair were able to rescue two people who'd gone overboard.(Image Credit: Emmet Suttil)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

WHITEWATER RAFTING SAFETY

Rescuers of Adams River whitewater raft group hope near-miss provides safety reminder

Jun 23, 2020 | 4:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — Lifeguard training and whitewater experience came in handy this week for Christopher Melvin and Emmet Suttill.

The young men were out on the Adams River Monday (June 22), when they spotted two people coming downstream who had gone overboard.

Their friends upstream had blown a safety whistle to alert Melvin and Suttill of the people coming their way. The pair had been set up downstream trying to pry loose Suttill’s kayak after it got caught in a logjam earlier in the week.

“When I looked up, I saw these two guys floating down,” explains Melvin, “which was weird because the water is at a really high level and not many people tend to go down at this level.”

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The capsized rafters began swimming towards Melvin and Suttill and the logjam beside them, so they started directing the two individuals away to avoid getting sucked into the logs.

“I mean if they had been caught in that logjam, we wouldn’t have been able to pull them out.”

The people they saved had been part of group who had gone out on their own for whitewater rafting, ran into trouble, and became separated on the river. Fortunately for them, help happened to be nearby.

“I got them to hold onto the back of my boat, and then we paddled down and I tried to get them on to the side of the river, when we saw the other rafting crew,” says Suttill. “So we ended up getting them all reunited, and then they ended up hiking out with their raft because they didn’t want to raft the end because it was too dangerous.”

Given the amount of flooding and debris swept into the water, this time of year can be hazardous for river excursions. Several whitewater rafting companies aren’t operating right now due to high water levels — including Adams River Rafting. Owner Clif Garcia says they’re monitoring the river going down, and plan to open within the next couple weeks.

“We had a really big snowpack this year. We’re at about 120 per cent of normal snowpack in our area, and it’s just running a lot higher than it normally would for this time of year. So especially right now, you need to be staying away from the river.”

Garcia had received a phone call from one of the overturned group’s members asking for help that day. However, he was well out of a quick response area at the time, and told them to call 9-1-1 instead.

According to Garcia, it’s not the first time he and his staff have been called to help a group that ran into trouble.

“It’s usually us having to go along and assist, somebody has popped their tube, capsized their canoe and they need some guidance on how to get from the rapids to the ending point, or it’s fishing them out of the water and helping them get into a raft and we’ll take them down to a safe spot and help them from there.”

Wearing a life jacket, proper footwear and a helmet is a safety staple for these kind of water sports, and Garcia says if you haven’t tried them before, going with a trained company is the safest route.

“Not the best idea to be going on your own if you don’t have experience. Especially if you don’t know the river itself, you don’t know what’s coming up around the next bend. We’re out there daily. There’s certain checkpoints that we have that we look at for potential log jams or wood debris.”

Kamloops Search and Rescue were not tasked out to the Adams River incident, but Search Manager Alan Hobler says they’ve seen their fair share of people going out on the water unprepared.

“Typically what happens is by the time we get out there, the subjects have already self rescued, and they don’t require our assistance,” explains Hobler, who notes that some events turn deadly. “Occasionally the outcomes are severe, and we do have to go out and try to locate some missing people.”

Even those who are well-versed in rafting or kayaking say it’s best to go with others who are trained in whitewater maneuvers, and safety procedures. Suttill says he and Melvin are certified lifeguards, and they both felt it was necessary to get additional safety training before doing their own excursions.

“We took a course called White Water Rescue, and it talks about things like how to unpin a boat, how to swim in white water, how to avoid features on the river, and how to assess the river and make sure it’s safe,” Suttill says. “It’s really cool because we were able to use all those skills that we learned just less than a month ago.”

For people looking to explore what B.C.’s rivers have to offer, experienced whitewater sportsmen hope newcomers will take safety into account to keep the sport fun and avoid tragedy.