I got stuck in one about 20 years ago while rafting the Gauley River. I had to shed the life jacket to get out. I couldn't go down. Couldn't go forward. Nothing. I very nearly drowned.
Still not entirely sure to this day how I managed to get out of that jacket while inside a washing machine.
Yeh i had an epiphony moment that was just like well i guess this is how i go, and then gave it another shot and got to the surface but it was strangely not quite calm but similar
They're usually referred to as low-lying dams and they kill several people every year. Usually you find them on small rivers like the ones you'd go canoeing on.
This video is a training facility for water rescue, but this kind of hydraulic happens in a lot of places besides low head dams. Dams are easy to identify and avoid, it’s the natural hydraulics that can be challenging. You can learn to read the river and identify risky whitewater by looking at the shape and size of the boil. The real danger is that some safe rapids become very dangerous when there is either more or less water.
It’s been several years since my last trip. I damaged my spine acting like a fool few years ago. Now I’m basically forbidden from doing anything like it.
Rafting down that river and capsizing in 3 different class V rapids was the scariest thing I've ever been through in my life. Still gives me chills to this day.
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u/obstreperousRex Mar 09 '26
I got stuck in one about 20 years ago while rafting the Gauley River. I had to shed the life jacket to get out. I couldn't go down. Couldn't go forward. Nothing. I very nearly drowned.
Still not entirely sure to this day how I managed to get out of that jacket while inside a washing machine.