Ropes and Signals
By Teresa Gryder
Guiding on the Chattooga requires a high level of skill with shore-based safety. There are several rapids which routinely flip rafts or dump customers, and some of the rapids are very close together. Dumping rafting customers into the water is no big deal in a friendly river, but on the Chattooga they could be swept into any number of known death traps, not to mention the traps that haven’t been detected yet. You have to get the people out before they are swept into a trap or the next rapid. You have to get the raft to shore if you want to continue the trip. And you can’t do that from the seat of a kayak.
Rafting the Chattooga River
Outfitters on the Chattooga operate by a Safety Plan devised to manage the risks involved with taking the public in a wild and dangerous place. Group sizes and boat numbers are limited. Each raft trip on Section IV also has a safety boater along, almost always a kayaker.
The safety boaters don’t just paddle along. They are often out of their boats, up on shore with a rope in their hands. At rapids where there is a high probability of flips or swims, raft guides walk down the banks to hold rope below the rapids. In this way even the first raft through has ample rope coverage in case something goes wrong.
When the first rafts have successfully navigated a drop, the guides who just ran the rapid jump out of their rafts and take over the rope positions. Then the guides who had walked down can walk back upstream to run their boat through, and the kayaker can get back in their K-1 and fetch anything that gets past the ropes.
Another way that we reduce risks is to run the main drops one at a time. This is accomplished by means of a signaling system. One of the rope-holders at the bottom of the rapid has a view upstream to where the rest of the boats are waiting to run. When a raft finishes the rapid intact and is clearly going to hit the eddy, the next boat can be signaled “All Clear”. I suspect you know the All Clear signal—a paddle, or arm, or hand with a rope in it, held straight overhead. When the boaters at the top of the rapid see the signal, one of them returns the all clear signal to say “Here We Come” and starts into the rapid. In this way there is little lag between boats as long as the runs are clean, but if a raft flips, all resources can be concentrated on getting all the people, boats and paddles out of the water. Once that mess is cleaned up, the All Clear signal comes again until everyone is down.
Of course, all of this requires planning ahead. Without a clear strategy for setting safety, the safety net never forms, or degrades over time. One of the points emphasized by the panel was the need for clear and regular communication about trouble spots and how to manage them. On Section IV, the guides meet at lunch to discuss their plan for the day. That plan is influenced by water level, crews, weather, and anything else that might change.
We could start using this kind of system as recreational paddlers. It’s rare that we set ropes or use signals from shore. Of course there are exceptions. The boaters most likely to use shore-based systems are class V paddlers. People boating on easier water are more likely to skip it, and to keep skipping it even as they move to harder runs. It takes time and energy to get out of your boat. Most of the time nothing happens. And lots of people don’t have much practice with ropes and don’t want to embarrass themselves. But the excuses don’t hold up against the reality that we do know where the problem spots are, and we could be covering them better.
Recreational Paddlers Without Shore-Based Safety
Over time we realize that surprising things happen more at certain places. I’m thinking of one drop in particular, the one I call Tall Falls on the Lower Wind River in Washington. It’s the second drop in a set of four stacked drops called Shipherd Falls. The first of the four is about twelve feet tall, then the Tall Falls is about eighteen, then a nasty slide called Cheesegrater, and then the Weir which is about ten feet tall. These falls are not hard at least at low water, but stuff still goes wrong.
The most common bad outcome is when someone plugs the hole at the bottom of Tall Falls, gets stomped in the hole and ends up swimming. One time my friend Tyree got this treatment and after he wet-exited the hole pushed him very deep. By the time he came up to the surface he was accelerating into Cheesegrater. There were boaters up on the rock between the two drops, but nobody had a rope out. Someone reached for Tyree with a hand but they didn’t connect, and he took an abusive swim through the bony left channel of Cheesegrater. If someone had a rope ready at that moment, they could have dropped it right on his head and spared him the nasty swim.
Another time something went wrong at Tall Falls has to do with our lack of a decent signaling system. You cannot see the bottom from the top. The view from above the drop is just air. If someone was out of their boat on that rock at the bottom, they could signal using a paddle. But nobody does this. Some folks use a whistle chirp to let others know that they’ve cleared the group. My crew usually just waits for a slow count of five after the last person went, and then sends it. What could possibly go wrong?
One time my friend Todd went ahead of me. I waited for a count of five and then went over the Tall Falls. I was lined up for a nice boof and taking my final stroke when his head came up in the hole, right in my landing zone. I was midair with no way to change course. I totally freaked because I thought my bow was going to scoop under his chin and rip his head off. It didn’t happen. I don’t actually know what happened but my boof was flat enough to keep me dry, and he said I didn't hit him. It worked out, but I have not forgotten. I never ever want to have that sick feeling again—of falling through space with lethal momentum toward someone.
This could have been prevented by taking time to set shore-based safety. One person could hold rope and signal when the drop is clear. It’s true, shore-based safety is useless on totally continuous runs because you can never know when or where a rope might help. But on most runs, there are a few tricky spots that cause more than their share of trouble. That is where shore-based safety makes sense. Even if there is no hazard downstream, it’s just really nice to get hit with a rope when you’re swimming. You can get pulled in with your boat and paddle in one neat package, saving time and energy. And practice builds skills for those times when you DO have something bad just downstream, and that throw really matters.
Setting Up for Rope Rescue
When setting rope, stand far enough downstream. Swimmers move downstream for a while before they surface. You’ll see rookies standing right at a drop with a rope. That’s a mistake. The right place to stand is well downstream of the drop. Hardshell boaters might try a few rolls and then swim. Rafters might be under the raft or out of sight on the far side. There are a few precious seconds after any wipeout when throwing a rope is pointless. Position yourself far enough downstream that the swimmer will be up and looking for a rope.
When you shout and throw the rope, a swimmer will be trying to grab it. They might even grab their gear so you can drag the whole kit in.
One thing that rookies underestimate is the force of the pull on the rope. When a swimmer in fast current grabs the rope and hangs on for dear life, it is up to the rope thrower to figure out how to hold them. Figure this out before you throw! You might have to sit down with your feet braced on the rock. You might need to use a body belay (wrapping the rope around your hips) or a tree or rock to add friction so that the rope isn’t yanked out of your hands. It’s OK to let out some rope if you can’t hold it, but don’t let go. It’s especially embarrassing when the swimmer and your rope go downstream with no one hanging on from shore. Not only has the rescue failed, but a rope in the river is a new hazard.
Another consideration when setting rope is the landing zone. No matter where you are, calculate where the swimmer will swing in given the distance. You can let out or take in rope, or to move on your feet where you can get stable for the yank. The goal is to land them like a fish in a good spot.
Sometimes the best spot to throw from is not a good place to pull them in. This happens when you throw from a point of rock, but the rope angle won’t swing them out of the current. Then the swimmer gets “trolled” and not rescued. Instead of letting this happen, leave yourself enough slack in the system that you can move to a better place to swing the swimmer into slow water. You have to move fast and find a stable stance or seat. If you’re out on a point and can’t move, sometimes another person can grab the middle of the rope and pull them in. All of this takes quick thinking and good water reading, which comes with practice.
It is my opinion that all whitewater boaters should carry a throwbag and know how to use it. Even if you are new to the sport, now is a good time to get the equipment and start practicing. Whitewater paddlers tend to be individualistic, but at our best we form teams and look out for each other.
Another point that was emphasized by the Safety Series’ panel is the necessity of having a knife. If you are working with ropes, you need a knife handy. Entanglements happen, and a knife gives you an out, whether you’re on land or in the water.
Summing up
No matter what kind of river you’re running, you can practice setting rope at the spots where people are most likely to have trouble. You’ll make some mistakes. This is good. This is how we learn. No one will fault you for trying to rescue your friends.
It takes a little extra time to set shore-based safety. It is rare that we desperately need it. But sometimes we do. If we never practice until we desperately need it, we will suck at it.
I hope to see more people in my boating world carrying ropes and getting set up to use them. I hope to see more people using signals to assure that each person has successfully navigated the hardest part before the next person goes in. Shore-based safety is a unique skill set for paddling whitewater, and as we progress, it becomes ever more important to do it well.