Two Feared Drowned After Rafting Over Weir

[ken0042]

Despite a dramatic rescue effort, two men are presumed dead after a group of rafters toppled over the Bow River weir on Sunday evening.

A couple of key points for me from the news last night:

- People were not wearing life jackets
- Obviously there was no plan for getting around the weir.

Every year we see deaths on the Bow, and I'd really hate to see them put a ban on rafting due to some people's stupidity. I've seen people rafting down the river on inflatable mattresses (not even a real boat) and when the fire department shows up they put on their life jackets, and then take them off again one the firemen leave.

It doesn't matter how good of a swimmer you are; if you go into 5 to 10 degree water you have a minute- maybe two before you start to suffer the effects of hypothermia.

For those of you new to Calgary and don't know where the weir is- it's just east of downtown on the Bow. You can see it from Deerfoot just south of Memorial when driving southbound. Arial shot of it here.

[Cowperson]

Langlais said he floated down the river twice before, and the group assumed the safety boom was still in place.

So they had someone with them who was experienced on the river, was aware the weir was there and knew there was a safety boom with gigantic signs warning rafters of an impending death trap . . . . . in other words, no surprises.

What was he going to do? Just grab onto the boom when he came up on it instead of making his way to shore ahead of time?

At the risk of sounding cruel, the Darwin Principle strikes again.

Cowperson

[llama64]

The fire department was all over the news last week talking about how the boom was not in place and warned the city to stay off the river.

I barely listen to the news anymore and I still heard the warning...

Though, it looks like the wrong two people suffered the mistake. The two missing guys were only in the city for 2 days!

[ken0042]

Yeah, but as Cowperson said nobody should be counting on the boom to stop them. It's normally there in case you lose control and cannot get to shore in time.

Counting on it ahead of time is like saying "Now that there is that cable barricade system in place on Deerfoot, I don't need to steer my car any more!"

I still recall one time a friend's wife wanted to raft from Eau Claire to Fish Creek. I asked what the plan was for the weir, and her reaction was "we'll figure it out when we get there." It wasn't until I refused to go, and told them I was going rafting elsewhere on the river by myself and she started complaining to people about me being such a wuss that she was told that no, I was indeed correct.

[Bertuzzied]

Wow thats crazy. Going on the Bow after record breaking rain fall.

Whoever suggested the trip should be charged with manslaughter.

[West Karma]

nm

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Wow thats crazy. Going on the Bow after record breaking rain fall.

yep, people just don't seem to respect the power and brutality of mother nature some times. i don't undersand how anyone would even want to flirt with that freaking wier anyways. horrible stuff.

[habernac]

and really, what reason is there not to wear a lifejacket??? It'll mess up your tan lines? There are some incredibly stupid people out there. Darwinism indeed.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Wow thats crazy. Going on the Bow after record breaking rain fall.

Whoever suggested the trip should be charged with manslaughter.

Wow...what an 'American' response. Litigate, Litigate, Litigate!!!!

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by West Karma

Two things!

What is the weir for? I assume it is to control the water level in the river but can they not do that somewhere else? Is it used to divert water into the canals?

I always wondered if a person was going over the weir, could you jump at the last second out into the water after the weir or does it "tumble" for many yards past the weir?

Info on what the weir is for here. Basically you are correct.

And I don't think you could jump over it. First of all, jumping out of an inflatable raft isn't easy- you have both the raft and the water with some "give" to them to absorb the force of your jump. Secondly I don't think you could clear the rapids. From what I can see the brunt of the rapid caused by the weir lasts for 10 or 12 feet. I don't think I did that well in high school in the "standing long jump."

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I don't think I did that well in high school in the "standing long jump."

Well what if your life depended on it? hehe.

Would a lifejacket even help at the weir?

[J pold]

There are some negligent people out there life jackets should be a must…

This reminds me of a couple of years ago…my family was going white water rafting down the old man the water levels where very high and our boat was caught in something similar to a weir…it wasn’t man made but it was about the same size as the weir…my Dad was the only one that went under in the water he was stuck for about 20 seconds but than popped up of course he like all of us was wearing a life jacket…my sister, step mother and little brother all had to jump out of the boat and swim for shore the boat ended up stuck in the cycle of the weir pretty terrifying to say the least…but without a life jacket there is a good chance my father would have died

[Cowperson]

[Bobblehead]

"Risking Certain Death" ?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Is it certain death, or are you risking death?

[JD]

^^ How do those sheep manage to stay piled up at the top of that swirling water?

I live in that corner of Inglewood overlooking Pearce Estate Park, and there was a lot of excitement taking place over there all evening. The HAWCS helicopter was circling around and around for hours... you'd have to wonder why they would think someone who just went over the weir would disappear in the woods... even after dark the police were scouring the area.

I'd have to agree with the sentiment that these people were the victims of their own poor judgement. Even if the weir didn't exist, that river is extremely dangerous right now with the water levels where they are. No life jackets and inflatable rafts? What could you be thinking?

[guzzy]

I hate to be the one to have to say it......natural selection....survival of the fittest. There are enough warning signs along there to caution you of the dangers. It says in plain english "Many have died". I live in Inglewood about a block away from there and it puzzles me how people can still be so absent minded.

[Juventus3]

I agree that these guys weren't too smart to just cruize down the river after 2 days of being in the city and hope for the best, but come on...the wier needs to be marked out there.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

but come on...the wier needs to be marked out there.

Do you think. I would say that "Portage- 1400 metres" is pretty clear in either English or French.

(That sign is as close as I've ever gotten to the weir.)

[STeeLy]

BTW... isn't there one side u can go that there is no weir and still go out into the bow, or am I wrong?

At about where the zoo is, the river splits into 2. I've always wondered where the other one went

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

At about where the zoo is, the river splits into 2. I've always wondered where the other one went

I think that's where you'd be heading upstream on the Elbow river.