I wish I had pictures of today. I went on a nice daytrip to ride rapids on the Spokane River in Post Falls, Idaho.
There were five of us out there. I have no idea how rapids are classified, but it was moving fast. 15-20 mph? Some very nice standing waves - the best one was the size and shape of a very good v-wake.
I was very much considering a flip off it, but the first casualty of the day convinced me otherwise. Local rider John got separated from his 650SX and it was a very tough recovery. The water was simply moving too fast to get a rope hooked up. We used pump wash to get the ski stuck in some flooded trees on the river bank about half a mile downstream. Even that was pretty rough. John was able to drive down to the spot and ride his ski back.
After that, I pretty much decided that I did NOT want to get separated from the ski. Even a perfectly landed flip would put you right in the middle of more rough rapids and several "holes", i.e. water that sucks downwards. I landed skewed on one jump and got turned upside down inside one hole. I tried and tried to right the ski while being under it. Couldn't get it, so I finally surfaced and pulled the ski over from the top. By that time, the bilge was half-way full of water and the motor swamped. The current in such a hole just sucks you down and it makes any movement very difficult.
Couple of people managed to pull me to shore and I got the motor unswamped.
After that, we went for a ~2 mile ride upriver to a canyon dam. Spill ways were fully open. Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hdqh/423633743/lightbox/
Imagine a 30ft tall wall of pure angry whitewater.
Last casualty of the day was local rider Robert running out of gas just upstream of the standing wave & holes. He got sucked through, smashed his leg, and then we were able to pull him and the ski to shore.
After that, we called it a day. LOL...enough excitement for a day.
NOT a place for ski issues and definitely not a place for rider inexperience. This stuff can get very sketchy very very fast.
There were five of us out there. I have no idea how rapids are classified, but it was moving fast. 15-20 mph? Some very nice standing waves - the best one was the size and shape of a very good v-wake.
I was very much considering a flip off it, but the first casualty of the day convinced me otherwise. Local rider John got separated from his 650SX and it was a very tough recovery. The water was simply moving too fast to get a rope hooked up. We used pump wash to get the ski stuck in some flooded trees on the river bank about half a mile downstream. Even that was pretty rough. John was able to drive down to the spot and ride his ski back.
After that, I pretty much decided that I did NOT want to get separated from the ski. Even a perfectly landed flip would put you right in the middle of more rough rapids and several "holes", i.e. water that sucks downwards. I landed skewed on one jump and got turned upside down inside one hole. I tried and tried to right the ski while being under it. Couldn't get it, so I finally surfaced and pulled the ski over from the top. By that time, the bilge was half-way full of water and the motor swamped. The current in such a hole just sucks you down and it makes any movement very difficult.
Couple of people managed to pull me to shore and I got the motor unswamped.
After that, we went for a ~2 mile ride upriver to a canyon dam. Spill ways were fully open. Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hdqh/423633743/lightbox/
Imagine a 30ft tall wall of pure angry whitewater.
Last casualty of the day was local rider Robert running out of gas just upstream of the standing wave & holes. He got sucked through, smashed his leg, and then we were able to pull him and the ski to shore.
After that, we called it a day. LOL...enough excitement for a day.
NOT a place for ski issues and definitely not a place for rider inexperience. This stuff can get very sketchy very very fast.
