Pablo Perez's death - official account
hjk...@unca.edu
The following is the account of the physical events surrounding Pablo Perez'
death as experienced by Scott Albright, Philip Curry, and Hugh Kelly.
Recorded on February 20th by Bryan Jennings.
On Wednesday, February 18th, 1998 a group of longtime friends and paddling
buddies, Scott Albright, Philip Curry, Hugh Kelly and Pablo Perez, went
kayaking on the Upper Rocky Broad river near Bat Cave, North Carolina.
Everyone in the group was an experienced paddler and Philip, Scott and Hugh
paddled the section frequently. Although it had been overcast earlier in the
day, the sun was out by the time the group arrived at the river. After
finding the water level to be 4.45 (4.5 inches on the old gauge), the group
put on the upper section at about 4:00 p.m. The group comfortably ran the top
portion of the run, including a well-known rapid called Flight Simulator,
which they scouted to check for new logs.
Close to 5:00 p.m. the group approached a short, previously unnamed rapid.
Pablo watched Scott's run of the rapid while listening to a verbal description
from Philip, then he entered the rapid. As Scott came off the bottom drop of
the rapid, which is bordered on river left by an undercut rock parallel to the
main flow, he felt his boat's hull hit a submerged log. Scott eddied out to
warn the other paddlers and turned upstream just in time to see Pablo placing
his final stroke into the drop.
At the bottom of the drop, Pablo's boat melted down, or disappeared,
beneath the water, a not uncommon occurrence in this rapid. When Scott did
not see Pablo emerge, he paddled immediately to shore, got out of his boat and
ran upstream with a throw rope, noticing Pablo's paddle float downstream as he
did so.
From upstream, Philip watched Pablo descend the rapid and disappear over
the drop. After not seeing Pablo emerge and then seeing a change in Scott's
demeanor, Philip pulled up on shore, got out of his boat and ran downstream
as he conveyed to Hugh the seriousness of the moment.
Scott arrived at the base of the drop and could not see Pablo or his boat
at all. He threw his rope bag hard into the river where Pablo disappeared.
When the rope hit, Scott saw Pablo's hand reach out of the water. At this
point Pablo had been under for about 15 seconds. Scott quickly recoiled the
rope and threw it where he had last seen Pablo's hand. When this attempt was
unsuccessful, Scott dove into the river for Pablo. Scott's hands landed on
Pablo's body and he pulled twice before being washed downstream by the
powerful current.
As Scott was making the first rope throw attempts, Hugh and Philip
attached a rope to Philip's rescue harness and he entered the water, on belay
by Hugh.
Philip made it to Pablo and, with the help of Scott, managed to get a hold
of him, at which point they both realized the depth and solidness of the pin.
This was 45 seconds into the pin. Scott and Philip, stabilizing each other
and anchored to Hugh on shore, then began attempting to elevate Pablo's
unresponsive body so that they could get his head above water. After two
minutes of repeated hands-on rescue attempts it became clear that this would
not be successful. Philip and Scott returned to shore where Hugh suggested
using a snag line.
Hugh swam to river right and caught a rope from Philip. Scott looped the
middle of the rope around the only reachable part of Pablo, his left arm. In
this way they managed to lift Pablo's hand to the surface, although the rest
of the body did not move and the rope soon slipped off. Continued attempts to
get a line under Pablo's torso were unsuccessful. The group was unable to
reach any part of Pablo's boat or his body, aside from his left arm.
Scott, Philip and Hugh continued rescue attempts for over an hour, including
but not limited to: various types of snag lines to elevate the torso, an
attempt to move the submerged log, and an attempt to move the body using a
large branch as a lever. At approximately 6:30, the group decided that
impending darkness and the lapse of time since Pablo's submergence required
that they send for additional help.
Local paddlers Trip Kinney, Kevin Colburn, Leland Davis, and Tom Visnius
arrived to assist the original group. Local rescue squads, including the
Black Mountain Swift Water Rescue Team, also came to help. At about 3:30 a.m.
on February 19th, the body of Pablo Perez was removed from the Rocky Broad.
More of Pablo's friends, including Mark Lyle, Keith Liles, Rob Kelly, Walt
Lynch, and Karen Mann arrived at dawn and spent the day recovering the boat.
Pablo's skirt was still on his boat after he was pulled out. While we know
the pin involved at least one log and the undercut rock, the water is still
too high to give an exact explanation of the pin itself. A more technical
explanation of the pin will be forthcoming.
To those involved, this place will always be a place of peace, Pablo's
Place.
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Jon Lord
hjk...@unca.edu wrote in article <6cm7cq$bo7$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
> The following is the account of the physical events surrounding Pablo
Perez'
> death as experienced by Scott Albright, Philip Curry, and Hugh Kelly.
> Recorded on February 20th by Bryan Jennings....
This account is so hauntingly familiar it is creepy. When Todd Smith died
on the Little Possum in Tennessee in December of '96, a lot of the same
things occurred. Todd was also stuck on a log, facing upstream, and could
not reach his grab loop on his skirt. We also could only get a rope on one
of his arms and could not pull him free with just one arm. We also went
for help after about an hour of trying various techniques with numerous
rope and pulley systems, as well as a log as a lever. The swift water
rescue team also took hours to retrieve Todd's body from the pin spot.
What is to be learned from these similarities, I'm not sure. The spot on
Little Possum is not overly difficult, it is just prone to have logs in it
due to the nature of the rapid. I haven't run that rapid since, even
though it is barely a class III move, although I have run the river a
number of times after the accident. Do other people run it? I'm sure that
they do, but hopefully they are aware of the potential hazard at that spot
and make their decision accordingly. We have put up a cross on a tree and
hung windchimes over the spot in remberance of Todd and to warn others of
the potential danger. This may or may not be the appropriate thing to do,
however, it was one of the ways we chose to remember Todd.
My deepest sympathy goes out to each of the boaters that were with him that
day, as well as his friends and family. I know all too well how it feels
to watch a close paddling friend die in front of your eyes, and the grief
and guilt that follows.
-Jon