boating accident yellowstone

[gonfishn]

Help! any of you that live around Bozeman hear anything about a boating accident yesterday? A lot of local kids in school there.

[This message has been edited by gonfishn (edited 23 May 2005).]

From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle

[url=http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/05/24/news/01drowned.txt:01cf2]http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/05/24/news/01drowned.txt[/url:01cf2]

Two MSU students presumed drowned in Yellowstone River

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer
LIVINGSTON -- Two Montana State University students are missing and presumed drowned after a weekend canoe accident in a whitewater stretch of the Yellowstone River north of Gardiner.

Their canoe, broken in two, was found floating downstream, Park County Undersherrif Gary Tanascu said Monday.

He identified the two men as Mark S. Mitzel, 22, of Leiter, Wyo. and Andrew M. Smith, 22, of Trego, Mont. He said their families have been notified.

The Yellowstone is running high, fast and very cold. Neither man was wearing a life jacket when they launched their canoe Sunday afternoon just upstream of Yankee Jim Canyon, which holds the biggest waves in the river outside of Yellowstone National Park.

"They got in with no lifejackets on and launched at the south end of the canyon," Tanascu said, quoting kayakers who watched them launch.

Shortly thereafter, a man jogging on the old railroad right of way on the canyon's west side saw half a canoe and one person in the water, Tanascu said. The jogger couldn't reach the shore quickly enough to help.

"He witnessed him go under and not come back up," he said.

The water was flowing at 12,400 cubic feet per second Sunday night and its temperature was a frigid 39 degrees, Tanascu said.

A crew of about 20 people, search dogs and two boats searched the river and its banks Monday, Tanascu said, but recovered nothing more.

Both halves of the canoe have had been recovered Sunday, as well as both paddles, but there has been no sign of the young men.

State law requires all boats to carry a flotation device for each person in the boat.

Experts strongly advise whitewater floaters in any type of craft, especially canoes, to wear approved flotation devices.

Water as cold as the Yellowstone's is right now can quickly sap a person's strength.

Tanascu said it might be a while before the bodies come to the surface. Cold water temperatures can keep human bodies underwater for two weeks or more.

[RonMT]

I have guided the Yellowstone for many years and it is the worst in the state for drowning people. It totally amazes me how stuped people can be when it comes to water. In this case it is young people thinking they can't "DIE" wrong! The Yellowstone was running at over 15,000 cfs and anyone with common sense would have known better than to not only get on it but if they did to wear a life jacket.
I feel very sorry for there familey's and friends. It is a shame to lose young people maybe others will read this article and undrstand that a river can kill you just as fast as it can help you. It seems every year we have a few drown on this and a few other rivers in this state. Last year we lost some on the Gallitan again young folks.

Seems people just don't get it. We lost a lady on the Yellowstone a few years back. started to take an evening float on the flatest water on the Yellowstone. They put there raft in above the bridge at Pray and hit the bridge, the raft turned over and one lady drowned. Nice wether calm water. Guess what "NO LIFE JACKET" they were from out of state and had a summer home here. But didn't have the sense to wear a life vest.

My point is to not take anything for granted when on a river. I have picked up and pulled out to many that have gone over. If you have "ANY" question about a section of river you want to take "DON"T TAKE IT ON YOUR OWN" go with someone that has been down it before and you trust.
I had one rule that I went by when I guided people. "I never went on a section of any river that "I THOUGHT" I could get into trouble on" Period. It served me will over the years. The reson behind this is that I knew that I could make it but I never trusted a client to do as they were told. Had them move to many times in the boat when they were told to set stright in the boat because of bad water. (For those that do not know. If you move by truning your seat in a drift boat you can make the boat move one way or the other. Which can get you into a lot of trouble if you are in the wrong place when they do it.
Use common sense and a life vest. The life you save may be your own. Like they use to say. And still should. Ron

[RG/AR]

Every year there are several drownings here on the White and North Fork. Most are because people don't watch the water conditions or are just plain drunk. Two years ago a man fell out of his boat on the river. Last year a woman watched her husband drown because he let the water rise behind him until he couldn't get out. It doesn't have to be whitewater to kill you.

[cea]

Having been at the Yellowstone this past weekend and seeing the high water, these kids certainly were asking for trouble in taking, or better said, trying to take a canoe through Yankee Jim, life jackets or not.