2 rafts flip, dump people into Eagle River

EAGLE, Colorado — Two commercial rafts flipped on some rapids Thursday morning and dumped 16 to 18 people into the Eagle River, authorities said.

No one was injured, said Deputy Chief Chris Blankenship of the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District.

The Lakota River Guides rafts flipped after they went through “Dead Cow,” a stretch of roller coaster-like rapids between Eagle and Wolcott, authorities said. Karl Borski, manager of Lakota River Guides, declined to comment.

Dead Cow is typically considered class III in difficulty, Blankenship said, on a scale of one, the easiest, through six, the most difficult.

Almost everyone had swam to shore before authorities arrived, said Shannon Cordingly, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. Between “eight and nine” people were on each raft, she said.

“We didn’t have to call up search and rescue. It was nothing like that last rescue that kind of turned into an ordeal,” said Cordingly, referring to when three Nova Guides rafts flipped, spilling 19 people into the river near the Eagle County Fairgrounds and hospitalizing one woman earlier this month.

Greater Eagle firefighters, whose jurisdiction is a portion of western Eagle County, have responded to almost a half-dozen reported boating accidents on the Eagle River in the last several weeks, Blankenship said.

“The warm weather is definitely getting people out and about, and the water’s coming up,” Blankenship said. “So just (the) usual precautions need to be taken.”


Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 970-748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.