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Rafter dies on Eagle River near Dowd Junction

Lauren Glendenning
lglendenning@vaildaily.com

EAGLE-VAIL – A man from the Aspen area has died while rafting on the Eagle River through Dowd Junction.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Eagle River Fire Protection District responded to a call that came in at 11:36 a.m. Saturday.

Three men from the Aspen area had put their raft into the river near the Holy Cross Ranger Station, just off Interstate 70 in Minturn.



The 14-foot raft pitched somewhere in Dowd Junction, said Shannon Cordingly, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.

“They didn’t make it very far,” she said.

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The man who died was in his 40s. His name won’t be released until family members are notified.

The other two men in the raft were able to reach the river bank and self-rescue, Cordingly said. When they didn’t see their friend, they called 911.

The men were experienced rafters and were not with any of the local rafting companies, but were rafting on their own, Cordingly said.

The Eagle County coroner was on the way to the scene just after 1 p.m.

Rescuers on scene said they performed CPR on the man for 20 to 30 minutes. Rescuers had the man on the north side of the Eagle River, slightly east of the Big O Tires in Eagle-Vail.

The men had no affiliation with the Teva Mountain Games going on in Vail this weekend, Cordingly said.

This story will be updated

Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at lglendenning@vaildaily.com.


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