Amid spate of river drownings, Idaho whitewater group to host free safety course

The Idaho Whitewater Association will host its annual river safety training on Saturday, July 20, following two weeks in which multiple people have drowned on Idaho rivers.

Cris Riggs, the association’s president, said its Safety Saturday event is held each year in July, usually on the Main Fork of the Payette River. This year the event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees should register at the IWA tent at the put-in for the Main Payette section at Banks.

Riggs said Safety Saturday is open to people of all ages and experience levels. The event is free and includes practice stations for flipping an overturned boat and using throw bags — floating bags of rope that can be tossed out to someone overboard.

“People actually get to participate in (using those skills), and it’s in an eddy, so it’s a little safer,” Riggs said in a phone interview.

She said the practice can be a valuable precursor to flipping a boat or using a throw bag on rapids.

The IWA also will be offering fittings for helmets and life vests.

“Life jackets are huge,” Riggs said. “A flatwater jacket will not save you (in rapids). The Payette is a serious river, even if it’s the entry point to what Idaho has to offer.”

Riggs said the safety event draws hundreds of people each year.

“I hope they learn to go (rafting) with someone who knows the river, go with a group,” she said. “Every year, and now as there are so many people moving to Boise, they don’t know the river.”

Idaho’s rivers can be dangerous even for experienced rafters or floaters.

On July 4, a woman drowned on the Payette River north of Emmett, a popular tubing spot. Another man died on the South Fork of the Payette after his raft went over the Big Falls Rapid on July 11.

“That waterfall is not where you want to be,” Riggs said.

On July 13, a woman drowned on the South Fork of the Boise River in Elmore County. She was wearing a life jacket and floating the river in an inner tube.

“Float tubes are not OK on whitewater,” Riggs said.

Hundreds of people use similar tubes to float along the Boise River in the summer. Riggs said she would urge all floaters to use life vests, even though they’re mandatory only for children 14 or younger.

“When (my husband and I) go down the Boise River ... I feel like I’m rescue,” Riggs said. “The Boise River is dangerous, really. I think a life jacket would be wonderful.”

Find more information about the Idaho Whitewater Association’s safety training at idahowhitewater.net.