Whitewater Rescues
True Stories of Survival, Bravery, and Quick Thinking
Read more than 80 of the most compelling true stories of canoeing, kayaking, and rafting rescues ever submitted to the American Whitewater Accident Database.
Risk is a part of everyday life, but it takes a special person to grab a paddle and choose to navigate a canoe, kayak, or raft over whitewater. After all, when you mix people and moving water, accidents are bound to occur. Sometimes, inexperienced paddlers make terrible mistakes; other times, expert paddlers get caught in dangerous conditions. Regardless of the circumstances, these life-or-death moments can end in tragedy—or can become the setting for heroic rescues.
Charlie Walbridge has been a river guide, a paddling-related business owner, and a member of the American Whitewater Board. That’s where he began some of his most important work: maintaining their accident database and producing biannual reports of US whitewater fatalities. Over the years, the lessons learned and the practices developed from this information have saved countless lives.
In Whitewater Rescues, Charlie shares more than 80 of the most thrilling true stories of survival, bravery, and quick thinking ever submitted to the American Whitewater Accident Database. The narratives are uplifting and inspiring, and they spotlight the courage and ingenuity of whitewater paddlers.
Read rescue stories about:
- Near drownings
- Pins and entrapments
- Injuries and resuscitations
- Evacuations
- Bonus: strategies for avoiding and managing risk
Charlie’s goal is to help paddlers stay safe by sharing what has worked for others. There is much to admire and learn from each of these stories. Perhaps they will also be useful to you.
Charlie Walbridge is a nationally known whitewater safety expert with more than 50 years of river-running experience. He began paddling whitewater seriously in 1967 while attending college. He has paddled rivers throughout the US and Canada and made several first descents. He was an A-ranked C-1 slalom and wildwater racer in the mid-1970s and worked part-time as a river guide until the mid-1980s. He has collected and published reports of US whitewater fatalities for more than 40 years and has written books and articles on whitewater safety, including The American Canoe Association’s Knots for Paddlers (Menasha Ridge Press, 1995) and The American Canoe Association’s River Safety Anthology (Menasha Ridge Press, 1996). He has served as an expert witness in many wrongful death cases and is quoted often in newspapers and magazines.
Charlie has been active in both the American Canoe Association (ACA) and American Whitewater (AW). He held the position of safety chairman for both organizations and now serves on the AW board of directors. As a member of the ACA Instruction Committee, he helped develop programs in whitewater canoeing and swiftwater rescue, and he trains students and instructors in swiftwater rescue.
More books by author
