I recently talked with an Alaska Wilderness Response professional and he said that there is an epidemic of pack-raft fatalities, injuries and strandings in Alaska where he works. He said 50% + of his rescues now involve UL pack-raft victims. This should concern any current or wanna be pack-rafter. Just because pack-rafts "can" be used in class 3+ rapids does not mean they "should" be. Keep in mind that pack rafts were originally used simply to help in river and stillwater crossings, not full float trips. I hope you will review the podcast on pack raft safety and use extreme caution when running rivers.

Darwin is quietly efficient.

"Darwin is quietly efficient."

Indeed.

Sad story.

The initial wave hit around 7:30. He and the others were high and dry.
Then they walked on down to the beach.

The second wave struck around 9:30. Gone.

I don't know much about tsunamis, but I now know there are multiple waves spaced hours apart.

>Keep in mind that pack rafts were originally used simply to help in river and stillwater crossings, not full float trips.

I'm not sure if that's the case. I think it's more likely people taking packrafts into situaitons where the PERSON is
under-experienced or unprepared. I wouldn't fault the packrafts (unless they're using cheap-o pieces of crap packrafts that suffer catastrophic failure).

I'm going to be placing an order for an Alpacka within the next few weeks, and even in these relatively calm Wisconsin waters, I'll be approaching the raft and waters with nothing but respect.

Any idea of how many rescues that 50% is? Are we talking 6 or 60?

Larry T., I'm a sea kayaker but the shape of your packraft is the ONLY shape I'd want. What brand is it & what's the weight?

This is news to this Alaskan who has done, does, and plans to do a fair bit of packrafting in Alaska.

My take is that Alaskans are among the best suited for doing UL packrafting up here.

I have several friends who are "PJs" and do the most rescues (I have actually never heard of the "Alaska Wilderness Response professionals") and they also packraft and race the Wilderness Classic, which involve the most UL packrafting trips being done anywhere in the world and they have not said pip.

Furthermore the former outdoors editor for the Anchorage Daily News, Craig Meded, also a long time packrafter and writer for the Alaska Dispatch, who made a name for himself deconstructing Alaskan wilderness, outdoor, and backcountry accidents and fatalities has not said squat either.

I work at a University with an Outdoors Study Department and they know I am a packrafter and they are well connected in the outdoor world up here -- not a peep from them.

Maybe you could cite some examples?

I live in Anchorage and have heard of only one fatality, on the North Slope by someone who was trying to cross a major river with an overloaded vinyl boat, no PFD and no dry suit (http://www.packrafting.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=708).

There was another trip on the Alaska Peninsula a couple years ago where very experienced boaters encountered a wind storm that blew all their stuff away.

Your friend may be exaggerating or may have information that's not being published or you're making this up.

If he could provide you with details, that would be far more informative.

Otherwise, I think your post is misinforming.

Edited by romandial on 03/17/2011 00:38:57 MDT.

What Roman and Travis said.

"Darwin is quietly efficient."


True, very true. Also very funny

I like the new designs by Alpacka Raft... I think I'm going to have to pick me up a Yukon Yak. (I'm about to build a Skin-On-Frame kayak, so I'm going to try and muster up an extra $900, or so, for a packraft)

Any reviews of the new design, Roman? Video maybe? :)

I'm not sure it's very funny that people lost their lives.

My thoughts are that ignorance and inexperience lead to most deaths like the gentleman swept to sea from the tsunami. I've been in some nasty situation on/in the ocean, but growing up on the ocean & surfing my whole life has been a huge blessing. That experience & learned respect of the ocean has saved my @$$ a bunch of times. There were a huge amount of people surfing that day up and down the west coast, not a single drowning death.

I just don't think making jokes at the expense of someone dying is in any way funny. That's just my opinion.

*puts soapbox away*

As a kayak/canoe paddler I have to say that most packrafts are not meant for white water or strong currents. Most are lacking in the leg control that you have in a kayak, making it difficult to control them in strong current.

If you get broached in a kayak, you have solid bracing and rolling options. If you get broached in most packrafts, you go over with no options to recover and so you end up swimming into dangerous conditions without control.

I have played with a few blow up boats that do have solid leg contact, but they are all too bulky and heavy to use for packrafting, in my opinion.

I'll stick to hiking than to deal with the dangers of class 3 or above conditions.

Actually agree with you, Dug

But I think it's more than ignorance and inexperience at play. It's curiosity that killed in this case. And yeah, I feel sorry for the guy -- but in recklessly self-inflicted tragedies like this, my greater sympathy is for the parents. It's hard enough for the old to bury the young even in "normal" times...

These are great conversations!

@Steve the hardshell boater from NY.

Imagine the first kayak: was it designed for whitewater on rivers? If I am not mistaken, the first kayaks were made of skin for ocean water and would not have been any good for hucking Class V waterfalls.

Packrafts are undergoing an amazing evolution right now. I invite you to go to You Tube and have a peek at what hardshellers in packrafts can do (search in YouTube on packraft for instance and Alpacka raft). There's a young hardshell boater here in Anchorage who wrote the whitewater guidebook to SC Alaska. He is an awesome boater -- and I sold him a used old Alpacka.

First thing he did was put thigh straps in it. First time he put it in the water with thigh straps, he rolled it. Now there is a band of about 20 of us in Anchorage who routinely run Class IV in control and style, many are former/current hardshellers.

It's amazing what they can do beyond what our imaginations and experience suggest.

We had the opportunity to try a prototype of the current boats and they are really another advance forward.

The best place for running packraft whitewater is NZ's West Coast because of the river's geometries and the network of trails and huts. Many helicopter runs are structured with Class II, Class III, Class IV, Class V in that order as you go upstream. Only the hardcore adrenalin junkies will shell out money for a helo ride to fly up to the Class V. But with a packraft, a trail and a hut, you hike up UL style, sleep in a hut leaving your gear there, trail hike up to the Class you feel comfortable paddling, float back to the hut and get your stuff for the easy water between the hut and the road and drive to the next trail head and river. And no bears to worry about.

Edited by romandial on 03/18/2011 11:48:43 MDT.

@ Tyson

Like you I wanted the new design and I just placed my $1000 order for a Llama.

Unfortunately while I have some music picked out for some videos we don't have any water yet. Just snow and old snow at that!

Usually late April or so -- and I have a new camera, too.

There'll be some informal review of it on my blog as well.