A 24-year-old Durango woman died in a drowning accident Saturday on the upper Animas River south of Silverton.
Silverton Medical Rescue responded to a satellite emergency notification device alert about 1 p.m. on the Animas River near Tenmile Creek.
The incident involved two rafts carrying four people each who were rafting the Upper Animas River reach from Silverton to Rockwood. Because the accident was in a remote location, two rescuers were inserted into the field via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad with additional rescuers staged in Silverton as backup.
San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad said a group of kayakers unaffiliated with the rafts came upon the location where a passenger one of the rafts had fallen into the water. The group of kayakers and the seven other passengers on the rafts attempted to assist the victim.
The rescue team met the reporting party near where Tenmile Creek joins the Animas River about 2:30 p.m. The team was able to locate the victim.
Resuscitation efforts had been initiated by members of the rafting group before the rescue team’s arrival, but the victim was already deceased, according to a news release from San Juan County Office of Emergency Management.
San Juan County officials did not specify what caused the accident.
Gallegos said none of the other members of the rafting party were injured. San Juan County Coroner Keri Metzler confirmed the victim died from drowning.
Both the rescue team and the rafting group involved moved the victim onto a train, which took the body to the Rockwood train station.
The woman was a raft guide for Mild to Wild Rafting & Jeep Tours and was a passenger on one of the company’s trips down the Upper Animas, according to Mild to Wild co-owner Alex Mickel.
Neither Metzler nor Mickel would release the victim’s name. Mickel said the woman was an experienced river runner and was swiftwater certified.
“Our hearts are broken, and there are a lot of sad days ahead of us here for our whole team,” Mickel said.
In a news release Tuesday, Silverton Medical Rescue EMT Cameron Crowell said members of the boating group were experienced and knew the river section well.
“They were well prepared with the appropriate rescue equipment and knowledge of how to use it,” he said in the release. “Still, this accident led to an unfortunate outcome. The river is running at a high flow right now and this is a stark reminder of just how dangerous the river can be, regardless of training and preparedness. Our sincerest condolences go to the family and friends of the victim.”
Gallegos said that snow runoff has been delayed in San Juan County because of cloudy and cool weather, which means high waters are likely to continue as the area experiences warmer weather.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
(An earlier version of this story published on June 13 erred in reporting that the victim was on a single raft carrying eight passengers. The Durango Herald received misinformation about the number of rafts involved with the incident and the victim was actually in one of two boats carrying four passengers each.)
