River Drowning · July 11, 2010
Accident Report for Fractions
Arkansas River · Fractions · Class III to III+
Accident Details
- Number of people injured
- —
- Number of fatalities
- 1
- Number of people involved (or in party)
- —
- Accident date
- July 11, 2010
- Accident type
- River Drowning
- Coordinates
- 38.88403877, -106.15468204
- Was search and rescue called or needed?
- Yes
- Did this accident involve a commercial outfitter or guide?
- No
- Water flow at the time of the accident
- —
Accident Description
SOURCE http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24245013/detail.html
BUENA VISTA, Colo. -- A 23-year-old off-duty rafting guide is missing on the Arkansas River after a private rafting accident.
According to the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office, the woman has been missing since Sunday when the raft she was on high sided, ejecting her into the river at Frog Rock, about two miles north of Buena Vista. A second person who was ejected was able to hold onto the raft and pull himself back in. Three other people were able to stay in the raft.
Deputies said Kimberly Appelson, of Breckenridge, was wearing a life jacked but no helmet. She has not been seen since the accident and a full-scale search has failed to locate any trace of her.
On Monday, the search concentrated around Frog Rock in the Class III rapids. Underwater cameras and probing poles were used but Appleson was not located in the area. Frog Rock is the location where at least 6 people have died since 1990.
Divers were brought in Tuesday in an effort to locate Appelson between Frog Rock and Buena Vista.
BUENA VISTA, Colo. -- There was still no sign of a missing Breckenridge woman Wednesday, ejected during a Sunday rafting trip on the Arkansas River.
Rafting guide Kimberly Appelson, 23, was on an off-duty trip with friends when she was thrown into the fast-flowing river about two miles north of Buena Vista.
“We’ve never had this much difficulty,” Stew Pappenfort, senior ranger at Arkansas Headwaters Recreation area, told the Summit Daily News. “We’re a little baffled right now, but we’re still working on it.”
Appelson was a first-year rafting guide at Arkansas Valley Adventures. Co-workers have volunteered to help search for her, the newspaper reported.
She disappeared in an area called Frog Rock rapid, which has an underwater sieve, acting like a funnel, creating a dangerous area. Appelson was wearing a life vest, but no helmet when she was thrown into the rapids.
At least four people have died there since 1990, with the most recent two deaths occurring on a trip in 2001, Pappenfort said.
Appelson graduated from the University of Iowa in 2009, according to the university’s website. She served in AmeriCorps before moving to Colorado.