Recent water deaths on Western Slope show importance of cold water safety

The sun is shining, the weather is warming and school is out, which can only mean one thing: water recreation is in full swing. 

However, more people on the Western Slope’s rivers and reservoirs also means a higher chance of accidents, many of which are avoidable with the necessary safety precautions. 

The Colorado River is one of the most popular options for water recreation for Garfield County residents and tourists alike, offering opportunities for activities like rafting, kayaking, swimming and fishing. 

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The river is also unique in that its temperatures are low year-round due to sourcing water from snowpack runoff.  

This year in particular, the county’s above-average snowpack and warming summer temperatures have resulted in a rise in river levels, creating its own safety hazards. 

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“What you’re going to have is a rapid increase of the flow in our rivers, and you’re going to get a really big peak where the river is going to rise rapidly,” said Jared Berman, a guide of eight years for Whitewater Rafting LLC in Glenwood Springs and owner of Confluence River Instructors. “Right now in June is when a river starts to become big … Perhaps not coincidentally, this time of the year is usually when you see the most river accidents as well.” 

Even those who have been active in water sports for several years might be caught off guard when swimming in the cold, powerful Colorado River, especially if they come from areas with warmer water temperatures. In addition, the risks of cold-water recreation aren’t only limited to rivers. 

In the past month, there have been three drowning incidents in Garfield County; including a paddleboarding incident in Rifle Gap State Park on May 12, one in Harvey Gap State Park on May 18, and most recently, a body was recovered Sunday from the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. 

Outside of Garfield County, one man was found dead and another declared missing on Saturday after their raft flipped on the Colorado River below Gore Canyon, according to reporting from Sky Hi News. In a separate incident, a woman in Larimer County drowned on May 30 due to a rafting accident on the Poudre River.  

“If you’re a tourist … now is a great time to go out with a professional and not take matters into your own hands,” Berman said. “This is not the time of year where the environment is conducive to learning. It’s not a very forgiving environment right now.” 

At the end of the day, confidence doesn’t guarantee safety, because more than rapids and cold temperatures, the most dangerous thing one can encounter on the river is a lack of education. 

“I’d say now’s a great time to not be a statistic,” Berman said. 

The risks of cold-water recreation 

“The problems with cold water immersion are actually kind of shocking and something that I think gets overlooked quite often,” Berman said. “… During this time of year, the Colorado River around Glenwood Springs is usually somewhere in the high 40s or low 50s, which is pretty cold. And the higher up you go in elevation, closer to the river source, the colder the river gets.” 

According to Berman, there are three main risks related to cold water recreation: 

Loss of breathing control 

The first thing that happens to a person’s body when they’re suddenly immersed in cold water is called “Cold Shock,” according to Berman. The shock forces the body to start gasping for air, often involuntarily.  

“The problem with gasping in a moving river is that … if you’re swimming through rapids and … constantly being submerged through the water by the river current, you can accidentally inhale water,” he explained. “What that can cause is sudden drowning.” 

Hyperventilation can also lead to dizziness, faintness and other symptoms. 

Heart and blood pressure problems 

Cold water can cause a sudden increase in heart rate and blood pressure. 

“All the blood vessels in your skin start to constrict because of the rapid cooling, and this could be deadly to vulnerable people, such as people who have a history of strokes, people that have a history of heart failure or heart attacks … or cardiovascular diseases,” Berman said.

The most extreme cases of increased heart rate and blood pressure in cold water have resulted in heart attack-related deaths. 

Impaired physical and mental abilities 

As the body tries to stay warm in cold water, it pulls blood away from the limbs and into the body’s core, resulting in debilitating numbness. 

“That can cause your legs and your fingers, your feet, your arms, to go numb or even lose capacity to a certain extent,” Berman said. “You need your extremities to be able to self-rescue and swim to shore.” 

In addition to impacting the limbs, the panic of trying to stabilize oneself in cold water can prevent people from thinking clearly and instead enter a paralysis-like state as a reaction to all the emotions and involuntary physical responses. 

How to stay safe on the river

Regardless of whether waters are calm or treacherous, swimmers should always be alert of their surroundings. 

“What I see most often is … the social and cognitive aspects that come into play when people go and hit the river,” Berman said. “A lot of times there’s a lot of camaraderie, the energy is really high, people are in a good mood, they’re laughing, a lot of times alcohol is involved as well, (there’s) loud music … It brings really fun and lively energy, and I think that energy kind of overpowers the considerations that they should be taking for the seriousness of the rivers that we run here in Colorado.” 

“It catches people by surprise,” he continued. “I’ve seen many times where the fun and camaraderie can all of a sudden turn into a really dramatic, scary situation; oftentimes out of left field.” 

A big element of water safety is preparedness. It can be dangerous to plan a day at the river without a proper understanding of the class of rapid you could be heading into or the temperature of the water. 

“Some people are just completely ignorant to it, or they are choosing to put themselves into situations not realizing that it’s beyond their skill set,” Berman said. 

One of the biggest things that often gets left behind during the fun of the moment are life jackets, or personal flotation devices (PFD).  

As a company, Whitewater Rafting requires that customers always wear a type-three or type-five PFD while on the water. There are five types of PFDs specifically designed for different uses and environments (as labeled by the U.S. Coast Guard). For all river activity, Berman recommends wearing a type three (designed for moving down a moving body of water), or a type five (special-use jacket designed for river rescue). All PFDs are marked with their type number somewhere on the vest. 

“Those life jackets are specifically designed for river environments or moving water environments,” he said. “Those types of life jackets are designed to have a lot of mobility so you can swim, and also offer quite a bit of flotation to help keep your head above the water.” 

Stores and manufacturers specializing in river equipment are your best bet when it comes to purchasing safety equipment for river recreation, 

“Generally speaking, when you go to Walmart or Target or Costco or something like that, you’re not going to find the life jacket that you need that is intended for rigor,” Berman said. “A lot of those types of life jackets are either cheaply made, don’t offer the proper flotation or aren’t the correct type of life jacket specifically designed for river use … And when we’re talking about a lifesaving piece of equipment, you don’t want to … go cheap. It’s your life on the line.”

Personal flotation devices can be a saving factor for swimmers experiencing some of the involuntary impacts of cold shock. 

Of the five drownings and one disappearance that occurred between Garfield, Grand and Larimer counties in the past month, four were either believed or confirmed to not be wearing life vests. 

While vitally important, PFDs won’t always be enough on their own — education is vitally important when taking on cold-water recreation. 

“Somebody who comes in from out of state, who maybe came from Florida, for example, where the rivers and oceans are really warm … may have a history of heart disease. They may not realize that their body is particularly susceptible to cold water shock,” Berman said. “(A good way) to fight ignorance … is to hire some sort of guide that gets them out on the river because a guide is trained to keep you safe.” 

River courses are also available from different organizations in Colorado, and can teach people the hard skills of kayaking, rafting, and more. Swiftwater rescue courses can help people understand how to rescue themselves and rescue others in moving bodies of water. 

All Whitewater Rafting guides are required to be trained in first aid and CPR, and some have EMT and wilderness first responder certifications, according to Berman. When you’re without a guide, however, the best chance of survival in the case of an incident is self-rescue or immediate rescue by people nearby.

“It’s not OK to assume EMS will come to the rescue because in many cases, by the time EMS arrives, it’s already too late,” Berman said.

“Education is just one piece of the puzzle. You need education paired with experience to become a safe recreator,” he added.