Question:
heard yesterday that an "aquaneer" died in cataract canyon thur. of
this week, but I have not been able to find out anymore info on it.
Anyone out there here about this. It's not that I'm into traceing down
the gory details of death - It's just that I was on that stretch
the day before it supposedly happened. When we came through the BIG drops
the PkRangers at TenCent camp asked us to keep an eye out for (2) other
bodies that were missing. That now brings the spring total to 4 people!
Answer:
The guy who died turned out to be a good friend of mine named Stan
Hollister. He was in the habit of putting on a wet suit and flippers, and
swimming the canyon, and then hiking out at Dark Canyon. Needless to say,
Stan wasn't your typical boatman/outdoorsman. Our mutual friend, who
called to tell me the news, said that Stan had stopped to have lunch with a
group of boaters, and afterward, got back in the river. That was the last
he was seen alive. He was currently running trips for Mark Sleight (sp?).
I knew Stan from having run some 30 trips with him when we both worked for
Harris Trips. I used to stop and visit Stan in Moab when I drove through
on my way to and from Salt Lake City. He always had another adventure to
tell about. Stan liked to take risks, but he was so skilled that he was
able to pull off the stunts he tried -- except this last one. This was not
the first time he had swum Cataract Canyon, nor the first time at high
water. I'm still having a hard time accepting the fact that it was Stan,
and not some less-skilled, less-knowledgable neophyte. He would have been
about 53 years old. I first ran with him when he was 32, so he had over 20
years experience. As you mention in your post, though, The Gut is awfully
big at this water stage. Maybe he got in and just couldn't get out. I
guess we'll never know for sure.
