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Accident Database: Accident #669
| River: | Green |
| Section: | Narrows |
| Location: | Chief |
| Gauge: | 100% |
| Water Level: | Medium |
| Difficulty: | V |
| Accident Code(s): | Vertical Pin |
| Injury Code(s): | Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal |
| Age: | 29 |
| Experienced/Inexperienced: | Experienced |
| Private/Commercial: | Private |
| Boat Type: | Kayak - Unknown |
| Number of Occupants: | 1 |
| Number of Victims: | 1 |
| Initial Report: | The Green River Gorge near Hendersonville, North Carolina is one of the East’s classic class V runs. Like Gore Canyon, there had never been a death there until this year. An excellent report written by Bryan Jennings and Rob Barnham described the accident as follows: Witt Mills, 29, was a strong paddler from Oregon who had family and friends in North Carolina. On August 8th he attempted the run the Green with a strong, experienced group. At "Chief" the group elected to run a popular right-hand sneak. The move consists of a left-to right boof off a rock. Mills misunderstood the move, and paddled with a sideways angle into a the left channel where a strong jet of water dove into an undercut rock. Here he pinned vertically, and his high volume creek boat became completely submerged.
This spot was not easy for rescuers to reach. Several boaters tried to approach from downstream by paddling into a hole and reaching out with their paddles. Another boater, who was setting safety from shore, began throwing his rope within seconds of the pin. Mills reached up several times in the first few minutes but was unable to catch the rope. His hand went under for the last time, Minutes later his life vest was pulled from his body, followed by his sprayskirt, float bags, and some foam outfitting from his boat.
One of the paddlers went to get help. He reached the takeout and called 911 from a cell phone. He then lead a group of paddlers from there into the gorge via a hiking trail, then upstream to the accident site. While he was gone, the rest of the group continued their extrication attempts. Mills’ body and boat was not visible, but the group knew where he was. Much later, at 3:00, they managed to snag Mills’ arm with a rope . They pulled, but were unable to hold it above the surface for more than a few seconds. One paddler, training to be a paramedic, set up a CPR station on some flat rocks on river right. Another acted as downstream safety. This continued without success until the rescue squad arrived at 4:00.
By this time the release was over and the river had dropped. Mills and his boat were clearly visible. After an intense discussion, the group convinced the rescue squad that they knew what they were doing and should be allowed to continue their efforts. They first tried setting a rope under Mills’ torso and pulling. That didn’t work. They then belayed a paddler into an eddy near the boat. This spot had been a hole during the release. Next, they attached a line to the kayak’s security loop. Using a z-drag, 10-12 people quickly pulled the boat free. Mill’s body floated free, and was quickly grabbed and pulled ashore. Clay Wright feels that the boat may have folded, but this damage was difficult to detect.. It took a team of 36 rescuers from several units several hours to carry the body up a steep trail leading out of the gorge to the road. |
| Report Status: | Completed |
