My brother sucked through dam on Snake River

[Sombeech]

SEE THE ABC CHANNEL 4 NEWS INTERVIEW HERE

My brother Clint and his two friends Trevor & Jeremy, last Saturday June 30th;

The 3 were fishing and floating @ 25 miles on the Snake River on dual bladder pontoons, with plans to pull out near Heise, Idaho (just east of Idaho Falls).

They paid an Outfitter service to shuttle their vehicle down to the pull out. This same Outfitter (name withheld) advised them to float past their originally planned pullout, go around the "Great Feeder Dam", and continue down to a hatchery.

All they had to do was stay right....

They passed numerous danger signs warning them to stay clear of the spillways, so they would paddle to the opposite side of the river. Then they saw the huge wall spanning the width of the river. They remembered the directions to "Stay Right".

THERE ARE NO RESTRICTING BUOYS.
So Clint arrives first to the wall, and sees a ramp on the right side. He's thinking "this is it, I'll get out there". Trevor paddled over also, but Jeremy was having trouble making his way. Clint is safely standing on a concrete platform.

Jeremy butts up to the dam wall with the swift current, and his boat flips over. They expect his resurface in under 10 seconds, but nothing. 2-3 minutes go by, and they are screaming for help. A few campers nearby hear their cries, and come to help.

One of them reaches down from the Dam wall, and grabs on to Trevor just as his boat is flipping over also. The camper yells to my brother "I'm losing him! I'm losing him!" My brother is kicking off his flippers so he can move more quickly and help grab Trevor's hand.

Clint is thinking, "if I fall in, I'll just grab the boat". No chance. Trevor pulls Clint in, and they are both being sucked down in the depths of the Snake River. They are drug straight down the Dam wall, and go into one of the multiple tunnels. They have no idea how long they are down there.

Clint's wife and baby boy go through his mind. It is now pitch black. His fingers claw at the concrete tunnel as he shoots further down. With his chest waders full of water, even if there weren't any current, there would be no hope of swimming to the top with an extra 200 lbs.

He feels air, somewhere, bubbles. He starts to see a light approaching, and at this point, actually believes he is dead.

He is shot out of a 150 foot spray at the bottom of the dam. He has no idea how he got to shore with his waders full of water. As he came to, he looks up, expecting to see his dead body float by. Trevor is on shore 50 feet away from him.

Where's Jeremy....

The campers called the ambulance, telling them to retrieve 3 dead bodies.

The ambulance actually found Jeremy first, downstream around the bend. They informed him "The other two didn't make it". Luckily, they found Clint & Trevor shortly after.

Minor injuries to all 3. Jeremy dislocated his shoulder while trying to pull himself back up the Dam wall.

All are home safe now.

I do not want to give the Outfitters any advertising, but please call their number; 1-800-483-2110.
PLEASE TELL THEM TO STOP ADVISING PEOPLE TO FLOAT NEAR THIS DAM!!!!
It is called the "Great Feeder Dam" near Heise, Idaho. There are no safety buoys to prevent this again. I called them today and found out this same thing happened last year!!!!!

Please see the Google Earth attachment for details on location.

[KillEmAll]

I got sick to my stomach reading about this. Man, I'm glad he's alright.

[price1869]

Is the dam going to start selling tickets for that ride?

[TreeHugger]

Holy crap! How absolutely terrifying. I'm so glad (and amazed) that everyone is alright, only minor injuries. What a crazy story (and very well told).

Tree.

[Iceaxe]

[CarpeyBiggs]

Beech, was this your brother, or is this cut and pasted from somewhere?

[Sombeech]

Beech, was this your brother, or is this cut and pasted from somewhere?

Yep, it's my brother Clint.

Fox13 interviewed them at 4:30 today, so I'm not sure when it's going to air. I think the news crew is even going to drive up to the Dam, but I'm not sure. I hope they do, because I want to see what they went through.

EDIT: THIS WILL AIR TONIGHT AT 9.

[RugerShooter]

Wow that is amazing, I can't beleive they all made it out alive

[shlingdawg]

Holy crap!

I can't imagine the horror they went through in those tunnels.

Glad it had a good ending though.

[Alex]

Damn! That is crazy! Glad they came out to tell their story.

PS: Has the story aired yet? I don't see it anywhere.

[Sombeech]

Crap. They said they would air it tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

[sparker1]

Amazing story. Believe the signs, not some yahoo who thinks you'll be OK.

[Cirrus2000]

Wow, that is just jaw-dropping, utterly incredible. What the h3|| is wrong with those outfitters?!?

Just glad they were all OK. I totally expected the worst.

[nosivad_bor]

i'm stunned and sickened.

so glad that your brother made it through this tragedy.


-rob

[shlingdawg]

So why to the assclown outfitters still have their business? They should NOT be allowed to guide anymore.

[Sombeech]

So why to the assclown outfitters still have their business? They should NOT be allowed to guide anymore.

I was on the phone with them for 20 minutes yesterday. Not once did they ask how the 3 were doing, if they were OK, or if they had lost anything.

The whole time they were trying to deny responsibility.

I asked if they've even heard how they were doing, they said no. I said "are you going to ask?"

[JP]

Wow Glad to see that all three made it through that ordeal. Maybe the news will shed a little unwanted light on that outfitter.

[accadacca]

Wild story, glad their ok.

[MY T PIMP]

It's a miracle that any one survived, it's an act of God that all three did.

[tanya]

I am so glad these guys are okay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!