A handful of Emergency Services personnel and Commercial Outfitters met this morning at the Tunnel Rapid to assess the hazard. We have come to the determination the hazard is a rock that has either rotated, moved or been split. This feature is a BOAT RIPPER, with four known casualties. The rock in question is right in the middle of the line most boaters use at the bottom of Tunnel Rapid! The rock is not visible at river level until you are right on it, due to a large wave just above it. We are unable to remove this hazard.
Scout the rapid before you boat it. Let’s start at the very bottom- The very last hole in Tunnel is River Center, slightly right. Many boaters use this hole to slow and rotate the boat before they hit the wall. Others skirt the hole to the left- THIS IS WHERE THE RIPPER IS! From the last hole in Tunnel the RIPPER ROCK is approx 6 feet up stream and approx 10 feet left (towards center). It’s just below another wave. When you scout from the road you can see an air pocket behind the sharp edge.
If you value your boat- RUN LEFT at bottom of Tunnel Rapid. This may take you right into the eddy river left, but that’s OK at his level- it’s easy to get out of. You can run right of the last hole, but it’s more likely to dump passengers on that run.
Boat safe, and if you’re going to run Upper Mish I encourage you to scout the bottom of Tunnel Rapid and run left.
S