Last week was training week for the new guides. Marcus, Zach, and I loaded up the cruiser and headed out with our new driver Alfredo. It was great to get out on the river and remember why I decided to do all this stuff in the first place. Water conditions were really high that day, but we weren't worried with 3 experienced guides and no paying customers to worry about. Things were going really well, we ran Come Gringo (Gringo Eater, pic on left) a class IV rapid right through the sketchiest part and came out with no problems. Then we got to Upper Rio Blanco another class IV rapid. The first wave we hit stopped us in our tracks and we barely got through it, but the next one was even bigger and we just didn't have the momentum to get through it, our raft dump trucked us. A dump truck is when a raft flips up and throws everyone out but the raft doesn't flip over. By the time I got back to the raft and located the other two guys, I could hear Zach groaning pretty loud. He had hit a rock on his side pretty hard in the middle of the rapid. He took it easy for a day, went surfing, said he felt ok, so we hit the river again on Friday. Once he started paddling he started the groaning again, it was obvious to us all that it wasn't just some bruise, he had cracked a rib or two, he couldn't even paddle, let alone breathe without serious pain. He flew out today. We decided to change the name of the Upper Rio Blanco rapid to Bodi Safa. You guys remember the movie Point Break with Patrick Swayze, it's terrible but it's a must see. We had nicknamed Zach Bodi, so we thought it would be a good tribute to him. We had to take this pic from a rock cause there was nobody there to take it, so it's not that great, but we had to document the Pure Life Expeditions virgin run, I hope the rest go much smoother! Marcus on the left, Bodi in the back, and me on the right.
3 comments:
Your crazy! That sucks about your buddy. It looks so beautiful there hurry and buy some property, if we could do it that is where I would invest.
So you already broke one huh?! Funny that you mention Patrick Swayze was in that movie, don't you think that mentioning Keanu Reaves (Johnny Utah) would have been a little more manly?
oh andrew! as long as YOU make it back to us in one piece, we will be happy....and keep the stories coming:) It's great that the excitement for you never ends. Hope all is well and things are running smoothly - well, smoother than they have been in the past. I begin my new job next week and i am ecstatic! and yes - i actually do run that much everyday....it's my therapy. i love every minute of it! take care of yourself this week.
Dru
Post a Comment