Despite deaths, inquest jurors' recommendations, whitewater in-boat rafting guides remain optional

Michele Yealy lost her only daughter to the rushing water of the Youghio­gheny River.

Andrea Yealy was 16 when she hopped in a two-person inflatable kayak rented by a friend’s family on Sept. 16, 2000, at Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County. They paddled without a guide down a 7-mile section known as the Lower Yough.

It was the second time that summer she rafted that part of the river. State officials say it is the busiest section of whitewater rapids east of the Mississippi River. This time would turn tragic.

Andrea was wearing a helmet and life jacket when she spilled out of her kayak at Dimple Rock, a notorious hazard in the river that can overturn rafts, and was swept under the water’s surface. She became trapped in an undercut about the size of a minivan, according to testimony during an inquest into her death.

The issue of safety on the Lower Yough has lingered for decades since Andrea Yealy’s death and reemerges with each subsequent fatality on the river. Debate over whether in-boat guides should be required remains, but the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources — which oversees state parks — continues to allow outfitters to determine their own guidelines, despite jury recommendations that result from coroner’s inquests into the rafting deaths.

Commercial whitewater rafting and kayaking safety was brought to the forefront again last year during an inquest into the Aug. 13, 2022, death near Dimple Rock of an Ohio woman who did not have an in-boat guide. Jurors made several recommendations. They included guides be present in all commercial rafts, changes to Dimple Rock, statistics on deaths and injuries be added to outfitters’ websites and interactive online training for customers.

A top expert in the sport said having guides in every commercial vessel would improve safety, but no publicly available data exists showing how often guides have been present in boats where a passenger eventually died on the river. The state conservation department has denied a TribLive request for incident reports that would shed light on how accidents happen.

For now, it remains left to the customer, who is often inexperienced, to decide how best to protect themselves on excursions.

“Whether you’re in a guided or an unguided trip, that’s a dangerous river,” said Michele Yealy, who lives near Gettysburg.

State officials have refused to release reports on Yough River whitewater-related incidents, some of which are decades old, citing state law that shields investigative records. A national database maintained by American Whitewater that tracks such incidents can’t specifically list that factor in reports — they can’t get official documentation either. They often are left to rely on news articles, witness statements and, sometimes, secondhand information.

Having clear investigative details would be helpful in populating the American Whitewater database, experts said.

“It’s very difficult to get stuff out of people who have the information,” said Charlie Walbridge, a nationally known whitewater safety expert.

Outfitters in Ohiopyle have long offered guided, guide-assisted and equipment rental options for commercial trips on the Lower Yough. However, online offerings at two of the outfitters appeared to, in the past couple of years, remove guide- assisted trips in favor of only guided options.

Fifteen people died and six more were injured after falling into the Lower Yough while kayaking or rafting, either on private or commercial trips, between 1982 and 2022, according to the American Whitewater database and TribLive archives. Ten of the fatalities were connected to the Dimple Rock rapids. At least two of those fatalities happened on a boat that didn’t carry a guide; five others rented equipment and went out on their own.

Andrea Yealy was the third person to die at Dimple Rock in 2000.

In the immediate aftermath of their daughter’s death, Michele Yealy and her late husband, David Yealy, pushed for Dimple Rock to be altered or removed.

A study commissioned by the state conservation department and completed in 2005 found that any changes to the rock would cause more harm than good. The state stands by its decision the following year not to alter Dimple Rock, according to a spokesperson. The review determined that making changes or removing the rock might create new hazards and add the need for potentially dangerous maintenance and inspections.

The Yealys gave up their fight.

“After that, we never pushed for anything because what can we do as two parents of a child that lost their life there?” she said.

• • •

As many as 1,000 people daily could don life vests and helmets to take on the Lower Yough with commercial whitewater rafting trips. Four outfitters in Ohiopyle have an agreement with the state conservation department that outlines training requirements for guides. That agreement does not require guides in each raft during normal water levels between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. but lists minimum numbers of guides based on trip size.

Guides typically give orientation and safety talks on land and before groups raft the rapids.

“They all understand the liability that they have, so I’ve never seen a company that doesn’t do what they say,” said Ohiopyle Fire Chief Rob Joseph, whose department responds to river incidents.

Deaths over the years have drawn the attention of former Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly. He convened at least three inquests after rafting-related fatalities on the Lower Yough to determine whether safety could be improved. After the three deaths in 2000, recommendations from inquest jurors and a safety focus group resulted in the creation of a 500-foot portage trail that allows boaters to carry their watercraft on foot to bypass the Dimple Rock rapids.

Reilly led the inquest last year into the August 2022 death of Julie Ann Moore, 50, of Worthington, Ohio. She was among 71 people on 17 rafts taking part in an excursion organized by White Water Adventurers. The raft she was in did not carry a guide. It overturned at Dimple Rock, and Moore became trapped underwater a bit farther downriver.

After hearing testimony over two days, jurors made numerous recommendations to improve safety, but it appeared most had not been implemented by state park officials or the outfitters for the 2024 season. The recommendations are not legally binding.

“Ohiopyle staff meet with outfitters, discuss and review safety measures, and ensure that outfitters follow state law and operator agreements (when they) conduct services at the park,” DCNR spokesperson Wesley Robinson said. A park manager referred comment to the spokesperson.

• • •

Safety is important to experts Charlie Walbridge and Charlie Duffy. They run the American Whitewater accident database, the only public-accessible statistics detailing whitewater injuries and fatalities nationwide.

A nonprofit advocacy group, American Whitewater has staffers and board members around the country. Walbridge started the database in 1976, and there are now 2,000 fatality reports.

“It helps put things in perspective,” Walbridge said. “I’m very interested in trying to see what these accidents can teach us.”

“Because we’re going over all the accidents with a fine-tooth comb, we’re able to identify trends,” Duffy said. “Looking at an accident here and there doesn’t tell you squat. But when you look at all the accidents, you notice commonalities.”

Both men have decades of experience. Walbridge, now an honorary board member with the nonprofit, developed swift-water rescue courses in the 1980s and has been a consultant for years on whitewater safety issues.

Duffy is a safety coordinator with Maryland-based Team River Runner and does kayak and swift-water instruction around the country. He has spent hundreds of hours working on the database and has created charts to help identify lessons that can be learned from the accidents.

The database shows that 75% of fatalities nationwide happened on private trips and 15% on commercial boats. The circumstances of the remaining 10% could not be determined. About 30% involved a raft. The most common cause of death — 17% of all fatalities — is flush drowning. That’s when a swimmer wearing a life jacket moves with rough current and repeatedly is pulled underwater or hit by waves.

There are 122 safety reports about whitewater injuries and fatalities in Pennsylvania since 1970, 25 of which correlate to incidents on the Lower or Middle Yough or at Ohiopyle Falls.

• • •

More older and younger customers are booking commercial rafting trips than in the past, and they have little experience, Walbridge said. Although he doesn’t believe it’s a major issue, having a guide in a raft improves safety and the customer experience, he said.

“My feeling is with the clientele they have today, that’s what should be done,” he said.

Fully guided trips tend to go more smoothly, he said. Guide-assisted trips can move slower and have hiccups such as rafts bumping into rocks and boaters being unsure or falling into the water.

“The guide-assisted format is not commonly used” by outfitters elsewhere, Walbridge said.

He testified during the 2023 coroner’s inquest into Moore’s death that guides in rafts are focused on their in-boat crew and can give instruction and direction immediately to get paddlers on a safe path through rapids, reducing the risk of rafters ending up in the water. Then he asked jurors to consider recommending that all commercial rafts have a guide.

Having the benefit of an in-boat guide would increase the odds of not tipping, Duffy said.

“On the other hand, that would greatly cut back on the amount of people being able to go down the river,” he said.

An enjoyable experience is exactly what Joel Means wants customers to have when they raft with Ohiopyle Trading Post and River Tours, which he co-owns.

“The conversations we have over the phone … it starts with channeling people in the correct direction,” he said. “It’s not selling someone something.”

For the Lower Yough, fully guided trips are the norm, Means said. But if an experienced customer asks, guide-escorted is an option.

“It was way more dangerous to drive here in a vehicle than it is to go down the river,” he said. “The key is to go fully guided if you have any doubts.”

On a day earlier this month, Sara Baker was getting ready to kayak on the Lower Yough with a friend. She’s a regular in Ohiopyle, visiting every weekend during warm weather months from her home east of State College.

Baker said she has seen a change on commercial trips after Moore’s death.

“Since then, I have seen way more guides on the rafts,” she said. “Now it’s much more common to see guides.”

• • •

Some outfitters at Ohiopyle appeared to have adjusted their offerings, at least on their websites, in recent years.

White Water Adventurers and Laurel Highlands River Tours and Outdoor Center removed guide-escorted options for the Lower Yough from their websites in favor of fully guided trips only, according to internet archives.

Both Wilderness Voyaguers and Ohiopyle Trading Post websites allow customers to decide whether they want a guide. Websites for all four outfitters list minimum ages — 10 to 12 depending on the type of trip — and explain the general risks and what river tours to pick based on experience. There are no details about the fatalities or risks at specific rapids, both of which were recommendations made by inquest jurors.

Neither Wilderness Voyaguers nor Laurel Highlands River Tours returned phone or email messages from TribLive. A person who answered the phone at White Water Adventurers said they routinely make changes but hung up when asked to elaborate.

Fully guided prices range from $60 to $135 for Lower Yough trips, with guide-assisted trips typically being about $20 cheaper, according to a review of outfitters’ websites.

Guides typically pull trips over into a calm pool just prior to Dimple Rock, and all rapids, to review safety precautions before the boats go through one by one. There are numerous safety measures undertaken by outfitters meant to help rafters navigate the churning water. They can include guides in rafts, safety kayakers and a guide standing on Dimple Rock directing rafters with hand signals.

“I think that considering the number of people that are on this river … it is remarkable that there’s as few problems as there are,” Baker said.

Thousands of boaters come off the river unscathed and thrilled with the experience. Volunteer firefighters don’t usually meet them.

Joseph, the fire chief, said members of his department did extrication and rope rescue training on the Lower Yough in April. They have emergency equipment set up strategically along the river. But there’s no telling where an emergency might happen.

“It’s challenging on multiple levels because this isn’t Kennywood,” he said. “Incidents don’t happen at the same spot every time.”

• • •

Six days after Moore’s death, Verena Lucker of Lancaster, Ohio, spilled into the water at Dimple Rock, along with six others in her raft, including a guide.

She broke her ankle, but everyone managed to get back into boats.

Lucker said they were not notified about the option to carry their rafts around the rapids on the portage trail. Neither was Moore’s group, according to inquest testimony.

“We were not given that option,” Lucker said.

Michele Yealy has many suggestions about how to improve safety on the river.

Since her daughter’s death, Yealy has turned to awareness, handing out copies of part of an inquest report that details what happened to Andrea below the surface at Dimple Rock. Andrea would have turned 40 last year.

“I think people need to know what they’re getting into,” she said. “If I know somebody’s involved in whitewater rafting, I will let them know my story.”