EAGLE — Nineteen rafters, including three professional guides, were thrown into the swift, snowmelt-driven current of the Eagle River on Monday.
One woman was swept 5 miles downstream before being pulled out alive, 80 minutes after the three rafts chartered from Nova Rafting capsized about 1 p.m., according to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
All of the rafters were pulled to safety. The rescue came two weeks after two women and their dogs were pulled out at the same spot near Brooks Lane in Eagle, authorities said.
Eagle County Sheriff Joseph D. Hoy said flood conditions have not deterred thrill-seekers, much to his dismay. “When rafters take that risk, they are not only putting their lives on the line but those of the first responders who must save them,” he said in a statement.
Monday’s rescue took the combined efforts of sheriff’s deputies, the Eagle Police Department, Eagle Fire, Gypsum Fire, the Vail Mountain Rescue Group, the Western Eagle County Ambulance District and the forest rangers.
