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< March/April 2000
	Hotline
Kayakers Rescued After First Descent Attempt Jason Blevins

What do the Denver Police Department, Fremont County Search and Rescue paramedics and the U.S. Army have in common? They were all involved in a daring helicopter rescue last August of three kayakers tackling a first descent of Beaver Creek, a tributary to Colorado's Arkansas River. "Luckily, we had a happy ending," says rescue coordinator Andrew McGregor. " We had three men come out alive. They were tired, hungry and thirsty, but otherwise unharmed."

The situation arose after the three kayakers - John Weatherford, 26; William Cote, 32; and Luke Urbine, 25, all commercial guides on the Arkansas - set out at 11 a.m. for a first descent of 600-foot-per-mile Beaver Creek. Expecting to complete the 15-mile trip in one day, they quickly ran into problems because of downed trees and ended up trapped in the canyon for three days. "We had to carry too many rapids," says Weatherford. "We carried our boats for miles."

At dusk the first night, the group pulled over and made a fire to keep warm. By the next morning, they were almost out of food, splitting their last energy bar before continuing. At noon they gave up. "We came to a huge wall and figured we couldn't get through," says Weatherford, who climbed out of the canyon and used a two-way radio to make contact with a 15-year-old boy 35 miles away in Pueblo. After the boy called 911, Search and Rescue personnel made contact with Weatherford and called for a helicopter. Unable to find one from conventional sources, they finally tracked down the Denver Police Department, which agreed to help.

Helicopter pilot Bob Bosworth and co-pilot Mike Graves flew the department's Bell 407 to Fremont County, where they picked up two paramedics before heading to the Beaver Creek area. In pitch darkness and wind, Bosworth dropped the chopper down into the canyon, resting its skids on the canyon wall so the paramedics could jump out. "It was so black it was like flying inside a volcano," Bosworth says. "It was a one-shot deal."

When the paramedics reached Urbine and Cote, they found them cold and dehydrated. Weatherford, meanwhile, was still at the top of the canyon without food or water. The next morning he descended the cliff to join his friends, who, thanks to the paramedics, were now fed and warm. Later, the U.S. Army sent a Blackhawk helicopter from Fort Carson to pull the paddlers out. All three were back at their homes in Ca–on City that afternoon - a little wearier and a little wiser.