Whitewater Forum: The Miracle at Sunset Falls
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The Miracle at Sunset Falls

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Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11250
Printed Date: 29 Mar 2024 at 3:15am


Topic: The Miracle at Sunset Falls
Posted By: Jule
Subject: The Miracle at Sunset Falls
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2011 at 7:07pm
Several weeks ago my buddies Kennet and Connor were just messing around on the Sky and decided to attain and walk their way up the river to the base of Sunset Falls, where they saw the most surprising thing happen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz02gAnB_Dk&feature=related

Hallelujah!



Replies:
Posted By: Scott_H
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2011 at 7:27pm
Wow! That was incredible - i am really surprised we didn't hear about this in the news, but i guess there wasn't any rescue called in? Considering the number of deaths this year at Yosemite and Niagra Falls from people doing the exact same thing, its good to have a positive outcome. Hopefully huge lesson learned.

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.”


Posted By: Jule
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2011 at 7:32pm
Yeah, from what I understand the guy had inhaled some water, but was otherwise completely unharmed. I wonder how often this kind of stuff happens and we just never find out about it...


Posted By: Jule
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2011 at 7:36pm
And that's Connor and Kennet at the bottom there. Their eyes were buggin' out when they saw it happen, and they were probably thinking about how to go about the body recovery.  But pretty quickly the guy resurfaced and they towed him to shore, among many exclamations of "Praise the Lord!"


Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 8:34am
Haha, TOP THAT ROB M and all the rest of you guys that use all kinds of pfds and helmets and saftey gear....this guy is the real hero!!!!
If I had girlfriends that cute I would have jumped in to impress them too!!!


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Nomad


Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 8:56am
I'm not a God or Jesus hater. Whatever anyone wants to believe is their business - their life, their choices. This guy is certainly fortunate to be alive in any event.

It is curious though why God/Jesus/whatever, caused him to slip in the first place?? Why didn't God/Jesus/whatever warn him about being too close to the waterfall?

If my grandmother was here, she'd tell me that God works in mysterious ways and we aren't meant to understand it. Still, I find myself asking these questions.

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arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address)


Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 9:27am

That is indeed a miracle if I ever heard of one....

And Arno, not to get crazy philosophical or theological but here's a one word answer (or is it two?):   Freewill 



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Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 10:21am
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that he probably slipped because he made some poor decisions on where to place his feet. Although I believe in God, I am no official liaison for the almighty but history would suggest  he does not get involved in our decision making, but often gets brought into the outcomes.

I know it is far fetched but what if this whole ordeal was his way of giving you more things to question? Questions beget answers and answers beget understanding and a solid understanding should be the basis for quality decision making ... yes? Keep me updated on your quest for the Eternal Answer, I know a few billion people that want the outcome when your done!!! (Grandma would be proud!)


Posted By: brig
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 11:41am
http://youtu.be/ho-UTvQmoDg

Sick Jamz though.

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Chris B.


Posted By: Jimmy
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 12:00pm
Grandma also used to say always wear clean underwear in case you have to go to the emergency room.  In this guys case I would say it wouldn't have mattered, they probably weren't clean anymore anyway.


Posted By: irenen
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 12:06pm

That is just amazing and truly miraculous that he is OK - I also can't believe this wasn't PP fodder earlier on! :)



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It's all fun and games until someone loses a paddle.


Posted By: PowWrangler
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 2:23pm
So god has a hand in saving this darwin award's life, but decides to take the life of my co-worker's 8 month old child?  Hmm...


Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 2:49pm
POW: Exactly why I don't think belief systems are a topic best discussed online. The complexity and emotion in the subject makes it hard enough for people to discuss in person let alone on the internet where so much of our communication methods are removed.


Posted By: mokelumnekid
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 7:50pm
James- fill me in on how you know it is a 'he,' a PM is fine.  I'm with Arnobarno on this one....


Posted By: Mr.Grinch
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 9:00pm
It is conveniece that allows the faithful to credit "god" with good luck, and blame "evil" for when situations turn out less favorable.

The kid is lucky to be alive, for sure. Giving unknown deities credit may encourage people to huck with false promise of safety (a stretch, for sure, but just making a point: sometimes the unprepared are lucky, other times the prepared are unlucky-we in the north east had some people die recently in the floods, and one was an experienced boater).

That's not to mention Boyce on the Payette (where the north east lost S. Forster, a talented 19 year old kayaker).

Experience and dumb luck don't always coincide, and even the best intention of any decision can end poorly if unseen variables have their way.

On the other hand, would the emotional young lady in the video be cursing the devil if the situation had a less than favorable outcome?

In the north east there has been a rash of people overstepping their bounds in whitewater, usually no PFD or helmet in a tube on Cl III, but the witness is the same: non boater people are not respecting the power of rivers and are getting hurt. This is only going to be more prevalent in areas with easier accessibility. That said, the more detached people become from their surroundings, the less they will understand the power of said environments, and the more likely they are to be victims of their own unknowing.




Posted By: Travisimo
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 11:30pm
Sorry irresistible here...

According to the Bible why did the Christian God create man? (PM me for the answer, I bet it surprises many)

According to the Bible, yes bad things happen here on Earth, think of it as a test...  Ever had a test that had  hard question on it?  One you didn't want to or couldn't answer?

If a test is easy, is the reward as great as a difficult one?

I try to abstain from such discussions on this forum... but this time couldn't...  Anybody wanna paddle the Ohane or Upper Upper with me this weekend?  I'll be there


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H2O please


Posted By: Travisimo
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2011 at 11:36pm
I see my typo and it's embarrassing in this post... "had A hard question"

Can somebody nuke this post and change that so I don't look like the dork that I actually am?  I'm guessing that there is no higher power to appeal to than the moderators on this issue   On second thought let it stand to show that man is flawed

On a paddling note though...  Wow, I've stood there many times and wondered what would happen if that happened.  I'm guessing that dude is an awesome swimmer, bouncy and pretty lucky!



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H2O please


Posted By: irenen
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 8:07am
Will you guys please leave it, as I think James was intending with his post?  Every single person who reads about this topic has very strong feelings about it, regardless of their opinion, but fruitful discussion almost never happens on a forum like this - it's always one step away from a succession of zingers and one-liners.  Please understand that if you're not getting a 'good answer' to your questions from what's being submitted here it's probably because the people most likely to be able to provide insight are the ones least likely to do it on PP - its a crappy place for it.  I held off from saying anything yesterday for that exact reason, but this thread is now totally hijacked so what the heck.

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It's all fun and games until someone loses a paddle.


Posted By: Blair
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 8:48am
Woah!

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Posted By: brig
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 9:37am
Originally posted by Blair

Woah!


Hey Brair, remember when I called you a "Smelly Pirate Hooker?" Remember that, that was awesome.

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Chris B.


Posted By: NateW
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 9:51am
Replace driving a car with swimming:
http://i.imgur.com/GxReE.jpg


Posted By: brig
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 10:03am


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Chris B.


Posted By: ChristianKnight
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 3:36pm

I'm not curious about whether or not God did intervene, but how. I mean, was he not paying attention until he heard the screams and then he decided he should do something about it? Like revive him AFTER he died. Did he, just for a moment, transform the granite bedrock of Sunset Falls into some kind of flexible plastic, like what waterslide parks use, so the thud of a bouncing body woudln't be fatal? Or perhaps he went another route. Perhaps he armored the kid with invisible body armor, so he could withstand the impacts? Or maybe God was scouting Sunset Falls himself, found a line and let the kid guinea pig the line for him. (Hey, I have no problem with this solution. I do it all the time on the river).

I suppose if you're God, you've got a lot of miracle options at your fingertips. I guess I'm a little curious why God didn't just do the easiest solution of them all: Give the kid super-sticky shoes, so he wouldn't slide into the waterfall. That would have saved some momentary heart-attacks. But it sure would have been less dramatic.
And God has always had a flair for the dramatic.  


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Catch your eddies,
Christian


Posted By: Blair
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 3:42pm
Originally posted by dave

Haha, TOP THAT ROB M and all the rest of you guys that use all kinds of pfds and helmets and saftey gear....this guy is the real hero!!!!
If I had girlfriends that cute I would have jumped in to impress them too!!!


Dave, you're a pedo.

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Posted By: franzhorner
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 3:55pm
Sometimes I think people get more upset about people having a debate than the debaters themselves.  This happens to me all the time online.  I will be having a heated debate with someone who actually enjoys a heated debate and 10 people will come on there telling us to cool it down and stop expressing our opinions.  This is usually with politics or religion.

This is BS, unAmerican and un-professor paddle like if you ask me.  If you don't like people debating the existence of God or if you get offended if people don't believe in your god then DONT READ THE POST OR THREAD.  Its really that easy. 

I believe that debate is what helps us learn and evolve.  Some might not want our beliefs and religions to evolve and those are usually the first ones to stifle debate.

Please debate about the existence of God if you have someone to debate with you.  Do it on the street corner, in your home, or on PP. 

I am in fact an Agnostic.  Although I wouldn't be stoked about some Christian folks coming on here and preaching about God I wouldn't try to shut them up.  I might try to engage a debate but I wouldn't tell them to stop expressing their opinion, especially if they are having a dialouge with someone on-line.  If I got sick of them, well , then I wouldn't read their posts!!!

Its usually people who are deep seeded and stoic in their beliefs who try to shut down debate.  These kind of folks don't like challenges to their beliefs and the way they were raised. 

I'm always open to debate and discussion.  Anywhere, anytime.

Love,
Horner


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MORE RAIN PLEASE


Posted By: James
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 7:04pm
Horner,

I agree but I also think that keeping threads on topic is a worthy thing. I figured someone might be very interested in the passion these kids had for crediting jesus and/or god with the survival of their friend so it might very well be on topic. Unfortunately a lot of folks can't have a nice discussion about belief online. I have had campfire rambles with you before so you know its all good, but something about online communication makes it very hard to discuss this kind of thing. While I agree PP should be for any discussion I still think that religion might not be the best topic to bust out mid thread mainly because it attracts the kind of foolish posting that does not contribute to any type of debate, discussion or exchange. Beliefs are so significant that alot of folks can't take a joke, receive critics, or even opposing thoughts and so if it were up to me I would suggest belief based discussions take place in well labeled threads to prevent folks from checking in on a Sunset Falls thread reading all these posts (valid as they are) and then going further off on a tangent. Also I hate to say it but even if folks did start a new thread no one would post in it. It is weird like that. I mean folks love to talk politics in threads that have nothing to do with it but when a political thread is started to allow the discussion to take place on topic no one wants to post because they see the subject and avoid it, I am guessing that the same thing would take place with religion, although if you want to test the theory I will enjoy reading and perhaps posting!!!!

~J


Posted By: James
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 7:20pm
Oh and to take this off on yet another tangent,



Dude we need to go fishing, I am laying a slaying!!!!


Posted By: irenen
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 9:43pm
In the interest of being fair I'll apologize for the "please leave it" part of my post, since that was essentially a request to stifle the conversation.  I stand by the rest of it, which, if you follow Franz's advice, you should not read if you have a problem with. :P Seriously Franz, I understand where you're coming from (or at least I think I do - that phrase is probably overused) but will pm you separately - this is my last post on this thread.

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It's all fun and games until someone loses a paddle.


Posted By: justasec
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 11:28pm
U Guys are retarded!


Posted By: Lynn Wang
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2011 at 11:55pm
Originally posted by James

Oh and to take this off on yet another tangent,Dude we need to go fishing, I am laying a slaying!!!!


Holy Godness! Where are the multiplying loaves of bread and over flowing cisterns of wine? If you were selling some, I'd be the first with my dollars out and sheer thankfulness...   


Posted By: up4air
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 12:05am
If that guy can bodysurf Sunset Falls, should be no problem on a riverboard. Right????!!! :) hehe ...

I remember being these kids' age and a new believer and you don't really think about giving attribute to God for this kind of situation, you just do it. Thems were the days...

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More water, please.


Posted By: James
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 9:00am
Originally posted by Lynn Wang

Originally posted by James

Oh and to take this off on yet another tangent,Dude we need to go fishing, I am laying a slaying!!!!


Holy Godness! Where are the multiplying loaves of bread and over flowing cisterns of wine? If you were selling some, I'd be the first with my dollars out and sheer thankfulness...   


No bread, no cisterns of wine, but the fish are multiplying. I am not even keeping them anymore, just Catch and Release I have so much salmon it's coming out my eyeballs.

So far the best Smoked Flavors are Candied, Double Habanero, Habanero Pineapple and of course Peppered Dill... YUM YUM!



Posted By: James
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 9:07am
Slickhorn, I am glad you read the thread, Who told you to post?

ahahahah


Posted By: franzhorner
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 3:04pm
slickhorn,

I thought the same thing.  He fell in half way down the thing.  A real miracle would've been him falling in at the top and coming through unscathed.

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MORE RAIN PLEASE


Posted By: franzhorner
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 3:06pm
James,

"Beliefs are so significant that alot of folks can't take a joke, receive critics, or even opposing thoughts"

This is the whole problem with all of humanity.


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MORE RAIN PLEASE


Posted By: up4air
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 10:01pm
I'd say that this is more qualifying of miracle status - http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35820985/ns/today-good_news/t/toddler-ok-after-being-pronounced-doa/

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More water, please.


Posted By: up4air
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 10:02pm
What the heck, I posted it as a link and it's going back to PP...
Copy and paste I guess, sorry folks.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35820985/ns/today-good_news/t/toddler-ok-after-being-pronounced-doa/

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More water, please.


Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2011 at 1:38pm
Franz and Slick-- thanks for posting so I don't have to. Peeps are now-a-days deeply conditioned to censor them selves. practicly don't need a first ammendment, everyone self censors.

Up4air- let me know when you fire off Sunset. I wanna watch.

James- well said, countering Franz. You are articulate as always.

I been lurkin on this thread since it got posted, but every time I respond I just hit "clear form". Seems to be the way I interact here anymore. Why say anything at all?

Grinch was right the F on tho, and probably the most substantive contributor to this discussion. Since I'm weighing in at all, I think this sunset falls thing should serve as a reminder that just cuz something "goes" once thru whitewater doesn't mean it'll go twice.

Watch your step out there, so to speak, and don't tumble them dice unless you are prepared to live (or not) w/ the consequences.

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🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋


Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2011 at 1:42pm
...sorry to continue:
The two non-boater fatalities on the Wenatchee furthet illustrate Mr. Grinch's point. Peeps just don't have respect for the river. Which in my opinion also means therefore that they don't respect God.

Then sh*t goes down and they are unreasonably fearful of that which they do not understand. Seeing a pattern here.

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🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋


Posted By: gnarquist
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2011 at 11:35am
SICK LINE! that is awesome


Posted By: Tobin
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2011 at 2:08pm
RELIGION IS LIKE A PENIS!
It is fine to have one.
It is fine to be proud of it.
Please do not whip it out in public and start waving it around.
And PLEASE do do not try to shove it down my throat.


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Sure?


Posted By: JayB
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2011 at 9:35pm
James:

I'm debating whether that's a smoker load of pinks or cohos and can't resolve it, but in the meantime please tell God to send me the double habanero brine recipe when he gets a chance....


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-Jay


Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2011 at 11:08pm
After seeing the pictures of all the smoke salmon on this post, I went right over to James' house to help him store some of the Salmon.
 
Unfortunately they had plenty of storage at the house, but James did let me store some of the smoke salmon in my belly!


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Nomad


Posted By: James
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2011 at 3:22pm
jay 2 were silvers the rest were pinks. I will let Dave tell folks if the recipes turned out good! Batch number 4 is going into the smoker tonight!

I busted out 2 more silvers over the weekend. One was 8.5 lbs taken with a 6lb line on a ultra light 8'6" rod. It was a hoot, and she ended up running me into a tree down stream that had me doing some monkey moves to get her out of the root wad base. No more fishing that spot, bummer too because they hold up in this piling like no ones business but any thing you hook up with goes running for the tree on your side of the river and it is instantly frustrating.

Second silver was on 10lbs line with my heavier rod, still fun but more manageable. I ended up eating her that night on the BBQ. Just shy of 7lbs but both were bright fish.

Funny thing is that for weeks I have been laying a slaughter on pinks and it seems the ratio is like 10:1 of Bucks to Hens, I have yet to hook up with a Buck Silver...? Go Figure. I talked to a native down at the mouth who was fixing his nets and he said that they have been tossing pink bucks back and keeping the hens for the eggs and better quality meat. How about that crap, no wonder some of the bucks I have caught look like they escaped a concentration camp.



Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2011 at 6:07pm
I have to tell you, James makes some of the best smoked salmon I have ever had. Plus he makes different varieties! He should enter a contest somewhere.

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Nomad



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