LA FORTUNA. Within minutes, an adventure turned deadly on the Peñas Blancas River near this Northern Zone tourism-oriented community on Wednesday. One tourist, a U.S. citizen, lost his life when a group of three whitewater rafts flipped, plunging 13 rafters into dangerous rapids.
In what is being called a "tragic accident," Jerry Probst, 50, a tourist and surf-shop owner from Naples, Florida, was presumed drowned on the river. The exact cause of death is unknown. Red Cross rescuers found Probst’s body at the San Isidro bridge, eight kilometers down river from the tiny town of Poco Sol, where the rafters began their trip.
The victim still wore his helmet, lifejacket and glasses, although he apparently had a deep cut between his eyes.
Athletic and adventurous, Probst was a good friend of Desafío owner Suresh Krishnan and had been rafting as many as six times with Desafio on the Peñas Blancas.
"We have lost not a tourist or a client, but a friend," Desafío spokesman Andy Sninsky told The Tico Times.
A funeral mass was held at the La Fortuna Catholic Church Thursday afternoon. Probst’s son Matt, 16, and ex-wife Marilyn were among the 12 U.S. tourists and four guides who survived the accident without major injury. The Probsts remained in La Fortuna Thursday.
Conflicting accounts make it hard to determine what caused the accident. Desafío’s guides questioned by The Tico Times claim that the accident was a "fluke" – some 150 meters into the 15-kilometer trip, one raft overturned around 10:30 a.m. after hitting a rock at the first section of rapids. The other two rafts flipped almost immediately afterward.
The guides deny that a flash flood caused the accident, although they admitted that heavy overnight rains had swelled the river to its highest level. The water was rising rapidly shortly after the river trip began.
An employee of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), which operates a hydro plant nearby, told the daily La Nación that he’d never seen the river higher the day of the accident.
Nevertheless, the four guides – three Costa Ricans and one U.S. citizen – decided that the river level was manageable. Desafío said that its guides, all with many years of experience, have extensive training in swiftwater rescue and first aid.
The guides said their passengers were aware that the river had challenging Class IV rapids (Class I is the lowest, with no current, Class V is for experts only). The water was "runnable" but at its highest level, said Reflejos Naturales’ Felipe Pérez, a river rescue specialist who trained the Desafio guides.
"The crew felt confident at this level," he said. "They had experienced it before."
Desafio has been operating whitewater tours in the area for six years, and until Wednesday had an unblemished safety record. Only two other rafting companies, Aguas Bravas and Arenal Outdoor Center, run the Peñas Blancas. Both are based in La Fortuna.
Aguas Bravas general manager and part-owner John Reiman told The Tico Times this week that high water levels the day of the accident obliged the company to cancel a four-person trip.
"The safest way to go is with a policy of cancellation," he said. "Of course, it depends on the [expertise] level of the rafters, but we have a really strong policy."
Reiman added that company never runs Class IV rapids on the Peñas Blancas when the river is high, regardless of the expertise of the rafters. Arenal Outdoor Center had no clients that day.
The rescue of the other 12 survivors from the swollen waters is being a called a tremendous tribute to the skills of river guides and Red Cross rescue workers. The Peñas Blancas is a technically challenging river noted not for its heavy water volume, but for its steep gradient.
Desafío guide Jayye Bacigalupi said it was a "fluke accident" and chaotic when all the passengers were swimming at the same time.
Surviving tourist Wendy Childs said the group had received a safety talk, instructing them to keep the feet first and head for shore in case of accident. Childs made it to the riverbank after a short swim, climbed onto a rock and awaited help, afraid of swimming through the fast rapids. It started to rain heavily and she could see the water level rising, she said. Other tourists were spread out along the river, many stranded alone, unsure of the safety of their companions.
Two of the tourists ended up side by side on the bank about a 10-minute swim downriver and hiked out to the nearest phone to report the accident to the Desafio office in La Fortuna.
Meanwhile, workers at the ICE hydro project nearby spotted swimmers in the water and called the Red Cross. Preliminary media reports said many more tourists had died, sparking near-hysteria among other rafting outfitters.
In San José, swiftwater rescue trainers Reflejos Naturales began mobilizing safety kayakers who remained on standby in Turrialba and Sarapiquí as well as in the capital, awaiting further calls for help. Guides, assisted by kayakers from another tour group who happened to be paddling the same stretch shortly after the accident, gathered the swimmers from their various locations and helped them reach a beach, where the Red Cross was waiting.
Some survivors remained waiting for help on the riverbank for as long as two and a half hours. All survivors went to the nearby Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) station in Ciudad Quesada to file police reports.
At least one survivor said he thought the river was dangerously high, but trusted the guides’ judgement. Other survivors hailed the guides’ expertise.
"In fact, we would like to thank the guides from our tour company and the kayakers from the other camp for their professionalism and actions taken, because without them, the number of casualties could have increased," said tourist Karen Evans.
"We did everything the way we should," insisted Desafío’s Sninsky.
