ALPINE, Wyo. — A Pocatello man who was tossed from a raft while whitewater rafting with his family and friends Saturday morning drowned in the Snake River, police said.
Christopher J. Chapman, 48, was in the water less than an hour before he was found and pronounced dead at the Sheep Gulch boat ramp, which is located approximately 6 miles east of the Idaho/Wyoming border near Palisades Reservoir.
Chapman's death was due to cold-water drowning, Lincoln County Corner Michael Richins said.
He was tossed out at Three Oar Deal, a rapid about 2 miles upstream from Big Kahuna near Alpine, Wyoming.
“He went under,” Richins said. “They did see him surface once, but then he went around a bend and that’s the last they saw of him.”
Chapman, his wife and their friends brought their raft from Idaho and took off downstream without a guide, police said. That isn’t unusual, but with current high water conditions police advise floaters go with a professional.
“You need someone with some experience to go down that river,” Lincoln County sheriff’s Capt. Brian Andrews said. “The water is high and it’s running fast.”
All but two people in Chapman’s group were thrown into the water when their raft folded, witnesses said.
The others were pulled back in, police said. Chapman, who was already unconscious, was later picked up by another raft and pulled to Sheep Gulch boat ramp, where CPR was performed.
“Everything was done that could possibly be done to revive him,” Richins said. “It’s just a tragic accident.”
