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Helicopter Rescue of BWCA Canoeists Who Got Swept Over Waterfall

Glenn MacGrady

Glenn MacGrady

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An article with videos honoring the skilled helicopter pilot, Grace Zeller, who landed on a tiny rock in the dark and shuttled in medics to rescue alive two of the four canoeists who had plunged over Curtain Falls on Crooked Lake in the BWCA.

Pilot Honored In Rescue Of Two Canoeists (Video)​


"It was around 4 p.m. on May 18 when brothers Erik and Reis Grams watched their friends, Jesse Haugen and Kyle Sellers, approach Curtain Falls on Crooked Lake in the BWCAW. They witnessed the canoe move closer to the falls, then turn parallel to the falls, and then capsize. Immediately, Sellers went over with the canoe; Haugen, according to a report in the Minnesota Star Tribune, appeared to be standing in chest-deep water at the lip. None of the four were wearing PFDs or life jackets."
 
I was just thinking to post this, and was looking at old threads to see if we covered it. I think this may be the same folks who were fishing too close to the falls, but I can't find that thread.
 
clemency said:
I was just thinking to post this, and was looking at old threads to see if we covered it. I think this may be the same folks who were fishing too close to the falls, but I can't find that thread.
Click to expand...

I had the same recollection and similarly couldn't find a previous thread in a quick search. In any event, this article provides a lot more detail about the logistics of the skilled helicopter rescue.
 
It is the story from this spring, 2 got rescued and 2 were recovered after an extended search and rescue effort.
 
The falls in the BWCA are well known and show up on maps. They are not very high. I have paddled Crooked Lake and have portaged around that falls. The trail is easy to see because it gets used a lot. There is something odd about this story.
 
ppine said:
The falls in the BWCA are well known and show up on maps. They are not very high. I have paddled Crooked Lake and have portaged around that falls. The trail is easy to see because it gets used a lot. There is something odd about this story.
Click to expand...
They were fishing above them in the early spring, the water was high and cold and one canoe got sucked in and the other followed to help, no one was wearing a PFD. Sad and tragic.
 
Glenn MacGrady said:
I had the same recollection and similarly couldn't find a previous thread in a quick search. In any event, this article provides a lot more detail about the logistics of the skilled helicopter rescue.
Click to expand...
Here it is. In the 2023 paddling deaths thread.

Paddling deaths increased in 2023

"The Coast Guard last week reported the largest year-over-year drop in recreational boating fatalities in more than a decade, but that encouraging news was tempered by an increase in paddling deaths." "Flying against this welcome trend was paddling fatalities, which increased yet again in 2023...
www.canoetripping.net
 
"According to Rick Slatten, captain of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad who responded to the incident, of the over 500 water fatalities in the squad’s history, less than three percent were wearing life jackets."

The article linked to had more details from the victims - one of them knew the spot well, but it was the other boat that got too close.

That statistic really underlines why you should wear a pfd.
 
Were they newbies or just over confident?
I do not paddle with people that don't wear PFDs or "forget to put them back on."
I did some trips with a guy, and then later we were fishing a big, cold river with a lot of current. He was wearing hip waders and kept "forgetting" to put his PFD back on. I told him point blank. "If you are not going to wear a PFD, this is our last trip. I do not want to knock on your door and explain to your wife what happened." We never paddled together again.
 
I listened to a podcast with one of the survivors, they had been there many many times, weren't drinking but didn't see a need for the PFD's. A PFD maybe wouldn't have saved a life but it would have made recovery easier. The survivor I listened to lost his brother on this trip. You just never know when an unfortunate accident can happen, I've become a 100% PFD wearer over the past few years because of my grandkids, my age and stories like this.
 
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