Rescue teams from the National Park Service and a state helicopter were called in last month to airlift a staffer for Sen. John Curtis and three other passengers from a raft that got pinned to boulders by a violent rapid in Cataract Canyon.
Sgt. Jeff Arbon with the Department of Natural Resources set out May 11 to take Curtis staffer, Larry Ellertson, a former Utah County commissioner who now is an outreach advisor for the U.S. senator, along with Ellertson’s wife, Linda, and another Utah County couple down the stretch of the Colorado River, according to an incident report obtained through a public records request.
Around noon on the second day on the river, the boat got stuck on two rocks on a Class IV rapid called Big Drop 3 — also known as Satan’s Gut.
After struggling for 11 hours to free the boat, and with night falling, Arbon called for the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter, which arrived around 11 p.m. and lifted the Ellertsons and the other couple to shore before shuttling them to Bullfrog Marina in two separate trips.
In a video requested by The Salt Lake Tribune last month and released Thursday, rescuers are seen hoisting the four passengers off the stranded raft as rushing water pours over the pontoons, nearly flooding the boat.
Aborn stayed on the boat overnight. The next day, he and the park service personnel worked until nightfall, still unable to free the raft. Another team from the park service was called in and arrived around sunrise the following day, May 14, with another boat, three additional rangers, 1,500 feet of rope and rigging equipment, according to a park service spokesperson.
They were able to pull the boat off the rocks by late afternoon. The three boats then traveled down the river to Lake Powell and eventually to the Bullfrog Marina. All told, the boat was pinned to the rocks for more than 48 hours.
According to Captain Chase Pili with the DNR Division of Law Enforcement, the purpose of the trip was to see the conditions at the Northwash takeout and the location of the Hite takeout, which is inaccessible due to low water.
The park service ramp has been deteriorating, and improvements at the ramp have been contemplated for years.
“The original plan was to have a joint trip with NPS Rangers to discuss these issues with the senator’s staff. NPS canceled a day before,” Pili said.
Experiencing the canyon from the river, he said, gives an appreciation for the scale and vastness of the landscape that could not be fully appreciated by simply driving to the takeout.
Ellertson requested that the other passengers, including his wife, accompany him on the river trip and the park service approved, Pili said.
Ellertson did not respond to requests for comment.
DNR Cataract Incident by Robert Gehrke on Scribd
Two National Park Service boats and five river rangers, along with the DPS helicopter and its crew, participated in the rescue.
A spokesperson for Curtis’ office said they are “grateful to Sgt. Arbon and the rescue team for their swift, professional response.”
“Thankfully, no one was injured. The trip was intended to highlight the need for safer river takeouts in Cataract Canyon, and this incident is a clear reminder of why that work matters,” the spokesperson said. “Senator Curtis will continue working with the National Park Service and Utah’s Department of Natural Resources to improve safety and access along the river.”
