Walteberg Rapid

Way before the Grand Canyon became an organised tourist destination, it attracted some very colourful characters but none more interesting than Emery and Ellsworth Kolb. They were brothers, professional photographers, daredevils and major contributors to the Grand Canyon’s designation as a National Park.

On 19 December 1911, the Kolb brothers launched their wooden boats, Edith and Defiance, onto the Colorado River with the intention to photograph and film the interior of the Grand Canyon. Five days later on Christmas Eve, each with their own boat took a chance on the Waltenberg Rapid. Choppy, moody and referred to as “bad” by Ellsworth, the end of that day was possibly the best pre-Christmas Day present ever.

When they approached the rapid, each took a different course – Emery chose the right and Ellsworth chose the left. It didn’t take long for Emery to find himself stuck. He wrote, “I scarcely started when I found myself on a nest of jagged rocks, with violent water all about me, and with other rocks, some of them submerged, below me. I climbed out on the rocks and held the boat…The greatest trouble would be to hold the boat if she broke loose."

Ellsworth on the other hand found himself in a whirlpool “bouncing back and forth like a great rubber ball”. As his boat filled with water it sank and overturned with Ellsworth still holding on. Once he let go, the strong current pushed Ellsworth through the rapid, bobbing up and down, submerging with each breaking wave.

As Ellsworth was barely kept above water by his life vest, Emery pried his boat loose off the rocks. Launching in the centre of the rapid, it wasn’t long before he hit rocks once again. His boat broke “like egg-shells” and left a gaping hole on its side. His rescue effort was done for.

Fortunately, Ellsworth was drawn out of the centre of the whitewater into a calm part of the river. Knowing he had limited time before the current would push him downstream into another rapid, he mustered what strength he had left and dragged himself out on his hands and knees. Emery eventually reached him and helped him out of his frozen clothes and into dry blankets.

Their companion, Bert Lauzon, was spotting the pair from shore. Seeing Ellsworth’s boat caught in an eddy he swam out and rescued it before it entered the next rapid. The next day the trio celebrated Christmas by repairing the gaping hole in Emery’s boat and continuing with their adventures.

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