Two rafters from Colorado died on a high water descent of Idaho’s Selway River on May 10, according to authorities. The accident occurred in the remote Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area in a section of river between Double Drop and Wa-Poots rapids. The flow that day reportedly surpassed 18,000 cubic feet per second.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office posted a release to its Facebook page about the incident.
Idaho County Coroner Cody Funke identified the names of the two victims as Daniel “Danny T.” Triantafillou (41) and Matthew Lane (35), both raft guides from the Arkansas River in Colorado. While Triantafillou’s cause of death was drowning, an autopsy confirmed Lane’s was due to a massive heart attack.
Lane reportedly fell out of his raft, whose teammates then pulled him back in. The raft then eddied-out in a pulsating eddy, where team members began administering CPR. The other rafts then joined them in the eddy, corralling them in before getting swept downstream, where one of them flipped, putting the second victim into the river.
Idaho County Dispatch heard from the International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) at around 1:24 p.m. The IERCC informed dispatch it had received an SOS message from a Garmin inReach satellite communication device stating that CPR was in progress. Around 3:40 p.m., a 911 text message stated the group had discovered a second person in the party had gone into the water. The message indicated that CPR was being performed.
The two were pulled from the water at separate locations, around two miles from each other. A Life Flight helicopter was dispatched but confirmed both deaths on arrival. Due to the environment and a lack of needed equipment, Life Flight was unable to recover them.
The US Forest Service attempted to reach the area with mules. Steep terrain stopped them from making it to the location. The bodies were recovered on Sunday by a helicopter crew from Montana’s Two Bear Air Rescue. Due to flooding conditions and steep terrain, the crew used the helicopter’s winch system to get them both out of the canyon.
The Upper Selway is a regulated multi-day raft trip that requires permits between May 15 and July 31. Outside that window, it is unregulated.
Two Colorado Residents Die in Accident on Idaho’s Selway River, Including BV Local
According to the Arkansas Valley Voice, Triantafillou was a well-known member of the Buena Vista (BV) community. “We lost a really important community member in a rafting accident this week,” Trustee Micha Rosenoer told the Voice. “Our community is so small and rafting is such a big part of it, so hold your friends close. It’s hard to lose such a leader in the community and a shining star.”
Dan Triantafillou gazing at hot dogs. Image courtesy of the Fancy Weiner Facebook page.
Triantafillou’s obituary is shared online.
Dan’s signature smile. Image from CaseFuneralHome.com.
Triantafillou graduated from Northern Michigan University and Gogebic College with a degree in ski area management. He loved traveling and spent a semester abroad studying in New Zealand.
“Colorado was Danny’s next destination,” states the obituary.
“The high country provided him with so much opportunity to participate in all his favorite sports. Danny was in his element while snowmaking at Copper Mountain, coaching skiing at Vail’s school for Olympic hopefuls, and guiding and teaching white water rafting. One of his favorite rafting trips was an 18-day excursion on the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.”
For friends and family unable to make the Michigan service in person, livestreams of the funeral will be available on YouTube or Facebook.
Lane’s obituary is shared online.
Lane was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas. He discovered a love of water at Camp Chippewa in Minnesota canoeing the Boundary Waters.
Matt Lane in the great outdoors. Image courtesy of Flintofts Funeral Home.
“A prankster, musician, outdoorsman, chef, mountain biker and skateboarder, athlete, and artful vulgarian, Matt loved p***ing people off yet always managed to make more friends than enemies,” states the obituary.
Lane graduated from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a degree in environmental science. He spent a summer canoeing in the Amazon.
Lane moved to Gunnison in 2017. “He tended bar, painted houses, and worked as a river guide, but more than anything, he was a musician and an adventurer, a talented guitarist, mountain man, and pizza aficionado who was reliably the funniest person in the room.”
A service will be held for Lane at 1:00 p.m. Monday, May 26, at the Overland Park Arboretum LongHouse Visitor and in Buena Vista on Saturday, May 31.
Memorials to celebrate Matt’s too short yet abundant life will be held at the Overland Park Arboretum, LongHouse Visitor Center (9209 West 179th Street, Bucyrus Kansas).
A local service will be held at the River Park Pavilion (800 East Main Street, Buena Vista) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 31. All are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Seva Foundation (www.seva.org). Seva is a nonprofit that works with local communities around the world to develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
People may also honor Matt’s memory by spending a beautiful day outdoors with loved ones. Lane and Triantafillou will be sorely missed by the community.
The coroner described the Selway as “a wild river” right now. He added flows were nearing or at the cutoff limit for some. “Putting in the river is kind of dangerous,” Funke told the Arkansas Valley Voice, adding the area had seen cold weather and over an inch of rain that week and urged caution to rafters floating the river.