The Death of Kayaker Shannon Christy, Who Died While Running the Whitewater of Great Falls, Saddens Her Peers and Shows the Sport’s Dangerous Side

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            Some of the world’s best whitewater rapids can be found in the wilds of Madagascar, Gabon, Alaska and Chile – or about a 15-minute drive from downtown Washington, D.C. on the Potomac River.  The world-class rapids of Great Falls have become so respected by extreme kayakers that an annual race is held there for the sport’s elite. 60 MINUTES SPORTS captures the rush of this extreme sport and its inherent dangers in a story about the Potomac’s Great Falls and the tragic death of Shannon Christy, one of extreme kayaking’s rising stars. David Martin’s report, including an interview with Christy and footage of the rescue attempt and recovery of her body, will appear on the next edition of 60 MINUTES SPORTS, Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 10:00 PM, ET/PT only on SHOWTIME.

            Steve Fisher of South Africa is an extreme kayaking champion who has won the Great Falls Race.  He has kayaked the world’s wildest stretches of whitewater.  “The Potomac in Great Falls is world-class by any standard,” he tells Martin.  “You get other rivers like this but they’re in, like, Madagascar or Gabon… here, you’re just… sipping coffee at your house and 10 minutes later, you’re in this incredible piece of whitewater.”

            The Great Falls have an international rating of Class V, which ranks them among the most difficult and dangerous in the world.  Extreme kayaking pits one person against the raging river. It’s one reason why Jason Beakes races. “I intuitively knew that this is a way that I can do my own thing,” he says. The Great Falls race has been held for the past 26 years and Beakes has won it six times.

            Shannon Christy was drawn to the sport for similar reasons and found herself in Virginia this past July among the sport’s top competitors training for the race.  Beakes was helping the 23-year-old Christy learn the course he had mastered so well while Fisher, hired by 60 MINUTES SPORTS as a consultant, videotaped her first run on July 9. 

            On a subsequent practice run two days later, Christy disappeared.  Her accident was seen by a tourist who alerted others; her empty orange kayak was picked up on 60 MINUTES SPORTS cameras set up at the bottom of the falls.  Fisher, one of the most experienced kayakers in the world, immediately began directing a search-and-rescue attempt using gear and knowledge only the sport’s most elite practitioners are familiar with. “If you have the experience, the skills and the equipment, you have a responsibility to act,” Fisher tells Martin. “You need to do everything you can.”

            As a park ranger helicopter and swift-water rescue teams looked on, Fisher and other kayakers located Christy’s body pinned below rocks at the bottom of a chute dubbed “Subway” by kayakers for its dangerous downward thrust.  Using an elaborate pulley system and the kayakers’ athletic strength, they were able to pull the young kayaker’s body from the current’s grip. 

            Martin spoke to Christy at Great Falls two days before she died. “I kayak because I love the sport. Kayaking takes you to places that most of society will never see. I love the act of kayaking for what it is.”

            The Great Falls Race on Saturday, July 13, was cancelled; instead, would-be racers celebrated the life of their lost colleague by throwing flowers in the river and gathering in their kayaks below the falls in a show of unity. 

Press Contacts:  

60 MINUTES – Kevin Tedesco 212-975-2329 kev@cbsnews.com

SHOWTIME Sports – Chris DeBlasio 212-708-1633 Chris.DeBlasio@Showtime.net