Students learn river rescue skills on Alberton Gorge

On an unusually warm, 70-degree spring day in early May, around 20 students clad in wetsuits and drysuits willingly submerged into the still freezing Alberton Gorge on the Clark Fork River. With waters already past flood stage at 20,000 cubic feet per second — a unit used to determine river flow — students enrolled in the Swiftwater Rescue Technician course had the perfect opportunity to learn river rescue skills at challenging water levels.