Emerald Pools Rescue Video: Young Couple Pulled From Freezing California Rapids

NEVADA COUNTY, CA — A young couple from Reno visiting the Northern California wilderness last weekend had to be rescued by California Highway Patrol helicopters, one after the other, after the boyfriend got pulled down the freezing, surging Yuba River and his girlfriend became stranded on a cliff while searching for him, according to state rescuers.

The fact that they're both alive, rescuers said, is "an unbelievable outcome to a very dangerous situation."

In dramatic helicopter-cam footage posted online by the California Highway Patrol's Valley Division, 25-year-old Kalani Tuiono can be seen clinging to a small rock among the rapids — just meters from the ledge of a 50-foot waterfall.

Here's what went down, according to the CHP (with some edits for clarity):

On June 24, 2017, at approximately 12:30 p.m., California Highway Patrol Helicopter 24 (H-24) received a call for assistance from Cal Fire Dispatch Center in Grass Valley, regarding a man that had been swept down river from Emerald Pools by the swift moving water.

H-24 arrived on scene and began a search from Emerald Pools and followed the extremely swift water down river. After approximately 30 minutes, the crew located the victim, Kalani Tuiono, on a small rock in the middle of the river just above a 40-50 foot waterfall. They marked his location then landed at a landing zone to configure for the hoist and pick up an additional rescuer due to the difficulty and precarious location of the victim.

A CHP-trained Truckee Fire Paramedic would be the third crewmember on this hoist rescue. They returned to Mr. Tuiono’s location for the very difficult hoist. Using a rescue basket and Fireman Dave Fichter, the hook was lowered and the helicopter maneuvered into position. There was no room for error due to the waterfall below Mr. Tuiono. As the basket was placed next to the rock, Fireman Fichter assisted Mr. Tuiono into the basket. Officer Calcutt raised the basket as Pilot Officer Emery began climbing and flying to the landing zone.

Once the young man had been pulled to safety, he told his rescuers he'd been sucked into the Yuba while swimming in the Emerald Pools, a storied swimming hole near Lake Spaulding in the Sierras — as famous for its glimmering green waters as its dangerous proximity to the Yuba.

Tuiono said he then tumbled down the river for at least one mile — raked over rocks, tossed down small waterfalls and repeatedly held underwater by strong currents — until he managed to grab onto a small, lone rock in the river.

"Remarkably, he only suffered minor scratches and abrasions," the CHP said online. "An unbelievable outcome to a very dangerous situation."

And as for Tuiono's girlfriend: "Ironically," the CHP said, the young woman had to be hoisted out of the same area by the same helicopter crew just a couple hours after her boyfriend.

"She began searching down the canyon walls looking for her boyfriend and fearing the worst," the CHP said, and "became stranded on a ledge in very steep terrain."

As she was in too precarious a position to be hiked out, the H-24 helicopter returned to hoist her off the ledge, according to the CHP — another successful mission. She was reunited her with her boyfriend soon after.

"Both are extremely fortunate to have survived in these very dangerous times on the river with the continuing snow melt and fast moving waters," the CHP said.

Around one week prior, a 33-year-old Israeli tourist reportedly died in the same general area while practicing a "face-down meditation technique" along the shores of the Yuba.

Image and video courtesy of the CHP