North Wash Canyoneering Rescue

[Iceaxe]

I'm told the canyon in question is Shenanigans in North Wash. This is all I know at the moment. I'll try and dig up some more details, if anyone else knows something feel free to add it to the soup.

One hiker injured after fall
By RYAN DIONNE
The Spectrum

CEDAR CITY - At least one hiker was injured Tuesday evening in Garfield County when he fell after the rock he was rappelling from broke loose.

"Somehow the rock gave way and the guy fell and apparently broke his arm pretty badly," said Becki Bronson, Garfield County Sheriff's Office public information officer.

Though few details were released Tuesday night, Bronson said a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter was called in to help rescue the man.

While his name was unknown, Bronson said he was one of four who were hiking in the far northeastern portion of Garfield County in a remote area.
"The country is extremely rugged ... only for the most experienced," she said.

Because of the terrain, Bronson said cell phones and even two-way radios don't work very well, so one of the hikers left the group to call for help.

[Iceaxe]

A few more details off the AP wire.....

Hiker injured after Garfield County fall

Cedar City, Utah -- A hiker was injured last night when he fell while rock climbing in Garfield County. Sheriff's deputies say a rock broke loose while the man was rappelling, causing the fall. The man, who was not identified, suffered a broken arm. The man was hiking and climbing with three other people in northeastern Garfield County. One person left the group and hiked out to call for help. The Utah Highway Patrol was called in with a helicopter to help get the man to safety.

.

[hank moon]

A few more details off the AP wire.....

Hiker injured after Garfield County fall

Cedar City, Utah -- A hiker was injured last night when he fell while rock climbing in Garfield County. Sheriff's deputies say a rock broke loose while the man was rappelling, causing the fall. The man, who was not identified, suffered a broken arm. The man was hiking and climbing with three other people in northeastern Garfield County. One person left the group and hiked out to call for help. The Utah Highway Patrol was called in with a helicopter to help get the man to safety.

.

Oh, those natural anchors!

[jumar]

Oh, those natural anchors!
:roflol:
Someone had to say it. :lol8:

[Iceaxe]

All that North Wash sandstone is like brown sugar.... Any anchor in that stuff scares the snot out of me. The rescue in Leprechaun a few years back was because a ledge the guy was standing on blew out. The feller told me latter is was like standing on a massive snow cornice when it blew.

It will be interesting to hear the details of what really happened....

:popcorn:

[rockgremlin]

I wonder if it was the chokestone at the last rap in Shenanigans that busted loose?

Scary... :eek2:

[jumar]

The first time we did Shillelagh, a ledge gave way at the top of the second rappel. Nasty stuff.

[Iceaxe]

Apparently this rescue is in North Wash and involves hikers and not tech canyoneers, so I doubt the canyon in question is Shenanigans. Looks like it was a family doing some hiking and a ledge or handhold blew out on the old man. As is usual with this type stuff the details change as more info starts to seep out.

If it was tech canyoneers I figued we would have a detailed report within a few days, with hikers who knows if we will ever get the full story.

Maybe it was a bad idea giving the BLM all our canyoneering route names because now everything that happens in the area will be attributed to canyoneers. I know climbers have suffered from falling hikers giving their sport a black eye for years.

Anyhoo.... hope for the best with the family. Canyoneers or hikers it still sucks to get hurt.

.

.

[Iceaxe]

FWIW: The Salt Lake Trib is reporting a "Rock Climber" fell.... so I guess climbers get the black eye and not canyoneers. Hikers again skate free with an accident free record. :nod:

[stefan]

Apparently this rescue is in North Wash and involves hikers and not tech canyoneers, so I doubt the canyon in question is Shenanigans. Looks like it was a family doing some hiking and a ledge or handhold blew out on the old man. As is usual with this type stuff the details change as more info starts to seep out.



interesting information you're tossing 'round here shane.

care to cite sources on some of that information?

[hank moon]

interesting information you're tossing 'round here shane.

care to cite sources on some of that information?

DITTO

:popcorn:

[hank moon]

interesting information you're tossing 'round here shane.

care to cite sources on some of that information?

My sources tell me the source is some guy named "Joe Gunner". Sounds fishy...

[bruce from bryce]

How many hikers rappel?

[Scott P]

How many hikers rappel?

Apparently, the fall was not due to rappelling. Ram is the source for this one:

More unsubstantiated bits and pieces

It appears that the accident occurred in the upper portion of
whatever canyon they were in (no substantiation on exactly where
they were) and close enough to the top that the mother and two
daughters were able to get out and spend the first night in the car
thinking that the other four (father, two sons and one daughter)
were coming out. Children stayed with father and kept him warm by
huddling around him. Only when they had not emerged by the next
morning did they drive to Hanksville.

It appears that Father was trying to reverse the canyon when he
tried to pull himself up using a large boulder. Boulder rolled off
the rim into the canyon, father fell 25 feet and his elbow was
crushed.

Two individuals have told me that the family had a guidebook with
them but I could not get any definitive information on whose it.

Ages of children were approximately 11 - 22 years old.

[bruce from bryce]

http://tinyurl.com/3dbp8w



KSL viewers are stupid, no other way to say it. :bootyshake:

[Iceaxe]

How many hikers rappel?

I hear they didn't have a rope with them so if they attempted to rappel that would be the problem.

:ne_nau:

[Scott P]

I hear they didn't have a rope with them so if they attempted to rappel that would be the problem.

You mean you haven't heard of free solo rappelling?

[stefan]

apparently, shane hears a lot ...

[bruce from bryce]

Hey Ice, Waht's up with no information. You said it was Shennany but no other details. What about your brotherhood of men? Surely someone out there has a contact in the news media, sherrif's department, highway patrol, etc. I'm a little dissappointed.

[Scott P]

Conflicting stories. Now it was a rappel? Don't be surprised if it changes again. Anyway:

Hiker rescued Tuesday despite early reports
By RYAN DIONNE
rdionne@thespectrum.com

CEDAR CITY - Despite initial reports from the sheriff's office, an
injured hiker who fell while rappelling in Garfield County was
airlifted to the hospital Tuesday evening.

"This is our third major search and rescue effort in the matter of a
month, maybe five weeks," said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins.

Mike Rueckert, 52, and six of his family members were exploring
northeastern Garfield County on Monday when he fell about 25 feet.
On Tuesday night, Garfield County Sheriff's Office public information
officer Becki Bronson thought Rueckert fell when the rock he was
rappelling from broke loose, and said he wasn't rescued as of late
Tuesday night.

But the hiker actually fell Monday and emergency crews weren't
notified until about 6 a.m. Tuesday when some of Rueckert's family
called for help, Bronson said Wednesday.

"The family had split up (into groups) of four and three. The group of
three had hiked out ... and planned to meet them at Highway 95 where
the trailhead comes out," Bronson said. But when the others didn't
meet them, they knew something was wrong.

Bronson said the group of three hiked back toward the rest of their
family and found that Rueckert had fallen.

"Apparently his hip was bleeding pretty badly," she said.

Rueckert's family got him out of the canyon where a helicopter could
airlift him to a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.

"The family was OK and they did all right," Bronson said. "I
understand that they are moderately experienced hikers."

However, Perkins thinks that could be part of the problem.

"If you think you're an expert, you're probably going to get yourself
in trouble," the sheriff said.

The site of the most recent rescue effort is remote and rugged. And
although hiking books have named some of the areas, most don't have
official names, Bronson said.

That's one reason it was hard to find the group, she said. They kept
calling the canyon Shenanigan Canyon, which can be found on
www.google.com, but she said emergency crews didn't know it by that
name.

Perkins said hikers simply need to be prepared and be safe.

"Make sure you understand what you're getting into in our national
monument canyon areas," Perkins said. "Take extra precautions and
realize what you're getting into and prepare for the worst."

[rockgremlin]

If it was Shenanigans, then it had to have been the very first rappel (drop-in rap), because there's no other rappel until the "grim crawl of death," and there's no way in hell this dude dragged his six kids that far down the canyon.

[rockgremlin]

BTW, emergency crews should really get up on current canyon names. That dude could have died because SAR didn't know where "Shenanigans" was.

Stefan should email his map containing all canyon names over to all the SARs throughout the state.

[Iceaxe]

Hey Ice, Waht's up with no information. You said it was Shennany but no other details. What about your brotherhood of men?

I have now heard three different stories. For some reason there is confusion on what and where. I'm also getting slow email exchanges with several of the SAR guys because they have been busy the last couple of days. (Garfield County also reponded to this http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6709 ).

My personal opinion is that the story Scott just posted is probably the most accurate description currently floating around. The Spectrum reporter seems to be on top of it.

:popcorn:

[stefan]

BTW, emergency crews should really get up on current canyon names. That dude could have died because SAR didn't know where "Shenanigans" was.


this is true. i know some folks like tom jones and ram have contacted the local blm to give them maps labeled with names, but yes there are many different agencies and crews which need to understand what these names are. i think it makes sense for those defining/using the names and routes to be the ones to engage with BLM/SAR and whomever and facilitate the information exchange.

AND i think this is ONE MORE GOOD REASON, why mike kelsey needs to put these names both WITHIN THE ROUTE DESCRIPTION as well as A TABLE IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK.




Stefan should email his map containing all canyon names over to all the SARs throughout the state.

i think too few slots are labeled and it's likely too imprecise for it to be super helpful (too large a perspective). for example, west butler is labeled, but not any of the forks. [it wouldn't hurt though.]

hence the effort placed towards labeling topomaps.

[Scott P]

My personal opinion is that the story Scott just posted is probably the most accurate description currently floating around.

Still, there are at least some errors. Take the below:

"Make sure you understand what you're getting into in our national monument canyon areas"

Since when is North Wash in the National Monument (presumably Grand Staircase?). It isn't even close. :ne_nau:

[Iceaxe]

"Make sure you understand what you're getting into in our national monument canyon areas"

Yeah.... I laughed when I seen that. I just assumed he was talking in generalities. :nod:

Couple of other thoughts on canyons, rescues and names.....

The canyon is in MK's book but he does not reference the name Shenanigans.

Most the SAR teams around the state (including Hanksville BLM and Garfield County) are members of the CoF. But if the canyon was Shenanigans it would not have helped because that route is not listed on Climb-Utah.

If the family was actually using the name Shenanigans (and had the correct route) I'm guessing the route description could only have come from a couple of sources, or maybe some combination of sources.

As for keeping SAR up-to-date on the canyon names I believe it is an impossible task since the canyon community does not agree on names. But we should still do our best to attempt to keep SAR current.

I think Shenanigan's is kind of an odd canyon in that it is pretty well known but not what I would call well betaed. Certainly nothing like Bluejohn or Leprechaun that shows up in over half a dozen resources.

Shenanigan's is one of those lots of pretty pictures but not much info routes that are often at the center of trouble.

:popcorn:

[accadacca]

[quote]"Make sure you understand what you're getting into in our national monument canyon areas"

Since when is North Wash in the National Monument (presumably Grand Staircase?). It isn't even close. :ne_nau:
Yup, I got a laugh outta that one too.

[Wasatch]

My personal opinion is that the story Scott just posted is probably the most accurate description currently floating around.

Still, there are at least some errors. Take the below:

"Make sure you understand what you're getting into in our national monument canyon areas"

Since when is North Wash in the National Monument (presumably Grand Staircase?). It isn't even close. :ne_nau:

Natural Bridges National Monument is nearby, LOL

[hank moon]

Shenanigan's is one of those lots of pretty pictures but not much info routes that are often at the center of trouble.

Plenty of info on Tom's site:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/north/shen.php

Haven't read Kelsey's take...

[hesse15]

The canyon is in MK's book but he does not reference the name Shenanigans.

Most the SAR teams around the state (including Hanksville BLM and Garfield County) are members of the CoF. But if the canyon was Shenanigans it would not have helped because that route is not listed on Climb-Utah.

If the family was actually using the name Shenanigans (and had the correct route) I'm guessing the route description could only have come from a couple of sources, or maybe some combination of sources.

As for keeping SAR up-to-date on the canyon names I believe it is an impossible task since the canyon community does not agree on names. But we should still do our best to attempt to keep SAR current.

I think Shenanigan's is kind of an odd canyon in that it is pretty well known but not what I would call well betaed. Certainly nothing like Bluejohn or Leprechaun that shows up in over half a dozen resources.

Shenanigan's is one of those lots of pretty pictures but not much info routes that are often at the center of trouble.

:popcorn:

for once the old man is not to blame, his boring names describing wich fork of which in this case will help.

about shanenighan is in tom website with map and description.

I think in one way with websites trips reports or just taking friends, this activity is going to expand more and more.
and at the moment that the aca for now beside classes is not offering weekly outing , anybody is on his own.
Does not matter if is what they like to call themself "expert" of a newbie (ugly definition) the traffic is going to increase and accidents are going to happens more and more.
one way to reduce it?
make canyon safer with bolted anchors checked and placed by the ACA.

if you are still want to rap from pieces of rocks consider:"the trash" of webbing that you leave behind and is not any different than leave a plastic waterbottle or the wrap of your bar.
the scar that pulling ropes from below create on the rock.

So all of you with "natural anchor" mode, did you notice these grooves?
Do you call them natural?
what about the "nnatural" in a pile of plastic ,forever lasting ,webbing?
bolting canyons right now is going to decrease accidents, and the risk of a regulation in wilderness
the "pandora box" is opened and there is no way back to "old times".
more accidents more regulations
just like zion .

[Iceaxe]

Plenty of info on Tom's site:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/north/shen.php

Haven't read Kelsey's take...

Thanks, I didn't know the route was on Tom's site. Is this a recent addition or have I just missed it?

Tom's write up looks really good an accurate with plenty of warning. Not sure what the Sheriff was whining about no info for.

MK's write up is so-so, typical hand drawn maps, inaccurate mileage markers and sparse info.

:popcorn:

[stefan]

Plenty of info on Tom's site:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/north/shen.php

Haven't read Kelsey's take...

Thanks, I didn't know the route was on Tom's site. Is this a recent addition or have I just missed it?


he posted to canyons about it in feb 2006. i'm surprised you missed it

[Iceaxe]

i'm surprised you missed it

Me to :haha:

[canyonquest]

BTW, emergency crews should really get up on current canyon names. That dude could have died because SAR didn't know where "Shenanigans" was.
It makes me sick you would try and shift ANY responsibility to the SAR team. Why should SAR be expected to have any knowledge of a BS name that some dude pulled out of thin air a couple of years ago? People on planet Earth have been using a pretty good system of location for hundreds of years. Perhaps you've heard of latitude/longitude?

[rockgremlin]

It makes me sick you would try and shift ANY responsibility to the SAR team. Why should SAR be expected to have any knowledge of a BS name that some dude pulled out of thin air a couple of years ago? People on planet Earth have been using a pretty good system of location for hundreds of years. Perhaps you've heard of latitude/longitude?

I make you sick?

Thanks for the overdramatics. :roll:

Shenanigans is pretty well known in the canyoneering community. Apparently, the SAR is a few years behind. Perhaps you've heard of Shenanigans before? Maybe not. Not everybody who ventures out into the wilderness is equiped with GPS.

[hank moon]

i'm surprised you missed it

Me to :haha:

I like the expanded sense of humor, Shane - keep it up! :2thumbs:

hank

[stefan]

BTW, emergency crews should really get up on current canyon names. That dude could have died because SAR didn't know where "Shenanigans" was.
It makes me sick you would try and shift ANY responsibility to the SAR team. Why should SAR be expected to have any knowledge of a BS name that some dude pulled out of thin air a couple of years ago? People on planet Earth have been using a pretty good system of location for hundreds of years. Perhaps you've heard of latitude/longitude?

i agree with you that no responsibility or blame should be placed on SAR for knowing or not knowing about "shenanigans." the reaching out by the canyoneering community to SAR/Local Auth. is nascent. and no one should expect them to closely follow internet guides/forums.

as has been initiated for the roost/northwash area, it behooves the canyoneering community to reach out to SAR/Local Auth. on route and name information.

while it's ideal to provide coordinates, in general, you're expecting too much from the general outdoorsperson. some will and some won't, but you can rest assured there will be some who get in trouble who won't have listed coords, soooo an understanding of names is important.

but a community can't expect that their names will miraculously be known to everyone ... hence the reachout, which has begun, by some folks in the community.

[Scott P]

Shenanigans is pretty well known in the canyoneering community

That's true, but keep in mind that realitively few SAR cases involve canyoneering. Most involve lost hikers, hunters, kids, people on trails, etc, rather than canyoneers, so it's not all that surprising that they hadn't heard of the canyon. ManySAR members aren't part of the canyoneering community and thus "out of the loop".

[rockgremlin]

but a community can't expect that their names will miraculously be known to everyone ... hence the reachout, which has begun, by some folks in the community.

Exactly, and that's why I suggested for Stefan or anyone else to forward a copy of some kind of map detailing all of the currently known canyons with their names right on the map.

Apparently, that suggestion was misunderstood as me labeling the SAR as a bunch of incompetents.

[canyonquest]

while it's ideal to provide coordinates, in general, you're expecting too much from the general outdoorsperson.
If the general outdoorsperson can't do something that simple, they aren't allowed to set any expectations of SAR.



but a community can't expect that their names will miraculously be known to everyone ... hence the reachout, which has begun, by some folks in the community.
I hope no one is reaching out with comments like, "We've recently made up our very own names for several locations all over your county. We really expect you to know all of them, unless you'd like to be responsible for the injuries and deaths of those who need your assistance in these places."

[hank moon]

I hope no one is reaching out with comments like, "We've recently made up our very own names for several locations all over your county. We really expect you to know all of them, unless you'd like to be responsible for the injuries and deaths of those who need your assistance in these places."

No worries, Wade. The reachout is being done by adult-grade people. Thanks for your comments - spot on.

[bruce from bryce]

I would like to point out to anyone searching this site for information (this goes without saying for members of this site) that the descriptions on www.canyoneeringusa.com is written by a canyoneer for canyoneers, not your once a month family out in the desert for a nice hike down a slot canyon.

MK and Tom describe the canons differently because of their different purposes in publishing the details. MK does talk about the narrowness and talks about the rappels while Tom gives very explicit details. In some ways they may be describing two different canyons.

And IMHO, that is one of the reasons that MK removed almost all technical canyons from his 5th Edition and in bold letters at the top of the front cover he put the words Non-Technical.

[Scott P]

For those not in the canyons group, this was posted by Ram:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/message/36968

[Wasatch]

Lucky to be still alive after a 40 ft. drop with or without a helmet.

[stefan]

while it's ideal to provide coordinates, in general, you're expecting too much from the general outdoorsperson.
If the general outdoorsperson can't do something that simple, they aren't allowed to set any expectations of SAR.

agreed. and of course my comment was simply that regardless, there will be those who never do it.


I hope no one is reaching out with comments like, "We've recently made up our very own names for several locations all over your county. We really expect you to know all of them, unless you'd like to be responsible for the injuries and deaths of those who need your assistance in these places."

the reaching out is recognizing that the canyoneering community can facilitate certain aspects of rescues involving canyoneers (and more generally provide knowledge and awareness), especially in tributaries of canyons which don't have official/well-known names. this can only be helpful considering that most rescues have not involved canyoneering. providing names, location and route information informs SAR/Local Author. about where folks, that are engaging in this type of activity, are going to be primarily focused within certain areas; it familiarizes them with the names which are being used to discuss such canyons. the reach out is not saying "we expect from you," the reach out is saying "we'd like to be more helpful."

and also ... what hank said.

wade, i am sure you know all this already though, so i hope i'm not boring you. but if you really are curious talk to those involved with the process, tom and ram are good examples of folks who recently have marked up maps with names and other information and interacted with them directly. taking some of the folks through some of the routes is also an on-going part of the process. also, shane offers them a subscription to his descriptions, and MK sends them his books.

i think this is the responsible position. it's not about expectations, it's about aiding and facilitating.

ask not what your SAR can do for you, ask what you can do for your SAR :haha:

[stefan]

the text of ram's report on the rescue situation in shenanigans/west butler canyon disappeared.
it's reposted for everyone to read. a thank you to ram for the informative report:

Just spent the last hour on the phone with one of the sons (Marty).
Lots of info and I apologize if it comes disjointed as the events
surely were.

First things first, Michael (Dad) is doing much better than
expected. He will keep his arm. He is due to be released from the
hospital in Grand Junction on Saturday. He broke the radius head of
his arm in 3 places and all the tendons and ligaments disconnected
from the bone. He also has a broken pelvis and sacram and that wound
bled for the 18 hours from the injury till the copter pick up.

The family reached the top of Shenanigans at 11 AM on Monday. Four
decided to decend the canyon and 3 choose not to and went back to
the cars on Cedar Point Road. They had researched the route from
Tom's Canyoneering USA and from the Kelsey book. They forgot to
bring Toms beta along and this led to difficulty locating the exit,
which cascaded into a whole series of unfortunate events. Also taken
by mistake, by those not descending, were the space blanket and
their one belay devise, a figure 8. They wore no helmets. They
facilitated drops by lowering, with a bowline, one at a time, with
dad going last, wearing the harness, tied in and lowered from
below. They managed to descend the entire technical section of the
canyon, without incident. They finished the last rappel/lower at 7
PM. 8 hours in the canyon.

While those that didn't canyon, were to drive the car around to 3
Forks, on Highway 95 between Sandthrax and Hog Springs, they also
had a car left up at the Leprechaun junction on the Cedar Point
Road, as an alternative, if they wanted it. They decided to use the
joint exit and go back up to Cedar Point Road. They missed the turn
off and proceeded well down canyon. It turned dark. They had one
head lamp and two finger lights.

After 9 PM they considered stopping for the night. A stiff canyon
breeze convinced them that they would be better served up on the rim
and they thought if anyone was looking for them, it would make them
easier to see. At this point they were less than a two mile walk out
the bottom to the highway. With a high and useful moon they ascended
the slabs. At approx. 10 PM, not far from canyon bottom, Michael, on
what sounds like a hollow slab, had it break off under him and he
rode it several yards to the edge of a drop. The rock stopped
(Luckily) but Michael continued over a cliff approx. 40 feet. He
remained conscious and upbeat, but in considerable pain and bleeding
for the next 16 hours until he was flown out. A turnoquet was appled
to his arm stopping that bleeding.They made due for the remainder of
the night the best they could.

At 5 AM the next day, it started raining and one of the sons that
didn't do the canyon, headed to Hanksville and called 911. He waited
for 1.5 hours until someone, not a policeman or SAR person showed
up. It was a few hours later before an officer arrived, with
Panguich Police on the side of the vehicle (County seat)

In the meantime one of the boys who didn't go, climbed up from
highway 95 between Butler and Sandthrax and followed the rim,
yelling, all the way to a point even with the end of the technical
section (way up). Passing relatively close to the injured dad, he
was not heard. At the same time Marty, the son in the canyon went up
all the way, in the canyon to the end of the technical section. He
assumed someone would descend the canyon in a sweeping action, in an
attempt to find them. By a fluke of acoustics the 2 brothers were
able to communicate with each other. Neither party thought to walk
up Butler from the road or down Butler from the injury site. With
the information from the sons, the location of dad was ascertained
and the copter was able to put down in the canyon very near by. He
was air lifted out 4 PM on Tuesday.

When talking with Marty, the sounds of the whole family echoed in
the background. It was almost a giddy sound. The house was filled
with joy and relief. It moved me. You could feel how powerful it
was. The whole family feels they were very fortunate.


Ram



crosspost from Canyons yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/message/36968

[Iceaxe]

I finally got to talk to a couple friends at the BLM and the one common theme they all mentioned was..... "Oh, I just talked to Ram about this". :lol8:

So... it looks like Ram did an excellent job on this and has it well covered. I didn't hear anything new that has not already been noted.

The BLM is now waiting for the Garfield County report before saying any more.

:popcorn: