Absolute Gravity
06-04-2013, 04:53 PM
On the morning of June 3rd, 2013 Tyler and I left Sandthrax campground and started hiking, our goal was of course the top of Sandthrax. 20 minutes later there we were. Gotta love approaches like that, arriving nice and warmed up.
Without hesitation we head in. We've been training for this and are both in excellent shape. Tyler is a great climber and was looking forward to the crux crack. He also is good at stemming. I also am a descent climber, in the 5.10 b-c range, and am usually able to make quick work of the short climbs you sometimes come across in canyons. My strongest capabilities are in high stemming, down climbing, and love running around a big pot hole with a flying leap to the edge when possible. Although there will be no potholes, Sandthrax should be our type of canyon.
Very soon we are at the start of the high stemming and it is a blast! We are cruising through. The route finding through the narrow slot was not nearly as bad as I had expected. We pretty much just kept as high as possible. And it was high! Not the place for you if not being able to see the ground for 95% of the canyon creeps you out. The stemming is of course non-stop. The canyon walls also change around every turn. Sometimes you get nice grippy rock, go around a corner and the walls are slippery and full of sand. Constantly changing and never lets up.
Most of the silos were not very difficult, and many canyoneers would be able to handle them fine if not for the daunting exposure. It's a different story looking down a 50 ft. silo. My physical proportions also make this a little easier for me. 6' tall with an almost 6' 5" wingspan. For a shorter person they will not be as easy, but still doable. There are also a couple pitons near the worst of the silos where you can belay the person going across.
We are loving this canyon. We need to do it again we tell each other. I had already put it on my mental short list of canyons that I would like to do again. Also at this point we are thinking that we might get this knocked out in under 3 hours.
We reach the crux and bad things happen.
Accident Report: Tyler's fall
We enter the silo, and I look at the crack. Looks interesting, but it's Tyler's time to shine. I swap places with him on the ledge so he can take a look. A week previous me, Tyler, and Bob were talking about this crack. Tyler wanted to free solo it, and to his credit on most days he would be capable of doing this. Bob and I thought it was a bad idea, so he agreed to use a cam. Turns out this was not enough.
We both love the pace we are making so Tyler is going to aid it with the cam to make quick work of it. He dives into the crack and starts moving up. Unfortunately it is not one of his better climbing days and he is struggling more than anticipated, but I am sure that he will make it. He is a machine. He makes it up to where the crack gets wider, maybe 12 feet above the ledge I am standing on, but he is working pretty hard and he pauses for a rest.
I hear a 'clank' and Tyler yell "FALLING!". He's been spat out of the crack, cam and all. He goes flying by me, just a blur that I try to slow down by reaching for under his arm. But he was moving too fast. A split second later my eyes had focused to where I was now clearly watching the fall unfold below me. "HOLY F***, Tyler's dead" I thought as he fell. He thought the same thing. Falls like this don't end well. He was falling backwards and couldn't see what was coming. He decks in the silo below. It looked awful from where I was perched. Looked like he snapped right in half on one of the fin like features at the bottom of the silo.
Then he moves! He's alive! He's also conscious. I am now thinking about how fast I can get out of this canyon and call search and rescue. I start relaying this to Tyler. He rolls around and moans, then tells me to wait. "FOR WHAT!!!! WE NEED TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!". "I think I'm OK" he responds. "No your not. There is NO way." Gotta be the adrenaline. We talk back and forth and after a bit he stands up. He is definitely hurt but nothing seems broken. Unbelievable. He also wants out of that hole NOW! Through a combination of me pulling a bit and him hand over handing a hand line he makes it up to the ledge we started from.
He is of course not going to be giving that crack another go, and he is mentally very shaken and needs to get out of the canyon. My adrenaline is on full blast. I have to make this climb or we are both stuck in here. I start up. Tyler, somehow, was able to give me a decent foothold about half way up, even though it was extremely painful for him to do so. I have at least one limb constantly wedged into something. I am not falling out. Have to make it. After some exhausting work I make the top. Again with some pulling from me and hand over handing from him he is soon on top with me. We'll make it. We have to.
The rest
Of course, this being Sandthrax we were not done. There was still plenty of high stemming to go. We were spent but knew to keep moving. I don't know how he did it, just amazing. We were now moving pretty slow, but we were moving, and we couldn't afford any mistakes. Eventually, finally, we reached the end and had a big hug and a few words. 4.5 hours campsite to campsite.
Conclusions
We should have brought more protection. It is doable with what we had, but sometimes shit happens and a cam ends up not being quite as solid as you thought it was. We wanted to travel light and fast betting that shit would not happen today and we would be conquering that crux just like many others.
Tyler told me that the accident happened after he reset the cam and then went to weight it for a rest. The cam shifted and popped out, and him with it.
Tyler visited the hospital this morning to make sure everything was ok. Indeed nothing is broken, he's just very very banged up. I am so glad he is still with us.
Without hesitation we head in. We've been training for this and are both in excellent shape. Tyler is a great climber and was looking forward to the crux crack. He also is good at stemming. I also am a descent climber, in the 5.10 b-c range, and am usually able to make quick work of the short climbs you sometimes come across in canyons. My strongest capabilities are in high stemming, down climbing, and love running around a big pot hole with a flying leap to the edge when possible. Although there will be no potholes, Sandthrax should be our type of canyon.
Very soon we are at the start of the high stemming and it is a blast! We are cruising through. The route finding through the narrow slot was not nearly as bad as I had expected. We pretty much just kept as high as possible. And it was high! Not the place for you if not being able to see the ground for 95% of the canyon creeps you out. The stemming is of course non-stop. The canyon walls also change around every turn. Sometimes you get nice grippy rock, go around a corner and the walls are slippery and full of sand. Constantly changing and never lets up.
Most of the silos were not very difficult, and many canyoneers would be able to handle them fine if not for the daunting exposure. It's a different story looking down a 50 ft. silo. My physical proportions also make this a little easier for me. 6' tall with an almost 6' 5" wingspan. For a shorter person they will not be as easy, but still doable. There are also a couple pitons near the worst of the silos where you can belay the person going across.
We are loving this canyon. We need to do it again we tell each other. I had already put it on my mental short list of canyons that I would like to do again. Also at this point we are thinking that we might get this knocked out in under 3 hours.
We reach the crux and bad things happen.
Accident Report: Tyler's fall
We enter the silo, and I look at the crack. Looks interesting, but it's Tyler's time to shine. I swap places with him on the ledge so he can take a look. A week previous me, Tyler, and Bob were talking about this crack. Tyler wanted to free solo it, and to his credit on most days he would be capable of doing this. Bob and I thought it was a bad idea, so he agreed to use a cam. Turns out this was not enough.
We both love the pace we are making so Tyler is going to aid it with the cam to make quick work of it. He dives into the crack and starts moving up. Unfortunately it is not one of his better climbing days and he is struggling more than anticipated, but I am sure that he will make it. He is a machine. He makes it up to where the crack gets wider, maybe 12 feet above the ledge I am standing on, but he is working pretty hard and he pauses for a rest.
I hear a 'clank' and Tyler yell "FALLING!". He's been spat out of the crack, cam and all. He goes flying by me, just a blur that I try to slow down by reaching for under his arm. But he was moving too fast. A split second later my eyes had focused to where I was now clearly watching the fall unfold below me. "HOLY F***, Tyler's dead" I thought as he fell. He thought the same thing. Falls like this don't end well. He was falling backwards and couldn't see what was coming. He decks in the silo below. It looked awful from where I was perched. Looked like he snapped right in half on one of the fin like features at the bottom of the silo.
Then he moves! He's alive! He's also conscious. I am now thinking about how fast I can get out of this canyon and call search and rescue. I start relaying this to Tyler. He rolls around and moans, then tells me to wait. "FOR WHAT!!!! WE NEED TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!". "I think I'm OK" he responds. "No your not. There is NO way." Gotta be the adrenaline. We talk back and forth and after a bit he stands up. He is definitely hurt but nothing seems broken. Unbelievable. He also wants out of that hole NOW! Through a combination of me pulling a bit and him hand over handing a hand line he makes it up to the ledge we started from.
He is of course not going to be giving that crack another go, and he is mentally very shaken and needs to get out of the canyon. My adrenaline is on full blast. I have to make this climb or we are both stuck in here. I start up. Tyler, somehow, was able to give me a decent foothold about half way up, even though it was extremely painful for him to do so. I have at least one limb constantly wedged into something. I am not falling out. Have to make it. After some exhausting work I make the top. Again with some pulling from me and hand over handing from him he is soon on top with me. We'll make it. We have to.
The rest
Of course, this being Sandthrax we were not done. There was still plenty of high stemming to go. We were spent but knew to keep moving. I don't know how he did it, just amazing. We were now moving pretty slow, but we were moving, and we couldn't afford any mistakes. Eventually, finally, we reached the end and had a big hug and a few words. 4.5 hours campsite to campsite.
Conclusions
We should have brought more protection. It is doable with what we had, but sometimes shit happens and a cam ends up not being quite as solid as you thought it was. We wanted to travel light and fast betting that shit would not happen today and we would be conquering that crux just like many others.
Tyler told me that the accident happened after he reset the cam and then went to weight it for a rest. The cam shifted and popped out, and him with it.
Tyler visited the hospital this morning to make sure everything was ok. Indeed nothing is broken, he's just very very banged up. I am so glad he is still with us.