Zion Canyoneering History

[ratagonia]

I work with an older gentleman who claims to have done the first descent of Kolob in 1967.

Has anyone else ever heard of a group that claims to have done this 11 years before Turville?

This guy is in his late 70s - early 80s and still does quite a bit of backpacking, though his canyon days are behind him. I don't have any reason to think this guy is lying and have never heard him boast of anything else.

In your minds, what would he need to produce in order to "document" his first descent and re-write the canyoneering history book?

The route down the MIA into Kolob was considered THE Kolob route for many years.

Pictures and a written account of the story would be highly appreciated, along with any other stories from the era. What other canyons had he done Back In The Day?

Tom

[ratagonia]

How has no one mentioned that these guys may have "fiddlesticked" the last drop in Heaps??? See below......

We had developed a system whereby we could tie our 150 ft. and 165 ft. eleven mill ropes together and retrieve them by pulling a release with a parachute cord of the same length. Norman went off first with everything in place plus the tail of the rope was tied onto the slings as a safety feature. If it worked, without showing any sign of premature release, I would untie the safety side and follow. At 150 feet, he had to set etrias and pass the knot. This was not a problem. However, the parachute cord became badly tangled with the rappel rope from 150 feet down. He had to stand in his etrias in soft-soled shoes and work the two ropes apart. This took almost an hour, and he was exhausted upon reaching the ground. During this time, I had been studying our release mechanism. It seemed to be solid, however, the idea of it was somewhat intimidating for sure. Once Norm was down, and before I untied the safety side, he pulled on the cord, and the release part of the system seemed to function satisfactorily. After the first 10 feet, I was over the edge and never thought again about it.

Fifi hook.

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/...start=25&sz=24

Kinda funny, seeing it still in the line after all these years.

Tom

[ratagonia]

I recall Jared Campbell thinkin' if folks got serious about it (ie, him...ha ha), it'd go sub 5. He and crew have done it in around 7 hours and did it in 7:38 AFTER a full Imlay descent (with both canyons total time under 15 hours).

I know the Zion local guys routinely do it in 8-9 hours. I've never done it in a day. That might be fun...hmmm...

If an old fart like me can do it in 9 hrs 22 mins - though, saving some juice for the afternoon's canyon - then BDC should do OK. Might have to rappel single strand at least once in there...

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/...anyon-24-hour/

Tom

[ratagonia]

His "unsuccessful attempt", written up and tucked in the pages of the "Black Binder" is what stimulated my first descent of Heaps in '94'?. I also spent the night at the "Crossroads". Subsequent trips through have been very enjoyable ranging from 3 days down to a 9Hr. trip. Still one of the most "Classic" routes in Zion me-thinks?

Dagnabit! Would love to see the "unsuccessful attempt" report. Removed from the BB before I got onto it!

Tom

[Iceaxe]

FWIW this is not what Bogart's detailed notes say regarding their first descent..

I've never seen his notes. What I wrote is what Bogart told me in person in 2006.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Brian in SLC]

I work with an older gentleman who claims to have done the first descent of Kolob in 1967.
Has anyone else ever heard of a group that claims to have done this 11 years before Turville?

MIA trail had been published for years in the old Brereton and Dunaway book, Exploring the Backcountry of Zion National Park. My guess is they hiked in and went down Kolob from there, not down from the head of the canyon. Not a small accomplishment, no doubt, but, possibly done well before them as there isn't much need for a rope. Folks had been crawlin' around the Zion backcountry for quite some time (as the old ruins in Parunaweap might attest).

Tom, I don't think the "release system" they used to drop their ropes in Heaps was a fifi hook...?

From the "In Search of the Devil's Pit" TR:

We took out the parachute cord. Which took some tine untangling, and lowered both packs to the ground, keeping the cord tight so It would not get tangled with the rope. The three bolts we found in the wall were solid and we felt secure with the addition of another sling. I tied the parachute cord to the rope through a rope locking device that should cone down when we retrieve the rope. I ran the rope through six break bars, and lowered it out over the edge from the other end to keep it from tangling, and stepped out over the edge. It went free immediately, and was a pleasant trip down. I touched the ground on the talus slope about 40 feet from the pool. Lori rappelled down immediately after. The rope was retrieved with the parachute cord, and as planned, the rope locking device also fell to the ground.

I talked to Lori who was on that trip, and, dimly recall they used the same as the original party...some device that clamped onto the rope that could be released by a tug (from 300 friggin' feet away!) with a light parachute cord.

Wild stuff!

[Brian in SLC]

Google is my friend!

Check out this "rope clamp":



The patent date is 1912!

Neat lookin' rig. Parachute cord on that hook, which, when pulled down, releases the pin that the rope is clamped by. Simple. Could this be the rig they used (or similar)?

[hank moon]

I talked to Lori who was on that trip, and, dimly recall they used the same as the original party...some device that clamped onto the rope that could be released by a tug (from 300 friggin' feet away!) with a light parachute cord.

Wild stuff!

A Decrocheur?

http://storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevi...tMisc0640.html

Could have been a Petzl Shunt (developed in 1972). Older catalogs depicted its use as a decrocheur.

[ratagonia]

MIA trail had been published for years in the old Brereton and Dunaway book, Exploring the Backcountry of Zion National Park.

Brereton and Dunaway was first published in 1979. The claim above is for 1967.

Tom

[Brian in SLC]

Brereton and Dunaway was first published in 1979. The claim above is for 1967.

Tom

Yeah...got that. My point is that the MIA was a known route into Kolob pre upper canyon descent. And..there's a big difference in comparison of one to the other in a technical sense.

[ratagonia]

Yeah...got that. My point is that the MIA was a known route into Kolob pre upper canyon descent. And..there's a big difference in comparison of one to the other in a technical sense.

Ah, I see.

Your point was that they probably went down MIA and did not find any evidence of previous travel, and perhaps thought they had done a FIRST. But, the route does not require leaving evidence, so...

As a contemporaneous example, the Right Fork of North Creek first done in 1965 - 1966.

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/history/right65.htm

Tom

[canyoncaver]

The man is not around right now, but he'll be back here in about a month. I'll ask him a lot more detailed questions and see if he has or will write a report.

I wondered if maybe they went in at MIA, but that's not the way he told the tale...

As far as the history books go, lighten up Shane. I wrote that in fun. However, you have to agree that if his claim is real, it would definitely change the way early Kolob canyoneering history is viewed.

[Iceaxe]

As far as the history books go, lighten up Shane. I wrote that in fun. However, you have to agree that if his claim is real, it would definitely change the way early Kolob canyoneering history is viewed.

Lighten up???

You asked for advise and I gave you some. I promise not to make that mistake again. I don't have a dog in this fight. I honestly don't give a shit about first claimed descents because they seldom are. But I do enjoy reading historical trip reports.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[ratagonia]

The man is not around right now, but he'll be back here in about a month. I'll ask him a lot more detailed questions and see if he has or will write a report.

I wondered if maybe they went in at MIA, but that's not the way he told the tale...

As far as the history books go, lighten up Shane. I wrote that in fun. However, you have to agree that if his claim is real, it would definitely change the way early Kolob canyoneering history is viewed.

a footnote, perhaps, if the story has some truthiness to it.

Tom