2 Heber brothers survive night in wilds

[Iceaxe]

I would like to hear the rest of this story. I'll take a WAG and say they planned to use the Moki Steps exit from the Mindbenders.... or heaven forbid, last week they read what a great winter route the North Fork was on this forum and then couldn't exit "The Crack" in snow....



2 Heber brothers survive night in wilds

Deseret News
Monday, January 8, 2007

HANKSVILLE, Wayne County — Two brothers from Heber City survived a night in the wilderness after they became stranded on a day hike in a remote area of Wayne County.

Matt Adams, 26, and his brother Curt Adams, 24, were reported missing Saturday night but were found, unhurt, early Sunday morning by the Wayne County sheriff's search and rescue team.

Rescuers found the brothers' vehicle in the Robber's Roost area, about 10 miles east of Hanksville, at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The two were then spotted and picked up by a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter at 5 a.m.

Wayne County sheriff's deputy Chris Chappell said the brothers found that "the snow made getting out of the bottom of a slot canyon impossible."

"The two had provisions and were well prepared with warm clothing and a lighter to start a fire," Chappell said. "Search and rescue crews caution others visiting this very remote area this time of year and warn them to be prepared for freezing cold temperatures and the snow in the area."

The two left Heber City on Saturday morning and had no plans to stay overnight. Their father called authorities after the two failed to return or to contact him after nightfall.

.

[Sponsored Link]

[rockgremlin]

Yikes!!! I hope they weren't taking our advice and got stuck in the bottom of NFRR!! Although I could think of a lot of a lot worse places to be stuck in.

[Iceaxe]

If I had to put money on it I'd guess their escape route included the "Moki Step Exit" usually done as part of the Mindbenders. That is a North facing slope and a little snow or ice would make the route nearly impossable.

I'm trying to think of any other routes that could really trap you in the area. Most the other routes are in a crack system which I think you could probably climb with snow. I think the North Fork crack could probably be done with snow since it's north facing and most the big obstacales can probably be done with stemming or a partner assist.

Larry exits up a north facing crack and could be difficult with snow.

Can anyone else thing of some impossable exits with snow on the ground?

[Scott Card]

If I had to put money on it I'd guess their escape route included the "Moki Step Exit" usually done as part of the Mindbenders. That is a North facing slope and a little snow or ice would make the route nearly impossable.

I'm trying to think of any other routes that could really trap you in the area. Most the other routes are in a crack system which I think you could probably climb with snow. I think the North Fork crack could probably be done with snow since it's north facing and most the big obstacales can probably be done with stemming or a partner assist.

Larry exits up a north facing crack and could be difficult with snow.

Can anyone else thing of some impossable exits with snow on the ground?

My first thought was Larry. That crack and the steep slick rock to follow would be very nasty in the snow.

Hope we get the full story.

[icthys]

In order to give you the full story on some brothers from Heber I'd have to go to the Wasatch Co. Health Dept and request their pedigree charts!

[Johnlithon]

When we did Larry over new years there were snow patches on the Moki steeps and it was pretty scare in spots...especially in the dark. Much more snow and it could have got really bad really quick

[Iceaxe]

Just for fun.....

...and for those playing along at home who have never been...

[Scott Card]

How pron is the Crux to snow? I can see the Larry and Mindbender exit as clearly in the open but I am not familiar with the crux and whether it is north facing.

[rockgremlin]

I'm gonna start carrying a batman grapling hook with me when I go canyoneering in the winter!

[Iceaxe]

How pron is the Crux to snow?

The crux of the Exit Slot is located in a south facing slot canyon.... So... I have no clue. Not sure how much of the day the crux would see sunlight.

[marc olivares]

In order to give you the full story on some brothers from Heber I'd have to go to the Wasatch Co. Health Dept and request their pedigree charts!

is this "heber" humor? cause i dont get it....

[shaggy125]

And here is a link to a video of the moki exit from Not Mind Bender/Mind Bender.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...04:08#0h04m08s

[Iceaxe]

Word is it was the Mindbenders and the problem was they could not exit the Moki Steps because of snow and ran out of daylight. So they built a fire until morning when SAR found them.

It sounds like the brothers did everything correctly. They had a check in person with a route description. When the brothers missed the check in SAR was called out.

I'll see if I can get one of the brothers to post more details

[Scott Card]

And here is a link to a video of the moki exit from Not Mind Bender/Mind Bender.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...04:08#0h04m08s

Thanks Eric. I can see how that would be virtually impossible/impassible with minimal snow or ice. YIKES

[capn_blasto]

I'm trying to think of any other routes that could
really trap you in the area.

Blasto's beta sez just about any route in slickrock lands could be a trap when ice n' snow are involved. Heard those boys were using beta from a certain online "auteur" with initials SB who has a hot, young stripper wife, well...you know. Hee hee...time for some site edits I guess.

Better get out o' them motels sometime and see what's out thar in the snowy rocks.

[Iceaxe]

It's not the first time someone has spent a cold night because of something I wrote.... And I'm sure it will not be the last.

If you want a safe and protected adventure I suggest visiting Disneyland.

[icthys]

In order to give you the full story on some brothers from Heber I'd have to go to the Wasatch Co. Health Dept and request their pedigree charts!

is this "heber" humor? cause i dont get it....

More of a small town in general joke.

[mma]

It was my brother and I that were stuck in Not Mindbender. We didn’t see the other postings on this sight talking about how the Roost canyons would be good winter canyons to do, but that would be a good excuse. We headed down early Saturday morning and planned on coming out that night. When we first turned off the highway there was no snow, but by the time we got to the trailhead there was about 8 inches on the ground. The canyon was great and the snow didn’t affect us at all until we got to the moki exit. Our first thought when we saw it was oh crap, this is going to be a problem. When we dropped our mountain bike shuttle at the exit we walked down a ways to see if there were any potential problems with the exit and didn’t really see anything that concerned us, but we didn’t get down far enough to see the snow covered face we had to climb. When we got to the exit we messed around trying to climb out, but after about 30 minutes decided it was useless. We knew there were other ways out, but we also knew that we couldn’t come close to getting out before it got dark. We looked at the map trying to find any other unpublished potential ways out and found a few we thought might be possible so we used our last 2 hours of daylight exploring a way out. Needless to say we weren’t able to get out so instead of walking out in the dark in an unfamiliar canyon we built a fire and decided to stay put for the night. I have a deal with my wife where I show her on the map where I will be and tell her when she can start worrying about me. I told her not to be concerned until the afternoon on Sunday, but I have a set of nervous parents that weren’t willing to wait until Sunday. My dad apparently called search and rescue at about 10:00 pm Saturday night and they started searching about 2:00 am on Sunday. We built a fire down canyon about a half mile from the exit, where it is fairly wide open just in case someone did come looking for us. The helicopter found us at about 5:45 am Sunday morning. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of our lives being flown out of there when it wasn’t necessary, but what can you do. I will post some pictures later today or tomorrow.

[Scott Card]

Hey mma, thanks for posting. It takes courage to post around here and really, it sounds like you made the right decision to build a fire and stick it out till morning. Better to come home embarassed than in a box. My greatest fear is dealing with my wife if something like that were to happen.

[tanya]

It was my brother and I that were stuck in Not Mindbender. We didn’t see the other postings on this sight talking about how the Roost canyons would be good winter canyons to do, but that would be a good excuse. We headed down early Saturday morning and planned on coming out that night. When we first turned off the highway there was no snow, but by the time we got to the trailhead there was about 8 inches on the ground. The canyon was great and the snow didn’t affect us at all until we got to the moki exit. Our first thought when we saw it was oh crap, this is going to be a problem. When we dropped our mountain bike shuttle at the exit we walked down a ways to see if there were any potential problems with the exit and didn’t really see anything that concerned us, but we didn’t get down far enough to see the snow covered face we had to climb. When we got to the exit we messed around trying to climb out, but after about 30 minutes decided it was useless. We knew there were other ways out, but we also knew that we couldn’t come close to getting out before it got dark. We looked at the map trying to find any other unpublished potential ways out and found a few we thought might be possible so we used our last 2 hours of daylight exploring a way out. Needless to say we weren’t able to get out so instead of walking out in the dark in an unfamiliar canyon we built a fire and decided to stay put for the night. I have a deal with my wife where I show her on the map where I will be and tell her when she can start worrying about me. I told her not to be concerned until the afternoon on Sunday, but I have a set of nervous parents that weren’t willing to wait until Sunday. My dad apparently called search and rescue at about 10:00 pm Saturday night and they started searching about 2:00 am on Sunday. We built a fire down canyon about a half mile from the exit, where it is fairly wide open just in case someone did come looking for us. The helicopter found us at about 5:45 am Sunday morning. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of our lives being flown out of there when it wasn’t necessary, but what can you do. I will post some pictures later today or tomorrow.

So glad you guys are okay! Looking forward to the photos. I hope you stick around and keep posting here.