What happened in Heaps Canyon??

[rockgremlin]

That sheds a lot of light on the situation. Thanks Brian.

Be careful out there!!

[Scott P]

Destres (Group leader) has posted the story.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/message/37735

What a tradgedy. Sad.

Hi again,

Let me start off with a photo of Keith....

http://www.canyoneering.net/gallery/...0/limit/recent

Ok, so first off not enough can be said for the overwhelming support of so many canyoneers but also it was just amazing the kudos for the park service and people..just beyond words....I know you have all helped me so much.

I know there are many people with a hole in their heart so I thought its time to release the Q&A:

Q: What happened?
A: Keith freefell over 260ft(most likely 270+)to his death

Q: Explain
A: User error - rigging - biner block failure - rope run through large carabiner used for lowering blocked by much smaller Petzl Attache.

Q: Go on.....
A: Well Keith was the last person down the final rappel in Heaps. I was the first...lowered...then finally the rap to the bottom to retrieve the brand new Imlay 8mm 300ft rope...there was a significant delay on my descent from the end of the rap rope being stuck and then released but being thrown on top of me resulting in 30-45 mins of tied off massive knot undoings...I attached the rope for raising via a water knot with a radio communication(incl to be replaced)...it was dark and the remaining two had working safe headlamps.

The rope was rigged,I then took off all my stuff off my harness save for my large rescue steel carabiner. I then was attached to the rope, although not "onrope"..basically I didnt think a firemans belay was safe enough for the next descender.

The next descender descended on the system Keith went on and it was very eventful, but not as far as the rigging.

Final sequence:

Adonis to Keith: "...lost control..not injured...Keith - recheck the system....this is it..but we have as much time as you need, if you want to take 2 hours to rest or whatever so be it"

Keith:"Im fine..."
Adonis: "Ive changed from a loose attachment belay to a munter hitch bottom belay with about 5ft of slack."
Keith :"Why?"
Adonis: "Had too much diffuculty with the belay...(person) almost died...

Keith:"On rappel"
Adonis:"Roger that"
......
Keith:"Too much..Adonis release more slack"
Adonis:"Well, alright then"
Keith:"I know what Im doing(as opposed to the previous descender)..let it out.....

I then was on a very loose bottom belay and radioed that. Moments later Keith fell to his death.

...

The only scenario that makes any sense based upon the evidence, is that Keith started the rap(ATC with leg munter hitch(rope runs through ATC then munter on carbiner attached to leg portion of harness)), then tied off(rope wrapped around both legs) with the slack to address the pull cord side thus unweighting the rope and allowing the Attache to move to slip out. I was told that the carpet on Heaps(which was attached via a sling)had been cut away by the 2nd descender. It wasnt on the last conditions report but this should be verified as I think I heard some real reliable info...anyways Keith was untying the waterknot, and as soon as the two ropes were unjoined the system was somehow weighted, the Attache pulled through. Just before that, there was a loss of control on the rope, I was going like mad to tighten the system, but before that could even happen, the rappel rope started to fall(I knew immediately it was a biner block failure), I looked at the pull cord which was someways away from me and it wasnt moving up, Keith died downhill of me and the rest of the rope fell on top of me.

The above info will be the basis of the explaination(with a more easier way of explaining it) given to the surviving family ..and has been reviewed endlessly by everyone.

I received the final verdict late that day after I posted the first time, as I am still totally mystified why the rope was not run through a rapide, and will carry to my grave if I was upthere Keith would be alive..but then..anyways I know of the support, but just dont want people to think that Im cavalier about it. I am quitting canyoneering, but will remain to help if I can the canyoneering community reconcile it or whatever, but take heed: Any talk of Keith being an "inexperienced Choprock style descender" assault will be firecely derided.

Eventually I will write a trip report but it may be a little rambling so bear with me.

Oh also, I am not on the other boards per say, so I havent read anything but the canyoneering.net and this one but will do so...

Based upon the family reception to when I talk to them next, I will see if what in the way of condolences, etc...I can only tell you I was basically the one who broke the news to them that Tuesday early morning and they need time.

[marc olivares]

Just before that, there was a
loss of control on the rope, I was going like mad to tighten the
system, but before that could even happen, the rappel rope started to
fall(I knew immediately it was a biner block failure), I looked at
the
pull cord which was someways away from me and it wasnt moving up,
Keith
died downhill of me and the rest of the rope fell on top of me.

wow, reading this made my heart drop.... what a horrible feeling this must have been for Desertres.
i'm saddened for what he must be feeling now.

[rockgremlin]

Unbelieveably tragic. Very sad to hear.

Condolences to Kieth's family and all involved.

[price1869]

anyways Keith was untying the waterknot,

Why would he untie the rope? and what was the pull cord tied to if it didn't go up as the rope came down?

[Iceaxe]

Other than that is not a typical knot used for a pull chord I have no clue. Probably just want to be certain his ropes pulled.

One Item I do make a slight objection to is the reference to the Choprock death's being unskilled..... Don't make the mistake of believing that just because a group does not hang out on the canyon forums and flies under the radar that they are unskilled or inexperienced. The kids killed in Choprock probably had as much experience as the Heaps group. Given the beta the kids in Chop had and their previous experience in Neon the year before they figure they had things covered.... the Choprock death's were a miscalculation.... which is what I'm also seeing here with the Heaps accident.... Canyoneering is not a sport that penalizes big mistakes with a loss of 15 yard and two free throws.

And the only reason I really mention this is because thinking you are smarter then the last guy is just asking for trouble.

Food for thought...

[tanya]

Very Sad....

[mrabe1979]

Canyoneering is not a sport that penalizes big mistakes with a loss of 15 yard and two free throws.

Good point, but injuries and death's have occurred in team sports as well!
anyways my deepest condolences to family and friends..

[smcqueen]

I do hope that a better-defined cause of the accident comes out. While it is extremely sad to lose one of our community, and of course a tragedy for the family, it is even sadder not to be able to learn from such incidents. That is the lesson of the aviation industry, where each accident and incident are analyzed for root causes and lessons learned that can be applied to the future.

I just today received my NSS Cave Accidents Report for 2004-5. I always read each accident and incident report with an eye to attempting to learn how I can be safer in the future. One thing that the authors of the report recommend that I have been known to ignore is to require a belay whenever the exposure is greater than a body length. Another is to require everyone to be tied-in whenever they are closer than a body length to the lip. After Keith's accident, I'll be a little more diligent about such things in the future.

In the NSS report, there are always several reports of rappelling out of control, getting stuck on a rope, etc., but seldom are there reports of rigging failures. Of course, the notion of biner blocks, contingency anchors, releasable anchors, etc., are virtually unknown in caving, since you almost always ascend back up the rope rather than pull it down. I think in 20+ years of caving I only did one through trip where we pulled the rope and exited out another entrance. So our sport of canyoneering adds an additional dimension of risk to the rope work.

[CarpeyBiggs]

There is a lot more details being discussed on the e-group. Hayduke, who was the second person to descend, has posted his recollection of the event. Truly tragic.

I just rigged up a similar setup from the floorboards in my basement, and tried rigging a biner block to an attache with a pearabiner clipped through the rapide. Simply weighting the pull cord rotated the biner block and sent the attache through the pearabiner every time I tried it. Very scary stuff.

I too hope we can all learn from this situation, I know it has certainly been eye-opening for me.

Here is his post, from the egroup. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/message/37769

I may be able to shed some more light on the subject, if anyone has questions, please ask.

First let me properly introduce myself. My name is Eric Leifer, 21, a 4th year Environmental Science and Philosophy major at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. I have been canyoneering for three years now, being both a leader and follower on dozens of trips.

Adonis' description of the final rap sequence is a bit skewed from how I would describe it, including the radio communication. Apparently I almost died...I do not believe this is the case. I was heading down in pitch black at a reasonable fast pace to get it over with, when I suddenly noticed the ground was about 20 feet below me. I was definitely coming in hot but was ready to land, I WAS under my own control. I tried to come to a stop but I was only able to slow myself down a bit in the three second notice I had. Thankfully adonis brought my to a safer halt.

I spent nearly an hour up at the bird's perch with Keith, we thought everything was set. It was dark, Keith was noticeably exhausted. I still felt pretty good, considering the situation. The mood was grim. We spoke very little. I could feel something was not right. Radio communication with Adonis was difficult, he kept cutting out and we could not understand him very well. Miscommunication is a very real and likely possibility. It was Keith's decision to cut the carpet, all we saw was a piece of webbing hanging down that was interfering with our rope work.

It is difficult for me to write about this, for it hits quite close to home. I have been on several trips with Keith and have gotten to know him well, and considered him a friend. This is something that should never happen, but it is one of those inherent risks that we all know is a possibility, yet we don't really think about it. Yet it is this very same risk that drives us to do such things; it is the challenge of cheating death and overcoming obstacles that drives us. It is tragic that Keith has paid the ultimate price for the rest of us. It is a reality check, really, starkly showing us that this like this can and do happen.

But to try and somehow put a positive spin on it, Keith died doing what he loved; I am comforted in the thought that on his final day on this earth, he was happy. He has told me many times that he comes to the canyons not for the rappels, not for the risk and not to prove himself, but to come see and stand in awe at the incredible beauty of the places we choose to explore. I know that he, more than anyone, appreciated the beauty of the natural world, and understood. For this reason I can find closure and acceptance, for he died in one of the single most beautiful places in the world, doing what he loved. I don't think he would've wanted it any other way. It is among the same walls that he loved so much, which finally took his life.

Be safe and live your life to the fullest, because you simply never know when it will end.

Sincerely,
Eric

[moabfool]

I'm trying to figure out how to say this while maintaining sensitivity for the deceased. With every tragedy comes the opportunity to learn a lesson. I think one lesson to be learned from this is to never use a biner block when the rope has been run through another biner. The hole is just too big. Rappel rings and quicklinks (aka. rapidlinks, aka. rapides) are the only equipment from which a biner block should be rigged. Even a large quicklink will kill you using this setup. The quicklink at the top of Mystery Falls is too large for a biner block! I noticed this in the autumn of '05 when I was rigging my rappel. I got messing with the setup before putting weight on it. The biner and clove hitch slid right through! Considering the flock of newbies I was shepherding through, the results could've been disasterous.

Also, consider backing up the biner block, especially on high PFF (Penalty For Failure) rappels. Here's what Tom Jones (ratagonia) says about setting up biner blocks. Notice his backup techniques.

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/tech/blocks.php

[hank moon]

The quicklink at the top of Mystery Falls is too large for a biner block!

It sure is - needs removal - bad. Maybe I can get the park to permit me to do it even if the canyon's "full" - taking a wrench and hacksaw...unless someone beats me to it.

Anyone planning Mystery this weekend?

hank

[Iceaxe]

Yeah... I've been thinking that many of the current practices used by canyoneers should be reviewed. I've been following the Heaps accident discussion on some of the climbing forums and those guys are just rolling their eyes at some of the things we do.

Also.... I thinking it might be good standard practice to use a safety as pictured in Tom's tech tips, and after the safety is removed to have someone down below tie into the retrieval line..... I know many of us use 6mm for our pull chords but there is a good chance 6mm would hold a short fall....

anyhoo.... food for thought.

[Jaxx]

When we did Mystery in March there was a 1/4" rapidlink (if I remember the size right) along with the big one. I wondered why that was, mabey someone figured that out.

[bruce from bryce]

Also, if using a contingency anchor such as a munter mule, remember to feed the non-weighted side of the rope through the rapide (see Birch 6-5-07, DSCN5006. While I cannot definitely confirm it the un-weighted side does appear like it has been fed through the rapide). When the last man is ready to descent he removes the munter and creates a biner block or just raps on two strands.

I believe that is what the group had planned on doing when they did their extensive pre-trip planning.

As for the large rapide in Mystery, if it has not been removed by June 25th I will remove it. Hank: do you think that WD-40 will break the screw enough to remove with a wrench or will a hacksaw be required?

[smcqueen]

Also, if using a contingency anchor such as a munter mule, remember to feed the non-weighted side of the rope through the rapide (see Birch 6-5-07, DSCN5006. While I cannot definitely confirm it the un-weighted side does appear like it has been fed through the rapide). When the last man is ready to descent he removes the munter and creates a biner block or just raps on two strands.

I believe that is what the group had planned on doing when they did their extensive pre-trip planning.

As for the large rapide in Mystery, if it has not been removed by June 25th I will remove it. Hank: do you think that WD-40 will break the screw enough to remove with a wrench or will a hacksaw be required?

Where is that photo? Do you have a link I could follow?

Thanks.

[Jaxx]

Where is that photo? Do you have a link I could follow?

Thanks.

http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7228
Search for DSCN5006. The knot on the carabiner is the munter I believe.

[jumar]

[Iceaxe]

Memorial Services for Keith Biedermann

Monday June 11, 2007
7:00 PM
St. Paul's Lutheran Church
13082 Bowen St
Garden Grove, CA 92843

Keith's obituary will be published on Sunday's Orange County Register.

[ratagonia]

Also, if using a contingency anchor such as a munter mule, remember to feed the non-weighted side of the rope through the rapide (see Birch 6-5-07, DSCN5006. While I cannot definitely confirm it the un-weighted side does appear like it has been fed through the rapide). When the last man is ready to descent he removes the munter and creates a biner block or just raps on two strands.

I believe that is what the group had planned on doing when they did their extensive pre-trip planning.

As for the large rapide in Mystery, if it has not been removed by June 25th I will remove it. Hank: do you think that WD-40 will break the screw enough to remove with a wrench or will a hacksaw be required?

I seem to remember trying to remove it with my little bolt kit wrench - no go. Maybe a substantial wrench and a large screwdriver, but a hacksaw might be a good idea - and a lot of patience.

Tom