I Fell 106 Feet. And Lived.

[Iceaxe]

I Fell 106 Feet. And Lived.
By Kaitlyn Bohlin

As a backcountry ranger in Utah's Zion National Park, I learned how to canyoneer

Note from Iceaxe: As it appears someone edited the story out of the original post, below is is another version of the story. Many are of the opinion that Kaitlyn clipped into the pull rope and not the rappel rope, which is what caused the accident.

Backcountry Volunteer Survives 100 Foot Fall While Canyoneering at Zion National Park

Canyoneering is a risky activity, which is why they call it an extreme sport. One canyoneer is lucky to be alive after a botched rappel sent her tumbling 100 feet. Imagine falling that far and living to tell about it.


Kaitlyn Bohlin, a 23-year old backcountry volunteer in Zion National Park, had the day off July 30, so she went canyoneering with a friend. Zion is a wonderful place for canyoneering, probably the single best place in the Lower 48.


The pair chose Pine Creek Canyon, a highly accessible and very popular little slot canyon that’s so deep and twisty and narrow that there are only a few places where sunlight penetrates all the way to the bottom. There are lots of neat things to see and do in the canyon, which typically takes three or four hours to traverse.


Rated 3B II (intermediate difficulty) using the ACA Canyon Rating System, Pine Canyon is a technical route requiring good gear and appropriate skills. There are five exciting rappels of varying length and difficulty. There are cold water pools for swimming and about a mile of creek for wading. And all along there are fantastic shapes carved into the sandstone and wonderful acoustics to go with them. (One place is called the “The Cathedral” because of its acoustics are positively breathtaking.)


Kaitlyn Bohlin is an experienced canyoneer and had successfully negotiated Pine Creek Canyon before. This time, however, something went terribly wrong. As she was attempting the final 100-foot rappel, she fell the entire distance.


Kaitlyn’s companion called for help, using the radio that the young woman had left at the top of the rappel. Rescuers, including a nearby canyoneering group that had heard (but not seen) the fall, quickly came to her aid. When paramedics arrived (after rappelling into the canyon from a window in the Zion Tunnel) they placed the badly injured, but conscious young woman on a litter and transported her a quarter-mile to a place in the canyon suitable for a helicopter short-haul evacuation.


There Kaitlyn was lifted into a hovering Air Force Blackhawk helicopter and flown directly to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Having suffered multiple severe traumatic injuries, she remains in critical condition. Officials report that she is receiving intensive care and has shown signs of improvement.


The accident remains under investigation.

[Don]

Wow. Powerful. Thanks for posting.

[Deathcricket]

Wow, what a story!!

I would think it simple to verify she clipped into the wrong side. Everything would have been intact on the ground beside her. The block would show no signs of failure, probably 5 feet up the rope from her descender. Why the mystery? I guess the hikers below could have "tampered" with the evidence in the rush to save her life. But if the rope was intact, descender, anchor, and prussic, then either the block completely failed or wrong side is only option right?

What exactly happened with my equipment that day? No one is certain, but the official investigation speculates that I clipped into the pull cord side of the rope rather than the anchored side. It seems like a painfully obvious mistake, one that couldn't have possibly happened amidst my double-checking and reassuring explanations before stepping off the edge. It doesn't make sense, and I don't pretend to understand. In the end, I'm just thankful.

[Jaxx]

That is a powerful story. How could she survive the fall? Stories like this really get to me. A backcountry ranger making a mistake. I better start triple checking my work.

[Scott Card]

That is a powerful story. How could she survive the fall? Stories like this really get to me. A backcountry ranger making a mistake. I better start triple checking my work.

A couple of quick observations. "Backcountry Ranger" is not equal to "experienced canyoneer" or even "newb canyoneer". Really.

Second, there was probably just enough friction on the rope/anchor to slow her down just enough that she didn't splat at the bottom. As I remember that rap, there likely would have been a couple of bounces to slow her down too.

As for the triple checking, yes. Interesting thing about that last rap is that it usually instills the automatic triple check. I heard one St. George native who called the last rap "The Intimidator". I tend to agree based on the reaction of all the newbs I have taken through there and my own reaction the first few times I did it. It is a bit scary with the blind start and all but it sure is cool once on rappel.

I am just glad she did so well and survived the fall. What a crazy story.

[oldno7]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

[Scott Card]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

I would like to change my above statement to say that Back Country Ranger doesn't mean experienced canyoneer but it also doesn't exclude it. You are correct that there are many experienced rangers out there. My point was that the title alone does not necessarily equate to canyoneering experience. (Crap, I am probable back on the naughty list at Zion Park again with my comments......)

[oldno7]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

(Crap, I am probable back on the naughty list at Zion Park again with my comments......)

Back On??

[Scott Card]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

(Crap, I am probable back on the naughty list at Zion Park again with my comments......)

Back On??

Never taken off

[CarpeyBiggs]

Whatever Scott, I've seen you smooth-talk a park ranger. And they still didn't ring you up. Are you back on since then?

"Uh.... Yeah.... Kolob was flowing at like 2 or 3 cfs.... Great canyon.... Uh... Gotta go, getting dark..."

[Iceaxe]

I heard one St. George native who called the last rap "The Intimidator".

I've backed off that rappel before to triple check my gear after getting a tingling feeling in my stomach..... about the only rappel I can think of that I hate worse is that first big step at the end of Heaps.

[Scott Card]

Whatever Scott, I've seen you smooth-talk a park ranger. And they still didn't ring you up. Are you back on since then?

"Uh.... Yeah.... Kolob was flowing at like 2 or 3 cfs.... Great canyon.... Uh... Gotta go, getting dark..."

You were the one doing all the talking. I remembered Miranda.... As to why I am on the naughty list, you were in Alaska when I had my last little run in. I can still remember the words.... "And who is this 'Scott Card' from Mapleton?" There is thread somewhere on here and Yahoo that documents the experience. I was, shall we say, a bit peeved.

And Kolob was a great canyon... it is always a great canyon. It is a great canyon as I sit here in my office. Oh, and it was getting dark. Odds were it was flowing but no one trusts my flow rate estimation ability anyway so it really doesn't matter. I'll shut up now....you are going to get me in trouble...

[trackrunner]

I heard one St. George native who called the last rap "The Intimidator".

I've backed off that rappel before to triple check my gear after getting a tingling feeling in my stomach..... about the only rappel I can think of that I hate worse is that first big step at the end of Heaps.

What gets me on that rappel is there is a swing pendulum at the beginning to start with. On the ledge I check my gear and see if I can stop myself. I can, check. As I start to slowly swing out there is that tiny slack in the system (because of the pendulum) and I feel the slack and I back off, re check, and repeat the backing off until I finally convince myself everything will be OK once I load the system on rappel. Count to 1,2,3 and slowly swing out.

[jumar]

Man, glad she came out okay.

[trackrunner]

This Kaitlyn blogs
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/KaitlynBohlin
http://meepsandmeeps.blogspot.com/

[Bo_Beck]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

Typically a knot or carabiner block isn't protocol. The norm is on a double rope with a block off the leg loop.

[oldno7]

I've done canyons with some Zion backcountry rangers, they have an exact protocol for rappels. I cannot say for sure but I'd guess she was not trained in their protocol. If she was trained she did not follow it.
The rangers I have done canyons with are "experienced". I believe there is a difference between full time bc rangers and volunteer rangers.
The rest I believe what Scott said could be the case. Not really sticking up for the rangers, just giving facts as I've seen them.
Very glad Kaitlin is alive and doing as well as she is.

Typically a knot or carabiner block isn't protocol. The norm is on a double rope with a block off the leg loop.

"
Agree on the double strand and if joining ropes only use a double fisherman.--although I think the requirement is for a "belay" at all times, usually only the first down used a auto-bloc, after that a firemans is allowed.

[Jaxx]

On that rappel I never undo my safety line until I am hanging on the the rope. Then I remove the safety line from the anchor with my left hand.

[Iceaxe]

and if joining ropes only use a double fisherman.

It's been at least 10 years since I've canyoneered or climbed with anyone who used a double fisherman.

[oldno7]

I should have said "they" (backcountry rangers) only use double fishermans. I use everything in it's appropriate place