Ropes left at last rappel for Heaps - Thursday, May 24

[cougboy65]

I had a couple of friends of mine go through Heaps back on May 24th. When they finished the final rappel and started to pull their rope they realized they had rigged things wrong. The rope pull didn't work and they were forced to leave all their ropes behind. I'm hoping that someone after them was able to clean it all up and bring it home with them. The rope was green I believe. There may have also been other ropes at the top of the rappel. If you're that person, please let me know. I figure they lost around $500 worth of rope that day which is horrible. My friend often uses these ropes for Scout trips and it would be great if he could get them back. They are expensive to replace to hopefully someone in the community has them. Thanks and sorry for the plea for help. Oh, it may have been on either Thursday, May 23 or Friday May 24. Sorry about that.

[qedcook]

I saw one rope hanging there when we walked by on Saturday evening. The lower part of the rope that's been soaking in the water that long probably has some damage, eh?

[cougboy65]

Do you remember if it was green? It would've been a 300 footer. I know they had to cut some of the rope so I suppose there may be pieces left.

[Jolly Green]

We came across the ropes on Saturday and weren't quite sure what to do with them. It didn't look like either was stuck in any way, so we were a bit perplexed. We debated whether someone would have gone through and potentially left the ropes for another group traveling through and figured the results would be catastrophic if this was the case, so we left them put. It wasn't until afterwards we realized that they didn't untie the knot in the end of the rap line on the 150 footer, thus making it impossible to get down. It had only been pulled about 10 feet- just enough to not be able to reach it. Either way, we left them in place when we finished Saturday at 5:30 pm. There was another group that had permits for the same day, so perhaps they may have more info on these. Good luck.

[Kuya]

Dang! to bad you guys didn't pick them up :(. The 200' white rope had a stopper knot in it that wasn't untied before the last man started putting the rope down. We weren't able to retrieve the 200' and 120' ropes that were gunna be used as our pull line for the 300' rope. anyway, we had to leave all three because we didn't untie the stupid stopper knot! :(

[Kuya]

HELP!! My friend created this post to help me out. I am the one who left the 3 ropes on the final Heaps rappel. Please contact me if you find them.

Blake Merrell
8018502135


I know Bootboy and his team went through after I did, I did contact both Bootboy and the Wilderness Desk. So far no luck :( one of my biggest concerns with leaving the rope hanging there was the eyesore for the tourists. The last thing I wanted to be was the "idiot" canyoneer who left the rope hanging there for all to see. I realize it is things like that that create access issues and I apologize to everyone in the community for being that idiot.


Now for the story of how it happened:


we (my team of 3) had 3 ropes. (300' 9mm, 200' 8mm, and a 120' 8mm) I dropped down to the "bird perch", using the 8mm rope. I then rigged and lowered my 300' rope to the ground. Once the 2nd guy (Tyson) landed on the perch next to me, I made sure he was safe to go and ready for the 300' rap, and then I descended to the bottom (with a 2-way radio). it wasn't soon after I landed the 300' rap, when the last guy (Dave) rappelled onto the perch with the other Tyson. It wasn't to long when the Tyson was safely on the ground with me at the bottom.


Dave was the last to come down. As he started to pull the 200' rope (used to get to the perch) he looked at the stopper knot as it lifted up and thought to himself: Very nice, smart thinkin' to tie a knot like that on a rap like this"


Ten more feet of rope pull later Dave now thinks: "A D@&*! Why didn't I untie that stopper knot!! I won't be able to pull down the rope now with it in!?!?!"


With the end of the rope hanging about 10' above his head, Dave was unable to reach the rope. This being his first time in Heaps, he was a bit nervous and anxious to get off that cliff. He tried a few things with the resources he had available to get it back down, but nothing he tried worked.


At the bottom I was busy finding and duct taping two sticks together in an attempt to make a pole that he could use to grab the rope with. Dave soon began hauling up my stick. BUT when it got to the top, the rope was in a huge tangled mess and Dave was super angry, frustrated, scared, nervous, and even more anxious. Logix was loosing its edge. 2 hours later, Dave had the rope untangled and was rappelling down the cliff.


Yeah... I so wish it would have been me on top of that cliff. I can see myself making the same mistake (but i can also see myself spending a little more time trying to grab the rope 10' above my head.) of course many solutions were thought of by both Dave and I in hindsight.

[spinesnaper]

[Jolly Green]

Yikes. Sounds like an absolute mess. I went through with Bootboy and crew. I had the white 8mm rope ready to drop off the top of the 150 foot rap as we were trying to figure out the best way to proceed. Amidst the yelling from the tree to the bird perch, the horseflies biting and muscles cramping, we just made a final decision to leave them. We pretty much knew whatever choice we made would be the wrong one but at least this one wouldn't leave anyone stranded, just a few ropes. Hope you get them back soon.

[Kuya]

Yeah, I don't blame ya for leaving them. I'm not exactly sure what I would have done either. Glad you guys had a good time in the canyon! It sure is a good one!

[Iceaxe]

The ropes are gone.... hope you get them back.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Kuya]

I was contacted by the group that got them. I am SUPER grateful for honest canyoneers and this Fourm for helping me get the word out. With out Bogley and CC i'm not sure I would have gotten in contact with the group who snagged my rope! THANKS ALL!

[spinesnaper]

[summitseeker]

Good to meet you Blake. Glad we could get you back your gear. Thanks for letting us use your 50 footer for Imlay. Hopefully Karma will come full circle and someone with return my lost 80 footer lost in the Narrows.

[spinesnaper]

Perhaps someone will return my 200' canyon fire that disappeared at Stoney Point. Fortunately Tom was willing to sell me another.

[cougboy65]

Thanks everyone for getting Blake's ropes back. We used them last night for some training. We'll also be using this weekend in Zions. It's going to be awesome time.

[mzamp]

Zions? Is there more than one?

[ratagonia]

Zions? Is there more than one?

Certainlys! You cans finds your closest Zions here: http://tinyurl.com/whereiszions

[Kuya]

Zions? Is there more than one?

Certainlys! You cans finds your closest Zions here: http://tinyurl.com/whereiszions

Thanks everyone for getting Blake's ropes back. We used them last night for some training. We'll also be using this weekend in Zions. It's going to be awesome time.

oops.... Sorry Joel! I should've warned you about this

[Scott Card]

I really think Tom should rename the Sand Trap the "Zions Trap".

[spinesnaper]

I really think Tom should rename the Sand Trap the "Zions Trap".

How about "sans trap?"