[Accident Report] Sandthrax

[Absolute Gravity]

On the morning of June 3rd, 2013 Tyler and I left Sandthrax campground and started hiking, our goal was of course the top of Sandthrax. 20 minutes later there we were. Gotta love approaches like that, arriving nice and warmed up.

Without hesitation we head in. We've been training for this and are both in excellent shape. Tyler is a great climber and was looking forward to the crux crack. He also is good at stemming. I also am a descent climber, in the 5.10 b-c range, and am usually able to make quick work of the short climbs you sometimes come across in canyons. My strongest capabilities are in high stemming, down climbing, and love running around a big pot hole with a flying leap to the edge when possible. Although there will be no potholes, Sandthrax should be our type of canyon.

Very soon we are at the start of the high stemming and it is a blast! We are cruising through. The route finding through the narrow slot was not nearly as bad as I had expected. We pretty much just kept as high as possible. And it was high! Not the place for you if not being able to see the ground for 95% of the canyon creeps you out. The stemming is of course non-stop. The canyon walls also change around every turn. Sometimes you get nice grippy rock, go around a corner and the walls are slippery and full of sand. Constantly changing and never lets up.

Most of the silos were not very difficult, and many canyoneers would be able to handle them fine if not for the daunting exposure. It's a different story looking down a 50 ft. silo. My physical proportions also make this a little easier for me. 6' tall with an almost 6' 5" wingspan. For a shorter person they will not be as easy, but still doable. There are also a couple pitons near the worst of the silos where you can belay the person going across.

We are loving this canyon. We need to do it again we tell each other. I had already put it on my mental short list of canyons that I would like to do again. Also at this point we are thinking that we might get this knocked out in under 3 hours.

We reach the crux and bad things happen.


Accident Report: Tyler's fall

We enter the silo, and I look at the crack. Looks interesting, but it's Tyler's time to shine. I swap places with him on the ledge so he can take a look. A week previous me, Tyler, and Bob were talking about this crack. Tyler wanted to free solo it, and to his credit on most days he would be capable of doing this. Bob and I thought it was a bad idea, so he agreed to use a cam. Turns out this was not enough.

We both love the pace we are making so Tyler is going to aid it with the cam to make quick work of it. He dives into the crack and starts moving up. Unfortunately it is not one of his better climbing days and he is struggling more than anticipated, but I am sure that he will make it. He is a machine. He makes it up to where the crack gets wider, maybe 12 feet above the ledge I am standing on, but he is working pretty hard and he pauses for a rest.

I hear a 'clank' and Tyler yell "FALLING!". He's been spat out of the crack, cam and all. He goes flying by me, just a blur that I try to slow down by reaching for under his arm. But he was moving too fast. A split second later my eyes had focused to where I was now clearly watching the fall unfold below me. "HOLY F***, Tyler's dead" I thought as he fell. He thought the same thing. Falls like this don't end well. He was falling backwards and couldn't see what was coming. He decks in the silo below. It looked awful from where I was perched. Looked like he snapped right in half on one of the fin like features at the bottom of the silo.

Then he moves! He's alive! He's also conscious. I am now thinking about how fast I can get out of this canyon and call search and rescue. I start relaying this to Tyler. He rolls around and moans, then tells me to wait. "FOR WHAT!!!! WE NEED TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!". "I think I'm OK" he responds. "No your not. There is NO way." Gotta be the adrenaline. We talk back and forth and after a bit he stands up. He is definitely hurt but nothing seems broken. Unbelievable. He also wants out of that hole NOW! Through a combination of me pulling a bit and him hand over handing a hand line he makes it up to the ledge we started from.

He is of course not going to be giving that crack another go, and he is mentally very shaken and needs to get out of the canyon. My adrenaline is on full blast. I have to make this climb or we are both stuck in here. I start up. Tyler, somehow, was able to give me a decent foothold about half way up, even though it was extremely painful for him to do so. I have at least one limb constantly wedged into something. I am not falling out. Have to make it. After some exhausting work I make the top. Again with some pulling from me and hand over handing from him he is soon on top with me. We'll make it. We have to.

The rest

Of course, this being Sandthrax we were not done. There was still plenty of high stemming to go. We were spent but knew to keep moving. I don't know how he did it, just amazing. We were now moving pretty slow, but we were moving, and we couldn't afford any mistakes. Eventually, finally, we reached the end and had a big hug and a few words. 4.5 hours campsite to campsite.

Conclusions

We should have brought more protection. It is doable with what we had, but sometimes shit happens and a cam ends up not being quite as solid as you thought it was. We wanted to travel light and fast betting that shit would not happen today and we would be conquering that crux just like many others.


Tyler told me that the accident happened after he reset the cam and then went to weight it for a rest. The cam shifted and popped out, and him with it.


Tyler visited the hospital this morning to make sure everything was ok. Indeed nothing is broken, he's just very very banged up. I am so glad he is still with us.

[Iceaxe]

Thanks for the report.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[hank moon]

Irish luck flowing deep this Spring - Wow! Thanks to you for writing this up, for making that climb, and to Tyler for not breaking or dying.

Amazing grace.

[Scott P]

Glad to hear you are OK. I think it would be a nightmare to fall in any R or X slot. It would be extremely difficult rescue.

[Byron]

Whoa!!! Talk about dodging a bullet...I've had two episodes in my life where I though death was imminent and breezed through by the grace of God, or something. I'll tell you what, it give you a fresh perspective on "tapping the brakes" as I like to say...

I haven't done that canyon because I don't want to go in there alone and all my partners of the past and present, although capable in many ways, would not be up for it. I'm also super athletic and a very good climber, but I would not even consider trying to free climb the crux...in fact, I would go in there with both cams and the big bro...and I would set the first cam BOMBER right above the start. I wouldn't ever consider taking a rest on my first set piece...it fails, you're screwed.

Tyler got lucky, real lucky. You didn't specify exactly how far he fell, but my experience as a house painter tells me that if you travel any more than 15 feet without a "cat like landing", something is going to break...glad he's OK.

[Absolute Gravity]

I'm also super athletic and a very good climber, but I would not even consider trying to free climb the crux...in fact, I would go in there with both cams and the big bro...and I would set the first cam BOMBER right above the start. I wouldn't ever consider taking a rest on my first set piece...it fails, you're screwed.

Tyler got lucky, real lucky. You didn't specify exactly how far he fell, but my experience as a house painter tells me that if you travel any more than 15 feet without a "cat like landing", something is going to break...glad he's OK.

There is a choke stone with some webbing that was inside the crack that he was also clipped into for part of the climb, but yes you are right. The safest way would have been as you said, but still not a fall I would want to take.

The fall was an easy 30 feet and definitely not cat like. He was a couple feet from the top of the crack and fell all the way to the bottom of the silo. I can't explain how he is not broken.

[Byron]

I can't either! It's practically a miracle. Sometimes you hear about drunk drivers walking away from horrible car crashes...I've heard it said that their bodies are like "Gumby" when it happens, and that "being tense" is what contributes to the damage. Friggin' lucky dude!

[SRG]

Wow, that's intense.
Way to self rescue, glad you're both alright.

[spinesnaper]

I am going to take another motrin just thinking about Tyler's fall.

[Mojave Silence]

Great TR, thanks

[Scott Card]

Wow. Glad he is OK. Thanks for writing this.

[hesse15]

Tyler visited the hospital this morning to make sure everything was ok. Indeed nothing is broken, he's just very very banged up. I am so glad he is still with us.

hi guys,glad you are ok.
you are bruising up poor Tyler? bad boy bad boy!!!!

[Absolute Gravity]

hi guys,glad you are ok.
you are bruising up poor Tyler? bad boy bad boy!!!!

It's not all bad. I hear the ladies are lining up to help take care of the poor guy.

[hesse15]

It's not all bad. I hear the ladies are lining up to help take care of the poor guy.

better be!!!!!!

[accadacca]

Great story, I like the ending.

[Slot Machine]

Update:

Post fall image:



Tyler is healing up after his fall, with some assistance from the Care Bear:



Riding on Tyler's dog Doom.




Tyler is a pro-level drummer. Care Bear getting in some practice.


Tyler, I'm very thankful that you are still with us and happy to hear that you are healing up. Thank you to those that have shown their support!

Bob

[Doomedty]

To Tom's question and to Jennys question. Thank you im glad to be on board and to have the bear. Stoked! I have done off widths before. This sounds terrible as a outdoor enthusiast but i either have a bad case of add or a form of autism. I take meds and they fix most of it. I was off my meds for the week during sandthrax... bad idea I know my arm is still bleeding. I was just not focused and was a hyped. Figuring that I have hurd so much about this canyon and me and tony were just crushing it :). I love that guy and trust him with my life.

Before I jumped into the crack I thought it was going to be easy. Half way up I realized how dehydrated I was and how what I was doing was not working. I got a bit higher re set the cam at the last point were you can set a #6 and kept going slipped weighted the cam and it popped. I know how to set trad gear and I think when I weighted the cam I turned it a bit and that's why it popped. Falling was nothing close to one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Im used to falling while climbing. Its apart of being a climber. No fear just climb and trust your gear. When the cam popped I yelled "falling!" and screamed my standard manly awesome falling scream.(every climber has one) Its a reflex but, when I passed tony and realized the gravity of the situation I closed my eyes really tight as "omg your about to die.... this is it... god forgiv..." smack, bong, pow,crash, boom.

I go limp as i feel the cold of the sandstone and the darkness all around me. My eyes still shut tightly im thinking "omg your dead. That just happened." Then I hear Tony yelling F%$k over and over again. I open my eyes and see my legs. "Im not dead. F$%k now im going to spend the night in a slot canyon!" Tony starts talking to me and I tell him to give me some time. I start going through an injury checklist. I start by moving my fingers, then my toes. Adrenaline makes me shake and amplified the immense amount of fear surging through my body. I move my wrist and ankles. I start to feel my back and my arm throb. I move my arms and think its broken but its working and not in some weird angle. "Well my back is for sure broken. People don't just fall from that height and not break a vertebra or two." I go to stand up waiting for my self to collapse under crunching bones or pain but, instead stand up without pain. I lean against the sandstone as i panic a bit grabbing a hold of my mental state knowing I was not going to get out unless I pulled myself together. I pull myself out of my head and climb my ass out of that whole. My arm starts to cramp as the musculus, tendons and skin were all tenderized by my fall. As tony climbed the crack, I was able to climb up and reach up a bit and give him my right hand (connected to the tenderized arm) as a foot hold. I was yelling as the pain from my arm cramping and pulsating multiplied every minute blood drained out of my arm and back into my chest. My motivation to survive and get out, was far greater than the pain in my body. As we continued out of the canyon I had to force myself to suck up the pain from all over my body. I thought I was going to fall again on the last silo as i felt my arm start to give as I was stretching it out to chimney. I forced my way through it and when my feet hit the sand at the end of that canyon. I lost it. I started to cry from relief. That canyon is amazing! I loved it and don't regret it. Maybe one day ill do it again. I'm just happy to be alive.

[Doomedty]

That was my first bogley post

[Doomedty]

Also special shout out to Evergreen Dean and Ram for getting me the bear. Slot machine has a really funny post coming soon that I dedicate to those two men.

[Iceaxe]

Welcome to Bogley and thanks for the critique and update.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3