Arizona man rescued after falling 100 feet in Zion NP

[Scott Card]

Helmet territory is subjective, right?

Agreed. I have put my helmet on before the tree root-grabbing descent into the Subway proper when I have been with noobs. They kick up all kinds of rocks and so forth and rarely let anyone know a rock is coming down the shoot until it hits someone. I have been apologized to but never warned - hence the helmet in that spot.

[hank moon]

Agreed. I have put my helmet on before the tree root-grabbing descent into the Subway proper when I have been with noobs. They kick up all kinds of rocks and so forth and rarely let anyone know a rock is coming down the shoot until it hits someone. I have been apologized to but never warned - hence the helmet in that spot.

Glad to hear it, Scott. Wear 'em if you got 'em in rockfall (or U-Fall) terrain. I took a good one (rockfall) on the helmet a few weeks ago in Ouray...heavy enough to feel it in the spine. Whew.

[lucach]

Tom, do you think a well positioned but discrete bolt could have prevented your accident? [Sorry... could not resist... :-P]

The truth is ZERO, is no longer ZERO when there's 1 exception. Don't you think? Yes we can try hard to get to ZERO accidents, but we'll never get to ZERO. It's an utopia. Most of the great canyoneers I know had an accident at some point. You were sandtrapped, Sonny broke his back jumping, Jenny screw up her arm, etc? Were any of you lacking proper training? Were any of you lacking experience? No, I don't think so.

Why did you break the ZERO rule then?

[ratagonia]

Tom, do you think a well positioned but discrete bolt could have prevented your accident?
...
Why did you break the ZERO rule then?

Certainly, then again, staying at home, hidden in my basement would have prevented a fall too - though the Black Widows are rather active down there!

The link provides a thorough analysis of my errors. A good anchor was required, and we had all the tools needed on hand to provide for one, except the stuff between my ears working properly.

Sonny broke a vert jumping - well, I gotta tell you, while jumping is way fun, it is also dangerous, especially for us old farts. Like many risks, one that can be managed, but not eliminated.

The more disturbing accident of Sonny's that I know of is when he released a macrame he was rapping on because the rope was feeding out of his pack. Feeding the pull side of a macrame out of your pack while rappelling is just plain dumb - and I expect a whole ton more from Sonny than that.

Tom