Pandoras Box RESCUE, June 2012

[hesse15]

That all changed when the over Meeks Mesa exit was released by another beta sprayer.... and SAR's skyrocketed. For the most part it is not the slot causing issues. It is the Meeks exit.
Anyhoo... the NPS contacted all the beta peddlers about a year ago and asked us all to remove the Meeks exit and direct traffic down Chimney. I agreed and removed the exit, but others refused. Most canyoneers believe they are experts and other websites do not have the same warnings regarding Meeks. Also on the map Meeks looks much more inviting than the long walk down Chimney.
As far as I'm concerned the only major difficulty with Pandora's is it's a very long day, which turns into a bivy for noobs, large groups and those that believe the warnings don't apply to them.
Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

Ice, when we heard about the exit we just look at the mountain saw the crack and went up there.
i did not find very difficult and I am not really a strong hiker or a strong climber.so it really puzzle me how people get in trouble there! like in a lot of other situations.
warning are in place in the description, times are doubled for taking people away,but at the end.....is all about the "expert only " warning that make not prepared people to go there,dragging friends and neighbors in the process!!!
perhaps removing all the gps points and make people learn how to use a map?
they only put the gps points and after is like geocaching!!
probably so many SAR because there is cell reception so people are very quick in calling instead of taking themself out of trouble?
a warning about the cost of SAR?

[hesse15]

I've done Kolob twice now, once in the spring and once in early summer, that canyon is rated hard and I felt that it was super easy.

what about MIA?
that is a a nightmare with wet wetsuit and heavy packs!!!!!
i love Kolob but the MIA is a big deterrent for me

[Bclark29]

A little history.... I have spoken with the CRNP rangers in great length about the rescues in Pandora's.

I was the first to release beta on Pandora's 10 years ago and rescues were rare in the canyon for the first 8 years. All the beta that followed the original release used the same route as my original description, which was the down Chimney exit.

That all changed when the over Meeks Mesa exit was released by another beta sprayer.... and SAR's skyrocketed. For the most part it is not the slot causing issues. It is the Meeks exit.

I added the more diificult Meeks exit to Climb-Utah when members began requesting it after it was outted.

Anyhoo... the NPS contacted all the beta peddlers about a year ago and asked us all to remove the Meeks exit and direct traffic down Chimney. I agreed and removed the exit, but others refused. Recently I have added the Meeks exit back into my beta so I can compete with those that refused. I did add some strong warnings about Chimney being the easier and preferred exit and Meeks being for experts only..... who knows if that will do any good. Most canyoneers believe they are experts and other websites do not have the same warnings regarding Meeks. Also on the map Meeks looks much more inviting than the long walk down Chimney.

The rescue that started this thread would probably not of occurred if they had of used the Chimney exit as technically its just a stroll and you can usually get water at Spring Canyon.

So.... that's a little of the canyons history. As far as I'm concerned the only major difficulty with Pandora's is it's a very long day, which turns into a bivy for noobs, large groups and those that believe the warnings don't apply to them.



Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

Shane, I disagree, Meeks Mesa is way shorter route than going down Chimney, that's why I chose it. There wasn't any water either. It was summer when we did this. Also, after completing Meeks Mesa earlier this year, it's really not that hard, the hardest part is finding the proper route up it. I wasn't lost, on the Meeks Mesa approach, my members couldn't continue. I think either exit we would have taken, the same result would have happened. Plus, once you do figure out the proper route up Meeks, once you hit the top its all flat walking then you're back down hill to where you originally hiked up at.

[Iceaxe]

I'm just telling you the story per the CRNP rangers. And you ovrrlooked the part about water avaiablity in Chimney, which I recall was a major issue for your group. The rangers are really trying to discourage the Meeks exit because of its high SAR rate.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Iceaxe]

FWIW: The spring in Spring Canyon is year round. The only part that chages is how far down Chimney canyon it flows before sinking into the sand.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[hesse15]

Over-emphasizing the ACA rating system might be a contributing factor. I have recently learned that some beginner canyoneers put great stock in the system. Most popular technical canyons are in the catch-all 3A/B category, some with a few little details tacked on at the end (stuff like "R" and "IV", for example). With rose-colored glasses firmly in place, one might look at Pandora's rating* and conclude that it's "kinda like Pine Creek, only spicier and longer - and without the water" But it's a lot more than that.
Perhaps the technical difficulty number in Pandora's rating should be upped to 4 ?
* 3A R IV - at climb-utah.com 3A or B IV at BluuGnome.com 3B R- at ajroadtrips.com

I think the main reason of the rescues are
1) is a canyon with long approach and long exit
2) cell reception (edited) could be available more than other places like swell or hanksville
3) everybody says is a beautiful place so that attract a large number of people

if rescues are the main reason to jump the grade why not including the other 2 big SAR canyons: Subway in zion and blue jhon in the roost?
again a warning for the consequent cost of SAR probably is going to be a better deterrent than calling 4-5 or class 10 canyon or adding a warning like:

took 6 quart of water/person ,bivy sack and headlamp?

most of the rescues are due to exaustion more than broken limbs

[Bclark29]

Cell phone reception is NOT that easy to get there. I tried pretty hard to find a good signal.

[hesse15]

Cell phone reception is NOT that easy to get there. I tried pretty hard to find a good signal.

ok I will edit

[Bclark29]

Well, since I'm going off of situations in canyons....I've done the easy Baptist Draw 4 times now. On my third trip doing it, we were on the last rappel that heads into Chute Canyon, we started heading up Chute and the son on a bitch was completely full of water. Luckily, again luckily, I had Shane's beta that explained how to go down Chutes Canyon and exit back up to the vehicle, that made for a hell of a trip too. Luckily we were prepared for a long day.

[DesertDuke]

@Bclark29, thanks very much for posting this info. I learn nearly every time canyoneers post about problems they had. It usually comes with criticism, and you got some on here, so I appreciate that you put yourself out, knowing some would come, and posted the details anyway. Thanks again.