4/12/14 - Family Rescued from Sandthrax after 3 Days

[ratagonia]

It's only misleading if you take it out of context. Since its sandwiched in between lots of descriptions about how hard it is and that i was even considered impossible for a while then its his own fault, assuming of course that Sandthrax was his intended target and he didn't just drop into the wrong one on accident.

Thank you TommyBoy. Here is the ENTIRE introductory section:

Life in the Fast Lane

View of Sandthrax Slot and the Henry Mountains

"She had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude,
They said she was ruthless, said she was crude..."
She had a nasty reputation as "impossible", which has diminished of late due to several descents, but among veterans she inspires a hefty respect.
Sandthrax is a short, intense canyon in North Wash, next to the Leprechaun system. The stopper section is a 5" to 10" vertical crack about 15 feet tall, with 30 feet of exposure. It has been stemmed up high - very exposed and rated as 5.11c(?) - no thanks! The few who have tried to really free it say very awkward hard 5.10 or ... Personally, AFTER aiding as high as I could on two #6 Camalots, I thought it was still hard 5.9 or 5.10 to get over the top. Needless to say, intelligent Sandthraxers need a robust strategy for passing this obstacle.
Outside this short bit, the canyon is a quite nice, sustained, not extremely difficult X- (X minus) high-stemming/mae west canyon that can be quite pretty and is fun for the mae-west-proficient. Most of the canyon can be cautiously passed in a back-feet chimney, with only a couple silos that require stretching out more, although the length of the sections without relief can be quite daunting. Don't underestimate the rest of the canyon - it is grueling.

[Caverknight]

Yep that bolt has to go!! and yes I left webbing down at the bottom of the Silo because it was starting to rain and was thundering.

[PG Rob]

The silo is 1/3 of the way through the canyon and is not the crux. The crux is an off width climb of 20-25 feet. It is then followed by a few silos which I consider to be worse than the one you are referring to.

[Mountaineer]

For the record there where three places I never want to go or do.

One is cave diving. One small mistake your dead.
....

Three is Sandthrax. No other canyon has so much high angle steaming and just dangerous as this one. One slip and that is it. A 50'-80' fall into a crack where you will get stuck and die. Do not think that you can conquer it it is not wroth it. There are 1000's of other canyon that are around that can "test you" that do not have such high odds of getting hurt or killed.

I have rambled enough here. I thought I owned this to the community or outdoors-man to address some of the more technical questions that you had. I thank you for your support.

Jason Knight

Thanks for posting up Jason. As also a fellow scuba diver, I agree with you on the caves! Not part of my risk list.

Glad you made it out OK!! I can't imagine the feelings and slow march of time; as you were helpless below your kids.

[ratagonia]

I started from the campground and thought that I was between Leprechaun and blarney canyon. The Fox interview was horrid they chop and pieced me together. The magic of editing. I got to the Crux of the canyon. The big silo. According to my information this is that last major thing before you walk out? I would love to know if this is true.

The CRUX is the off-width upclimb which starts almost on the ground, kind of a comfortable place. That is 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through. There is still plenty of sports action after that point.

The big silo is before that, maybe 1/2 way through the canyon.

This is a pretty good TR/description of the canyon:

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/sandthrax-canyon/

Tom

[mzamp]

I hate to be an ass, but based on the huge number of grammatical errors it seems Jason has very little attention to detail. So it does not surprise me then that he could think he was between Blarney and Leprechaun when starting from the campground.

4. I made sure that the drops we right before I commuted to the canyon by making sure that the drops where the correct height and the canyon pictures looked right in the guild books.

What the heck does this mean? How did you get separated from your kids? Were they at the top of the first rap? Could you not ascend the rope back up to them? Were you continuing down canyon to get help? Were you even aware of Sandthrax being in the area?

[Caverknight]

The CRUX is the off-width upclimb which starts almost on the ground, kind of a comfortable place. That is 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through. There is still plenty of sports action after that point.

The big silo is before that, maybe 1/2 way through the canyon.

This is a pretty good TR/description of the canyon:

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/rave/sandthrax-canyon/

Tom

yup that is where I was.

[Sombeech]

yup that is where I was.

Thanks for checking in with your version

[Iceaxe]

Jason, thanks for posting.

If by big silo you mean the one guarded by a piton on the upstream side you had reached the crux. Getting to the bottom of the big silo is fairly easy compared to the rest of the slot. It's the difficult off-width climb to exit the silo that creates the crux. Is this what stopped you? From the crux you still have more difficult canyon and there is never a walk out. You are just climbing along and the canyon ends at a crack you downclimb.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Iceaxe]

For those that want to know what Sandthrax is like this is by far the best video I know of.



Thanks to Jason Kaplan for use of the video. Jason was accompanied by Nathan Meader and Penny Martens. Some of the photos in the video are from previous trips, and credited to Ben Hebb (Rest In Peace) and Nathan Meader.

The first Big Silo is at 4:02. The crux begins at 4:32.

[Caverknight]

[QUOTE=mzamp;555636]I hate to be an !@#$%^&*, but based on the huge number of grammatical errors it seems Jason has very little attention to detail. So it does not surprise me then that he could think he was between Blarney and Leprechaun when starting from the campground.


Yes I am a terrible speller at my best. Dealing with the media and lack of sleep dehydration has only made this worse. I had 3 major networks in my front room yesterday. I thought this would be a good story to help fund the search and rescue down there. I have only been home for 36 hours as on this post. I had a interview at 4:00 a.m with set up at 2:00 a.m As you may not know or know when you go canyoneering you pull the ropes after you make sure are in the right canyon. I was many thousand of feet into the canyon I think. And yes I knew about sandtharax and the the other four technical canyons and one hike that are within a .50 mile radius of the camp ground. Including lucky charms that you have to do the right way or you will get stuck. In the guild books and on line there are three drops that are about the same size as in sandthrax. I had never been to this area before and a lot of the directions are vague due to the terrain looking the same. Again not the guide books fault. Next time I will bring my hoover boots, Crystal ball and magic carpet and a spell checker to help me out.

What more could I do? I had enough food for 2 days for 3 people for a 3-5 hours hike. Yes I messed up but again I had back up plans self rescue and was prepared as best as I could do. I have put on mines/cave gates all over the west that where a lot more remote than this. I have hiked up mountains with no trails, scree, cliffs with no injury's I do not like to take chances. I use a rope if I can. I do not like exposer. I have been underground for days at a time. I am not a couch potato that just does this once in a while on on the weekends. I have the right equipment and I know how to use it properly and have used it for many years.

All I wanted to convey is that this episode reminds us how important it is to be prepared for even the best laid plans can go wrong. Even the simplest trips can end up like this. And this was a simple trip for just a kid friendly 3 20' drops rappel a three hour tour. Not the remote hikes with high risk of injury trips that we all have done with caving climbing and backpacking gear and take your own water I have done in the past for work. It is up to us to stack the odds in our favor. The only reason that I am hear on my soap box is that I was prepared. I did not have to cut my arm off did not have to watch my kids die of dehydration of starvation, a rock fall, injury or hypothermia. Yes I made a mistake. A big one. I made a right when I should have made a left. went up the wrong drainage. But it is what we can learn from it that it is important not Monday morning quarterbacking.

[jman]

Jason,

As you well know, a big part of canyoneering is learning from the mistakes of others and not repeating them. I think we are all glad that you and your kids are safe. Definitely a scary situation - especially not being in contact with your boys for 2 days!! And sometimes we can pretty insulting and downright rude, especially to beginners as we learn of these accidents/situations/rescues. In just the last two years alone has seen a sizeable increase in rescues!

People are going in ill-prepared; making big navigation errors; being hasty in planning; rushing to do canyons when a little more time should be spent on checking gear and maps and routes; not preparing for contingencies (IE bringing a headlamp should always be a no-brainer regardless of the canyon and length); not having back-up plans (IE "if we get stuck in this canyon - who will call SAR and let them know which canyon we are in"), etc. And that results in a black-eye on the canyoneering community, with access to canyons being restricted, permit systems being instituted, and other notions inhibiting access.

ANYWAYS, If I may solicit my advice to you in reference to the above and that would be to do a full write-up (no details spared) and allow Shane (www.climb-utah.com) and Tom (www.canyoneeringusa.com) to host it or at least reference it on their website. That way the community benefits (and hopefully, hopefully, others can avoid that mistake in navigation, etc.) as well as getting your side out without the media editing it. ;)

I would hope Tom or Shane wouldn't have any objections to it?

Well, something to think about.

[Wasatch]

This dude's navagation skills SUCK!, and he knows nothing about canyoneering. The way he goes about in the interviews is a joke. Look at all those abrasions on his arms, he and his kids should never go on another canyoneering trip together again.

[Caverknight]

Yep that is where I was.

[Caverknight]

No objections. This is what I would like to do. They can contact me directly and I can give them them what every they want.

[ratagonia]

I hate to be an ass, but based on the huge number of grammatical errors it seems Jason has very little attention to detail.

Mr. Zamp is not from Utah, so he does not realize that aufull spelling and grandma are well-respected up here as a sign of bro-ness, and not being a sheeple to the East-coast environmental elitists!

Thom.

[Iceaxe]

No objections. This is what I would like to do. They can contact me directly and I can give them them what every they want.

I have sent you a Private message, check your IN box.

Shane Burrows
Climb-Utah.com
http://Climb-Utah.com

[Scott P]

What more could I do? I had enough food for 2 days for 3 people for a 3-5 hours hike. Yes I messed up but again I had back up plans self rescue and was prepared as best as I could do. I have put on mines/cave gates all over the west that where a lot more remote than this. I have hiked up mountains with no trails, scree, cliffs with no injury's I do not like to take chances. I use a rope if I can. I do not like exposer. I have been underground for days at a time. I am not a couch potato that just does this once in a while on on the weekends. I have the right equipment and I know how to use it properly and have used it for many years.

Hi Caverknight.

In response to your question of "What could I do?", the only thing would be to navigate better. That said, I am very glad that you and your children are safe. A lot of us have made some serious mistakes in the backcountry and you are not alone. Thanks for providing your side of the story/report.

Anyway, if you were starting at the Sandthrax campsite and using Tom's beta, it seems only more confusing of how confusing as to what happened and how the ridges between Santhrax/Leprechaun and Blarney/Leprechaun to end up in Sandthrax.



The ridge between Leprechaun and Blarney is actually quite a ways up the route from the Santhrax campsite. Tom's beta never ascended the ridge between Leprechaun and Blarney. To get to the East Fork of Lep, it ascends the ridge between Leprechaun and Sandthrax. There is another alternate route on his map that goes up Leprechaun and exists quite a bit up canyon, but no marked route on the ridge between Lep and Blarney. Also, if you indeed did confuse the two ridges, and wanted to routefind up the ridge between Lep and Blarney, you would have to cross around the West and Middle Forks first.

Would it be accurate to say that the intended route was the purple line and the actually route was the green line?



Just trying to put the story of what happened together. As mentioned, I'm very glad that you are safe.

[mzamp]

Mr. Zamp is not from Utah, so he does not realize that aufull spelling and grandma are well-respected up here as a sign of bro-ness, and not being a sheeple to the East-coast environmental elitists!

Thom.

LOL! Spelling errors are one thing. I am one of the worlds worst spellers, and I would hate to admit how many times it took me to get through Eng102 while crusing through diffyQ and beyond. But for goodness sake pre-read what you typed before you hit post. Because even an illiterate like myself felt nauseous reading that.

What was the self-rescue plan? Did it fail? I would like to think you would want to know how he misinterpreted your beta. At least I would.

[Caverknight]

Yup that is what happened i was comparing toms map to another may in a guild book and was off by one ridge.