Salome - The Jug Accident

[mzamp]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...-abrk/8029449/

Crews hiked two miles and swam upstream to rescue a man who sustained head injuries and was knocked unconscious from a climbing fall in a canyon at Roosevelt Lake on Tuesday, according to the Tonto Rim Search and Rescue Team.
The man's friend called 911 around 1:15 p.m. after hiking 30 minutes back to his car to get cell-phone service, Scott said. The man told the dispatcher his friend was injured after falling near the Salome Canyon on the east side of the lake, located in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix.
A rappel anchor that the climber was using broke about 25 feet above a pool at a waterfall near Salome Canyon, causing him to fall. The fall resulted in a head injury that knocked him unconscious, according to Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Tonto Basin Fire crews responded to the situation and hiked more than two miles to the canyon's mouth, according to a statement from the rescue team. A medic then swam approximately 600 feet upstream to the man's location to stabilize him and prepare him to be airlifted out of the area, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Due to daylight and possible wind concerns, crews prepared two different methods of extraction from the canyon, including a vertical extraction and a long-line extraction, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
The helicopter was called to the scene a little before 4:30 p.m. Once the man was air lifted out, the medical helicopter was expected to take the climber to a Phoenix trauma center, Scott said.
After assessing the situation, the DPS helicopter decided that they could perform a long-line rescue mid-canyon and successfully extracted the man, who was alert and conscious, from the canyon.
Once the man was evacuated, crews swam and hiked back out of the canyon.

[mzamp]

I love the last line of the article...

"Once the man was evacuated, crews swam and hiked back out of the canyon."

[Eric Holden]

"A rappel anchor that the climber was using broke"

Curious to hear more on the anchor issue.

[mzamp]

"A rappel anchor that the climber was using broke"

Curious to hear more on the anchor issue.

Me too.
My guess is the climber was not a climber, but a Canyoneer. The accident wasn't near Salome canyon, but in it (right at the Jug since that is the only rappel).

[MrAdam]

Me too.
My guess is the climber was not a climber, but a Canyoneer. The accident wasn't near Salome canyon, but in it (right at the Jug since that is the only rappel).

Nearly everytime I have done the Jug, the anchor at the one rappel has been an absolute mess and needed to be replaced. The article states that the anchor failed, but in the video the reporter said the rope broke..... but they also said they were climbing and not canyoneering....... gotta love the news.

[canyonexplorer]

I was just there 2 weeks ago and the ancor and webbing on canyon right just above the falls was in good shape. I didn't inspect the ancor off to the right of the falls and suspect that's the one that failed.

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[mzamp]

Nearly everytime I have done the Jug, the anchor at the one rappel has been an absolute mess and needed to be replaced. The article states that the anchor failed, but in the video the reporter said the rope broke..... but they also said they were climbing and not canyoneering....... gotta love the news.

We have actually only been through Salome once and that was years ago. The popularity and length keeps us away. Too many other nice uncrowded canyons out there. IMHO. Anyway, Kelli didn't have sticky rubber at the time and slipped while making the traverse. Had she not been clipped in or if the handline was F'd up she would have gone down.

I wish the news could get it right and report information that may be useful.

[canyonexplorer]

Yeah it is quite short for all the effort to drive and hike down to it. Only saw 3 people though this time. Much better than going during the crowded summer months.

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[lucach]

I am afraid that the news don't handle well the technical details...

What they report as "the anchor broke" could be a number of different things:
a) "biner block was wrong and came undone"
b) "rappeled down the unblocked side of the rope"
c) "descender was rigged the wrong way"
d) "was clipped in, but tether was tied to plastic gear loop which broke when he weighted it"

Stuff like this happens more often than one may think.