practicing pot-hole escapes

[baustin]

I've been canyoneering for four years now and I feel like I've got a good handle on the basics.

My buddy and I want to start developing some more advanced skills and the first one on the list is dealing with keepers.

What canyons would you recommend for practicing my pot-hole escape techniques?

In particular, do you know of any canyons where I can get into keepers and practice but still have an alternate escape route in case I bite off more than I can chew?

Thanks guys!

[Kuya]

Might wanna do a bogley search, as this question has been dealt with a bunch before; but some good pothole canyons are Knotted Rope, Quandary, and Cable Canyon.

[Michael_WB]

Or just buy a pair of BD talon hooks/etriers, get an Imlay permit, some common sense and an early start

[TommyBoy]

Or just buy a pair of BD talon hooks/etriers, get an Imlay permit, some common sense and an early start

The problem with this is that it doesn't really give pothole escape practice, since the vast majority of pothole canyons out there don't have hook holes drilled. Still a fun time though and a good suggestion. Also depending on how early you start and how fast you move, you could practice your ph escape techniques knowing you have an alternative method of escaping the holes if you just can't get out.

[Michael_WB]

That was kinda my point: given that all the possible Imlay keepers are pretty well-drilled, one could still try all manner of partner assists, pack-tosses, etc, before resorting to hooking/aiding out. And it's a beautiful canyon too.

[Byron]

I'll tell ya an outstanding place to practice those skills...alas, you'll need to backpack in there and stay a couple nights, but it'll certainly be worth it. By the time you come out, you'll be an expert.

It's call Rose Canyon (named by Steve Allen) and it's the first canyon south of Stevens Canyon in the Escalante. He details how to get there in his book that covers hikes in that area. Basically, you go up from the mouth of Steven's to the first big side canyon coming from the south...go up that nearly to it's end and make your way up to the Navajo on the north side. You'll see it, it's pretty steep, but doable.

Make you way along the rim of that side canyon and then head directly south to Rose. From Crack in the Wall, you can make it to Rose in one long day, a day and a half if you or your friends aren't speedy hikers.

The beauty of Rose is that aside from the pour off down by the river, it's a wide open trench/wash for two miles. The potholes get bigger, deeper and some filled with water as you make your way down. You're not committed in an entrenched canyon, so you have escapes all around.

Back in the day, we didn't have hooks or potshots...we would load up a daypack with sand and rocks and huck it over to the other side 'till it grabbed and then climb up the rope hand over hand, with leather gloves, of course.

Miles of potholes...big, small, steep, deep, dry and wet. You'll want at least two nights for the trip, perhaps figure three.

[Iceaxe]

Simple answer.... Quandary is the canyon you want to do and practice pothole escapes in. All the potholes can be easily defeated with a pack toss. There are several different potholes so you will get lots of practice if you attempt several methods of escaping each pothole. You can always use the go-to method of a pack toss to escape if your other methods fail.

For the record, BD Talons require a drill to be reliable as old holes have a bad habit of blowing out after a couple of years. Imlay is filled with blown hook holes. Hooking is also considered an obsolete/last resort method as more advanced techniques have become popular. It's been 15 years since I last had to hook out of a pothole, and I think I could now escape those using other less damaging methods.

Quandary Canyon Beta

[spinesnaper]

Love that picture. When you are in the area to do Quandary direct, don't forget to also do the Squeeze. If you're lucky, you'll run into some quick sand. Pot hole school.

Ken

[Michael_WB]

Other elements, such as team size and water levels, can also dictate whether hooking can be necessary or not.

FWIW as a team of two we took hooks/etriers (and a drill) into a medium water level Imlay earlier this year. Hooked out in two places only, where safety considerations (i.e. don't both end up in the water before the first person has successfully exited) and terrain shape past the pothole itself, meant that any other 'advanced techniques' were not effective. Still plenty of usable holes at numerous points in whole canyon; the drill/hammer stayed in the pack the entire trip.

[ratagonia]

"spinesnaper

Love that picture. When you are in the area to do Quandary direct, don't forget to also do the Squeeze. If you're lucky, you'll run into some quick sand. Pot hole school.

Ken"

The Squeeze has a pothole that CAN be quite difficult.

Tom

Other elements, such as team size and water levels, can also dictate whether hooking can be necessary or not.

FWIW as a team of two we took hooks/etriers (and a drill) into a medium water level Imlay earlier this year. Hooked out in two places only, where safety considerations (i.e. don't both end up in the water before the first person has successfully exited) and terrain shape past the pothole itself, meant that any other 'advanced techniques' were not effective. Still plenty of usable holes at numerous points in whole canyon; the drill/hammer stayed in the pack the entire trip.

Das Boat!

[spinesnaper]

Tom

That was true. The squeeze was much more sinister than Quandary. It was kind of like watching a scary movie, you know it was coming, you just didn't know which corner it would be. I think I had a little bit of a knot in my stomach through most of the canyon to be honest. It was a fight out of many of the potholes for us with a lot of treading of water.

I lost a nice pocket knife hucking myself over one of the pot hole lips after an ugly pack toss. Beached whale, call it what you will. As I recall loosing the knife but getting out of the pot hole was a fair trade off.

You are right to point out the risks and the need for the right resources to work through the canyon. It is a dangerous environment without a doubt.

Can you perform marriages on that vessel? Do you need coast guard registry?


Ken

[Michael_WB]

Das Boat!

indeed. With (at least?) four in a group other possibilities exist. Safe techniques become somewhat more limited as a team of two, which is how I've done the vast majority of canyoneering (and hiking/mountaineering) trips.