Near Miss in Lucky Ducky

[ratagonia]

Date: Sun Oct 24, 2004 5:22 pm
Subject: Lucky Ducky-Accident Report

Sunday, 10/16, was a beautiful fall day. We got off the boat on Lake Powell
at the moki steps and scrambled up them on our approach to Day Care Canyon. Our group consisted of Tom Jones, John Hart, Dave Pitney, Patti, Bette Steffen, Lori Abe, Amy Ramras and myself. We had a great time assisting one another through the canyon. We got to the 95 foot rappel and used a single 8mm line. Ten-year-old Amy descended first in style. I went next. I started down the beginning slope smiling with John taking photos. I got to the lip, felt a little awkward, played with placement of my feet a bit, reached out with my left hand for balance and all of the sudden I lost control of the rope, let go of the brake hand and was sliding down the 95 feet. Fast - real fast. My immediate reaction was to grab the rope with both hands above my devise. As I continued to slide I realized I better get my brake hand back on the rope, or I would really get hurt. I was able to do so, slightly before I reached bottom. I got off the rope and looked at my hands. Not a pretty sight.

Ram, my husband, counted that I have done over 100 raps this year. Although I am not an expert, I certainly have experience. After reviewing his photos, John Hart believes that my pack strap was caught up in the rope near the brake hand, so that when I tried to, I was unable to brake. Then I let go. Poor choices will be punished.

I suffered severe rope burn on both hands. Many 1st and 2nd degree burns. My fingertips are fine. It's amazing what you can do with your fingertips! I can
even type this story! I am on antibiotic to prevent infection, ibuprofen for
swelling and pain and I'm using antibiotic ointments up the kazoozoo! I have a
whole new respect for burn victims and those with disabilities. Tying shoes,
opening doors, and brushing hair, have all become quite difficult. At least I
don't have to wash dishesJ. I am fortunate to be surrounded by people who love me and help me. The doctor gave me good news in saying that unlike fractures, which take months to heal, burns take only weeks to heal. Although they still look gross, my hands look better everyday.

I obviously made some errors that led to the incident. What could I have done
differently? What will I do differently? Using a fireman seems like such a
simple solution. The use of gloves have been argued lately on the group, guess which side I'm on? Mountain friends, Melon and Ziff, insist on using a prussic system when rapping. I have not seen this issue discussed on the group. Thoughts anyone? I will lean back and never ever let go of the brake hand again!

Focus is another issue. My husband, friends and myself have had serious
discussions about whether I should continue in these high-risk activities. On 2
recent occasions, including this one, I have made errors for which I could have paid the ultimate price. I have decided to continue in these activities which I love so much. I will double my focus when in dangerous areas and take advantage of the precautions discussed above. See you out there!

There were many things working in my favor. The jaws device slowed me down. I was able to stop myself, at the expense of my hands. I was with people who knew what to do. Thanks to Bette for applying first aid and giving me ibuprofen.

Thanks to Lori for lending me gloves that weren't quite so wet! Thanks to the
group for helping me through the rest of the canyon and through the pools
without getting my hands wet. Thanks to Tom for his exceptional leadership.
Thanks to Jen and Kyler, nurses back at camp who gave me all the correct advice on how to treat my rope burn. Thanks to Patti and Roy who wouldn't even let me drive an inch of the way home back to Fort Collins. Even Roy's husband, Steve (who wasn't on the trip), got dragged into the driving piece of the whole episode. Thanks to my husband for returning home from his October canyoneering trip a whole week early to help me in my time of need. (Ultimately it didn't cost him anything because it has done nothing but rain in Utah since he left. He has always had good timing.) I am truly touched by all those who have expressed love, care and concern. You went over and above the call of duty to help me. I feel lucky to be surrounded by such an extraordinary group of people.

The incident could have been much worse. I feel very fortunate, kind of like
a cat with nine lives. Be careful out there.

Judy (Mountain Woman)

[ratagonia]

--- In canyons@yahoogroups.com, Jyseybold@a... wrote:
>
> Sunday, 10/16, was a beautiful fall day. We got off the boat on Lake
> Powell > at the moki steps and scrambled up them on our approach to Day
> Care Canyon. Our > group consisted of Tom Jones, John Hart, Dave Pitney,
> Patti, Bette Steffen, > Lori Abe, Amy Ramras and myself. We had a great
> time assisting one another > through the canyon. We got to the 95 foot
> rappel and used a single 8mm line. 10 year old Amy descended first in style.
> I went next. I started down the beginning > slope smiling with John taking
> photos. I got to the lip, felt a little awkward, played with placement of my > feet a bit, reached out with my left hand for balance and all of the sudden
> I lost control of the rope, let go of the brake > hand and was sliding down
> the 95 feet. Fast…real fast. My immediate reaction was to grab the rope
> with both hands above my devise. As I continued to slide I realized I better
> get my brake hand back on the rope, or I would really get hurt. I was able
> to do so, slightly before I reached bottom. I got off the rope and looked
> at my hands. Not a pretty sight.

Here's the show from my perspective:

We went off to do Day Care Canyon. Amy Ramras (age 10) was the only one who had been down the canyon before, but had a little problem in the squeezy side canyon leading to the main canyon, getting stuck (and frustrated) at one point, though we quickly extricated her. 10 minutes later we arrived at the one and only rappel in the canyon, a 95' rappel.

The mechanics of the rappel contributed to the incident. The first 20 feet were down a low-angle slab - steep enough that I did not walk down it to look at the rest of the rappel, but flat enough that the rappeller is not really "on the rope", but downclimbing with a little weight on the rope. The rap then drops off vertically or slightly overhanging for about 60 feet, then runs out onto slabs and into a bowl. Past the bowl is a 20' slabby downclimb with a corner to brace against into a large pool.

The start of the rappel is further complicated by being of the double-fall-line
type. On the low-angle slab, the rappeller tends to the right, into the water
groove to the lip of the vertical. At the edge of the vertical, gravity wants
to correct the rappeler back to the primary fall line, 4 feet to the left. The
rope was a single line, 8mm climbing rope.

With a mixed group (mixed experienced and beginners), I make sure that all the beginners get a bottom belay on rappels. I always stay at the top to assist people in rigging their gear, to coach them starting the rappel, and to manage the responsibility of setting up the pull cord. This also allows me to shift the rope up a few feet after each rappel, in a situation like this where the rope passes over an edge.

I rigged the rope and chose Amy to go down first. Some have questioned sending a child down first. I chose Amy because: a. she wanted to, badly; b. she had been here before and therefore had a good idea what the rappel was like; c. she is a good rappeller. I set her rappel device up slow on the rope and off she went. No problem.

I selected Judy to go second. I chose her for several reasons -
a. I was cold, she was cold, getting her down, out of the wind and into the bowl seemed like a good idea;
b. I wanted her and Amy to complete the downclimb, swim the pool and change out of their wetsuits and into their regular clothes, to warm up. As it happens, this big pool was not the last swim in the canyon so we did not change clothes there.

I helped Judy hook up on the rappel. We set her up slow, two biners under an ATC-XP, using the ATC mode (because XP mode with two biners under is very grabby). At the last moment, I considered that I did not really know what the rap looked like, and asked Judy if she wanted a bottom belay. She looked down at it and said "No, I'll be OK".

Judy started off, following the upper fall line into the groove. At the edge of
the vertical section, she paused to consider the swing to the left she would
encounter, then stepped over the edge, fell sideways and dropped from sight. We heard some mildly bad sounds and waited for some really bad sounds, which thankfully did not come. We heard a weak "I'm OK".

I sent Bette down next to administer to any injuries, then Pitney. Next was our two beginners. Pitney provided a bottom belay for Lori and Patti. Lori went first (her 3rd or 4th rappel in her life) and had some difficulty with the
fall-line correction, but did OK. She served as a good example for Patti, who
executed it perfectly. John packed up his camera and rapped; and got everyone moving out of the way so I could toss down the pull cord. I set up the rope for retrieval and rapped down, and we cleaned and packed the ropes.

ANALYSIS:

A. Managing for the wrong thing: I was managing for the chill I was feeling,
rather than managing the rappel directly. The rappel was technically more
difficult than I appreciated, and deserved more respect.

B. Beginners Hnds: while Judy is an experienced canyoneer, she also has no
natural talent on-rope. Her nickname is Princess Grace. Last time we had
canyoned together was in the spring, and I know she had a lot of experience
since then, so I moved her into the "experienced canyoneer" column. This was a mistake. It is clear that her lack of physical talent will ALWAYS have her in the beginner category, at least in regard to rappelling, so that Judy should have a bottom belay on ALL rappels, long, short, easy, hard, etc. Does this make her a liability? Not really. It makes her a poor choice for a 2-person team in a new canyon, for performing rescues, or climbing El Cap, but these are not things she would do anyway. It is a point that needs to be brought out and managed, but is easily done so.

C. First rappel, first rope. The first rappel of the day is always a bit more
challenging, and the first time on a particular rope. The challenging nature of
this particular rappel also contributed - the transition from slab to vertical
simultaneous with controlling a 4 foot swing to the side. Appreciate all these
attributes.

My thanks to Judy for avoiding serious injury, and to Fate for allowing us out
of this one with minimal consequences.

Tom

[hitchings]

Beats me why folks don't user caver's racks - much safer. For novices and pros alike. Thanks for the trip report.