ratagonia
05-23-2005, 12:20 PM
Hmmm, I seem to be a regular contributor to this section...
At Tom's Canyon Festival in May, 2005, we had a near miss in TCB (aka Alcatraz, or the North Fork of Twin Corral Box Canyon, in the Robbers Roost area).
The canyon is a half-day canyon begun with a rappel off the bumper of a car (actually, off the tow points, backed up to other parts of the frame). The canyon has one more short rappel, then becomes narrow and twisty, with many climbing obstacles.
Our group was a mix of many people I had canyoned with before, with a variety of body sizes and skills. TCB is quite narrow in some sections, but all of these have an alternative climb-over. Even very small people have to do the climb-over in a couple of spots.
I have always done this canyon previously with "The A-Team" - friends I canyon with and consider the best crew. We have a natural way of working together, helping each other over obstacles, etc., that is well-suited to this canyon. Many of the climb-ups are 5.8ish without an assist, and 5.4ish with an assist.
As group leader, it was up to me to establish that this was the style we would be doing the canyon - I did not do this, and instead, we used the lone-ranger method, each person figuring out and executing each problem by themselves. Due to the rappels, I was leading from the back.
One member of the party, "Bob" (not his real name), was definitely going to be challenged by the canyon. While the average age of the group was high, the average fitness level was also high. We had small people, and tall, fit people, then me, who can claim HWP, and then Bob, who is somewhat larger and less fit than I. I knew he would be challenged by the canyon, but I also know that he is game.
We spread out through the canyon, and worked out the problems as we went. Because the canyon is short, we were not in a hurry, so our little group in the back putted along at a casual pace. After a while, we could hear grumbling and near-cursing from Bob as he worked through the problems and we caught up to him.
Right near the end is the narrowest section, where everyone climbs up about 6 feet to get over a slot. The climbup is difficult without assistance. We caught up to Bob here, just after he had decided to do a different up-climb and traverse, rather than the one at the start of the crack. This is what I consider the near-miss.
Bob, left on his own, chose an easier up-climb, followed by a more-difficult and dangerous bridging traverse 10-feet above the ground. This was inappropriate. However, nothing succeeds like success, and Bob executed the traverse without incident, and completed the canyon.
Self-Analysis: it is up to the trip leader (me) to set the style of descent. In this case, lack of teamwork and support led the most-challenged member of the team to make an inappropriate choice of climbs, which thankfully did not result in injury. Since Bob was left on his own to deal with the challenges, I believe he found it physically, then emotionally, challenging, and was a bit out of control. This led to making a bad and dangerous choice.
Tom Jones
Canyoneering USA
At Tom's Canyon Festival in May, 2005, we had a near miss in TCB (aka Alcatraz, or the North Fork of Twin Corral Box Canyon, in the Robbers Roost area).
The canyon is a half-day canyon begun with a rappel off the bumper of a car (actually, off the tow points, backed up to other parts of the frame). The canyon has one more short rappel, then becomes narrow and twisty, with many climbing obstacles.
Our group was a mix of many people I had canyoned with before, with a variety of body sizes and skills. TCB is quite narrow in some sections, but all of these have an alternative climb-over. Even very small people have to do the climb-over in a couple of spots.
I have always done this canyon previously with "The A-Team" - friends I canyon with and consider the best crew. We have a natural way of working together, helping each other over obstacles, etc., that is well-suited to this canyon. Many of the climb-ups are 5.8ish without an assist, and 5.4ish with an assist.
As group leader, it was up to me to establish that this was the style we would be doing the canyon - I did not do this, and instead, we used the lone-ranger method, each person figuring out and executing each problem by themselves. Due to the rappels, I was leading from the back.
One member of the party, "Bob" (not his real name), was definitely going to be challenged by the canyon. While the average age of the group was high, the average fitness level was also high. We had small people, and tall, fit people, then me, who can claim HWP, and then Bob, who is somewhat larger and less fit than I. I knew he would be challenged by the canyon, but I also know that he is game.
We spread out through the canyon, and worked out the problems as we went. Because the canyon is short, we were not in a hurry, so our little group in the back putted along at a casual pace. After a while, we could hear grumbling and near-cursing from Bob as he worked through the problems and we caught up to him.
Right near the end is the narrowest section, where everyone climbs up about 6 feet to get over a slot. The climbup is difficult without assistance. We caught up to Bob here, just after he had decided to do a different up-climb and traverse, rather than the one at the start of the crack. This is what I consider the near-miss.
Bob, left on his own, chose an easier up-climb, followed by a more-difficult and dangerous bridging traverse 10-feet above the ground. This was inappropriate. However, nothing succeeds like success, and Bob executed the traverse without incident, and completed the canyon.
Self-Analysis: it is up to the trip leader (me) to set the style of descent. In this case, lack of teamwork and support led the most-challenged member of the team to make an inappropriate choice of climbs, which thankfully did not result in injury. Since Bob was left on his own to deal with the challenges, I believe he found it physically, then emotionally, challenging, and was a bit out of control. This led to making a bad and dangerous choice.
Tom Jones
Canyoneering USA