Conditions:Bottomless Pit Canyon-20241102020534

Latest:	2 Nov 2024 (6 mos ago)

Reported by:	Abby Wines (50 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:
Wetsuit:
Water temperature:
Difficulty:
Time:	23 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: At the time we did this, Ropewiki beta said there were 19 rappels. We did 26 rappels that were not optional and rapped another 5 or 6 times that would have been bypasses or downclimbs in daylight.

Approach hike took us from 6:30am to 1pm. I've done this approach once before (for Devils Arch Canyon), and we were definitely slower this time. Lots of group gear was a contributing factor. Between the four of us, we had 12 rapides, 190 feet of webbing, 200' ropes x 2, 200' pull cords x 2, and 440' rope. We each had 3 liters of water, and definitely wanted more (temps in 70s).

The big rap took about 1.5 hours, including rope pull. The sun set just before the final rappeler started down. We were grateful to complete this in daylight.

Two ropes are still hanging from the intermediate anchor on the ledge in the 380' rappel from the fatality that happened here a few years ago. (The next group should plan on cutting those ropes out. I should have, but was too concerned about our time to do anything extra.) One of the ropes has blown and wedged itself horizontally across the rappel right in line with where our rappel line was. Our first and second rappeler had no problem, just got themselves on the correct side of the obstacle. Our third rappeler struggled a bit in this area. I was final person down, and threw the pull side not knowing about the obstacle. I had part of the pull in a bag, but also about 200 feet that was coiled (above the bag). When I got to the horizontal rope, there was a huge bite of pull line on either side of the intersection of the horizontal rope and my rappel line, and the rest of the pull was on the same side of the horizontal rope as me. I had to lock off and pull up about a hundred feet of rope, throwing it to the other side of the horizontal rope.

Rope pull was hard. We it took two people's body weight with ascenders attached to the rope. Probably would help to extend the webbing for anchor to just over the edge of the drop, which we didn't. With the horizontal rope across the drop, I'm really glad we didn't use a fiddlestick. Once that obstacle is cut out, I think a fiddle will work well here, but you'll want to have people pulling the rappel line from the bottom at an angle away from the drop. There are some rock flakes the rope could fall into and get snagged.

The ledge in the big rap that can be used for an intermediate anchor looked sketchy as all get-out! It slopes at what looks like a 60-degree angle. The rap line from top anchor put you in line with the outer/bottom edge of it. So you'd need to swing in, or rap to lower part, lock yourself off, and scramble up to the ledge anchor. Any people on that ledge would need clipped into something. The anchor was two 20-foot-long pieces of webbing coming from under a rock about 2-feet long. I didn't go over to it to investigate what the webbing was attached to under that rock. The anchor is on a small shoulder that is at less than the extreme angle of the rest of the ledge. It's sheltered from the fall line, and didn't wash out in the flash floods in 2022 or Hurricane Hilary in 2023, so that rock would likely always be there. But there is no other anchor material. It's a solid rock slope.

The first rappel was only a couple hundred vertical feet from the top of the approach, and the last one was really low, so the whole length of the canyon is technical (about 3,800' feet of the elevation drop), with boulder obstacles, downclimbs, and rappels. I added up that we rappeled 1,962 feet (or 0.37 miles)!

I had a great day, but likely will never choose to do this canyon again. It had some pretty rocks (limestone with white veins) but overall wasn't that pretty. Didn't have many sculpted canyon sections. As far as length of day, this was like doing Cerebrus after hiking up from valley floor.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
2 Nov 2024	Good				23 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Abby Wines (50 reports)
Comment: At the time we did this, Ropewiki beta said there were 19 rappels. We did 26 rappels that were not optional and rapped another 5 or 6 times that would have been bypasses or downclimbs in daylight. Approach hike took us from 6:30am to 1pm. I've done this approach once before (for Devils Arch Canyon), and we were definitely slower this time. Lots of group gear was a contributing factor. Between the four of us, we had 12 rapides, 190 feet of webbing, 200' ropes x 2, 200' pull cords x 2, and 440' rope. We each had 3 liters of water, and definitely wanted more (temps in 70s). The big rap took about 1.5 hours, including rope pull. The sun set just before the final rappeler started down. We were grateful to complete this in daylight. Two ropes are still hanging from the intermediate anchor on the ledge in the 380' rappel from the fatality that happened here a few years ago. (The next group should plan on cutting those ropes out. I should have, but was too concerned about our time to do anything extra.) One of the ropes has blown and wedged itself horizontally across the rappel right in line with where our rappel line was. Our first and second rappeler had no problem, just got themselves on the correct side of the obstacle. Our third rappeler struggled a bit in this area. I was final person down, and threw the pull side not knowing about the obstacle. I had part of the pull in a bag, but also about 200 feet that was coiled (above the bag). When I got to the horizontal rope, there was a huge bite of pull line on either side of the intersection of the horizontal rope and my rappel line, and the rest of the pull was on the same side of the horizontal rope as me. I had to lock off and pull up about a hundred feet of rope, throwing it to the other side of the horizontal rope. Rope pull was hard. We it took two people's body weight with ascenders attached to the rope. Probably would help to extend the webbing for anchor to just over the edge of the drop, which we didn't. With the horizontal rope across the drop, I'm really glad we didn't use a fiddlestick. Once that obstacle is cut out, I think a fiddle will work well here, but you'll want to have people pulling the rappel line from the bottom at an angle away from the drop. There are some rock flakes the rope could fall into and get snagged. The ledge in the big rap that can be used for an intermediate anchor looked sketchy as all get-out! It slopes at what looks like a 60-degree angle. The rap line from top anchor put you in line with the outer/bottom edge of it. So you'd need to swing in, or rap to lower part, lock yourself off, and scramble up to the ledge anchor. Any people on that ledge would need clipped into something. The anchor was two 20-foot-long pieces of webbing coming from under a rock about 2-feet long. I didn't go over to it to investigate what the webbing was attached to under that rock. The anchor is on a small shoulder that is at less than the extreme angle of the rest of the ledge. It's sheltered from the fall line, and didn't wash out in the flash floods in 2022 or Hurricane Hilary in 2023, so that rock would likely always be there. But there is no other anchor material. It's a solid rock slope. The first rappel was only a couple hundred vertical feet from the top of the approach, and the last one was really low, so the whole length of the canyon is technical (about 3,800' feet of the elevation drop), with boulder obstacles, downclimbs, and rappels. I added up that we rappeled 1,962 feet (or 0.37 miles)! I had a great day, but likely will never choose to do this canyon again. It had some pretty rocks (limestone with white veins) but overall wasn't that pretty. Didn't have many sculpted canyon sections. As far as length of day, this was like doing Cerebrus after hiking up from valley floor.