Conditions:Deimos Canyon-20201201202641

Latest:	29 Nov 2020 (4 yrs, 6 mos ago)

Reported by:	Anhimal (12 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	13 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: We did the full route. I plan on never doing this again. The 1st 1/3 of the approach is steep and sketchy with lots of loose rocks everywhere so you have to be extra careful not to kicks rocks to members below. You also have to be very careful with the rocks you grab. Some look solid and are solid. Others look solid but as soon as you put weight on it, it breaks off.

The middle 1/3 of the approach is a nice reprieve from all the sketchiness. Then the last 1/3 of the approach continues with even more sketchy traverses. Less rocks coming loose but more exposure. By this time our legs were almost jello but we still had to be careful with where we step. The first rap is a little hard to find even with gps but we saw some cairans which was useful. I couldn't wait until we got to the "easy" part of the canyon where the rappels started.

All anchors were in good enough shape that we didn't need to replace them. The top had older webbing but once you get to the bottom half where the sneak route starts, the anchors look newer.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
12 Feb 2021	Amazing	Dry	None	Special challenges	10 hours	3 people	Willie92708 (1000 reports)
Comment: Although all of us had planned to do Deimos before the 30JAN2021 fatality at R3, this trip became an investigation for me as to what happened to my friend that day. Clearly it was a rock slide, but why had all the previous parties not seen the danger? Multiple parties recognized it as "sketchy" yet it extra precautions (staying on rope, or avoiding that spot) were not taken. Anyway, I learned quite a bit being there first hand, and I left an anchor that is safe and avoid the rockslide "room" The previous party left a 90 foot rope anchored to a large boulder well back in a solid section of the canyon. I used this rope (on rappel) to safely approach and go partly into the "rubble room". The room changed significantly from previous trip's photos. Much of the rocks have slid out. While on rope, one of the rocks I was standing on slid out and knocked more loose, all going over the 90 foot drop. I tossed a few to see how many are loose, and many of them are loose, including a 300 LBS rock at the edge of the drop as it teeters there when hit. This room is total mess; it would take an hour plus to "clean up", and then no guarantee it would be safe enough; as such, I decided to build an anchor elsewhere. I looked around and the most obvious solution was to lasso the huge point of the giant chockstone boulder that makes the “rubble room” DCR and a horribly awkward rappel over some small chockstones DCL from the end of the 90 foot rope. I had a 40 foot piece of well-loved Canyon Lux handy, so I lassoed the horn with that rope. 40 feet was plenty to make an anchor point, easy to use, a breeze to rappel from, and a clean line off the giant chockstone boulder and down a clean wall. Even though my partners were freaked out about this spot, especially after I trundled a few rocks, everyone was happy with the new rappel location, and tensions eased quickly once we all we down R3. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing by comparison. I will note that there were a few spots we rappelled using my FiddleStick where other parties had downclimbed, one spot just before R3. Some of these downclimbs seem rather sketchy because of very poor quality rock for hands and feet. Also, I would say (given the new R3 anchor point) that the upper 1/3 of the approach is far sketchier than anything in the canyon. Not to say that the canyon does not have tons of crumbly walls and such, but in the canyon all that stuff is avoidable, or can be rappelled over. On the approach, you have to climb on stuff that suspect. Also, some of the anchor webbing is getting rather old and should be replaced soon. We replaced quite a few pieces. Overall, Deimos is an awesome canyon, especially the upper parts. It’s terribly unfortunate that Justin died there, as he was a friend of mine too. We had chatted a bunch on FB, done a few canyon trips and rock climbing together. I saw he loved climbing, canyoning, and mountain climbing. I trust he would want us to carry on, as all my best climbing buddies do. Rest in peace, Justin.
29 Nov 2020					6 hours	8 people	Lsangaila (3 reports)
Comment: Sneak route, replaced several anchors but most were recently rebuilt and in adequate condition.
29 Nov 2020	Good	Dry		Normal	13 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Anhimal (12 reports)
Comment: We did the full route. I plan on never doing this again. The 1st 1/3 of the approach is steep and sketchy with lots of loose rocks everywhere so you have to be extra careful not to kicks rocks to members below. You also have to be very careful with the rocks you grab. Some look solid and are solid. Others look solid but as soon as you put weight on it, it breaks off. The middle 1/3 of the approach is a nice reprieve from all the sketchiness. Then the last 1/3 of the approach continues with even more sketchy traverses. Less rocks coming loose but more exposure. By this time our legs were almost jello but we still had to be careful with where we step. The first rap is a little hard to find even with gps but we saw some cairans which was useful. I couldn't wait until we got to the "easy" part of the canyon where the rappels started. All anchors were in good enough shape that we didn't need to replace them. The top had older webbing but once you get to the bottom half where the sneak route starts, the anchors look newer.
7 Jan 2020	Amazing	Dry	None	Normal	10 hours	2 people Intermediate to Brand new	CrackCocainino (9 reports)
Comment: Sneak route, with a newbie. This was my first technical canyon. Chose an excellent line up the mountain that only lead to one class 4 ledge. Smooth sailing (albeit uphill) until dropping in. Anchors were of good quality, save for the 135' which has had the cairn back-up cut off.
24 Nov 2018	Great	Dry	None	Normal	13 hours	8 people Beginner to Expert	Dangel (157 reports),Dominik (64 reports),Morgan (103 reports),Exitfiftyone (22 reports)
Comment: dangel: Replaced many anchors. There's still a few that are poorly rigged that we just went with. The false floor rappel is still dodgy. Late November is a great time of year to go. (High 70ºf, low 40ºf). Probably should have started at first light. 3.5-4L of water would have been ideal for me. Morgan: When approaching, don't be tempted by what resembles a large rock cairn ~150 vertical feet above the drop-in. This is a naturally occurring rock pile, but another team member and I climbed the extra gain (and loss) to figure that out!
17 Feb 2018	Amazing	Dry	None	Normal	12 hours	7 people Beginner to Expert	AmandaC (40 reports)
Comment: Ran the full route in dry, normal canyon conditions. Anchors were checked and most found in suitable condition and were not replaced. A rappelling accident occurred with a beginner in the group on rappel #3-95', which added some time to completing the rest of the canyon.
31 Dec 2017	Great	Dry	None	Normal	6 hours	2 people Advanced	Mcc (20 reports)
Comment: Great DV canyon. The upper section is absolutely worth doing - deep and narrow most of the way. We replaced a couple webbing anchors there. If you have a big group the full route will be a LONG day. Everyone in the group should be a strong hiker for the full route approach.
2 Dec 2017		Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	ARosen (20 reports)
Comment: We did the sneak route but unfortunately one of the team members had significant problems with both the approach and all the downclimbs in the canyon, adding greatly to the time. Replaced all anchors, and set up a new one at the rabbit hole because we didn't realize it went all the way down until someone entered it to tie the webbing. Beautiful canyon with stunning views. We probably did 6 or 7 rappels, except for the team members who was meat anchored on the downclimbs.
20 Feb 2017	Great	Very Low	None	Special challenges	3 hours	7 people Advanced to Expert	DMonroy (188 reports)
Comment: We took the sneak approach which cuts in for the last 6 or 7 rappels. It had been raining heavily so there was a lot of water in the canyon and the dry falls were actually flowing with a trickle of water.
31 Dec 2016	Amazing	Dry	None	Normal	12 hours	4 people Beginner to Intermediate	Wyoung (12 reports)
Comment: Wow! An epic approach and awesome canyon! Rebuilt one or two cairns that had been previously torn apart. Someone rapped off a crumbling horn more than half way down and some animals had nibbled on the webbing, so I removed it. That spot was also down-climbable so it made me wonder why someone had added this anchor in the first place.
16 Jan 2016	Great	Dry	None	Normal	12 hours	13 people Beginner to Expert	Sarafleetwood (8 reports)
Comment: Great canyon, but the approach was quite exposed.
16 Jan 2016	Great	Dry	None	Normal	12 hours	13 people Beginner to Expert	Dangel (157 reports),A. Anderson (33 reports)
Comment: Great run through Deimos. Large group. Rappelled about 7 more drops than in the beta for a total of 24 rappels. Missing one or two ropes that might have been mistakenly left in the canyon. please contact me if you find them. Thanks!