Conditions:Monkey Business Slot-Candition20150320 qedcook
Latest: |
20 Mar 2015 (10 yrs, 2 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Amazing |
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| Waterflow: | ||
| Wetsuit: | ||
| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | ||
| Time: |
Trip report URL: http://www.candition.com/canyons/monkey-business-west-west-butler
Comments: See the full condition report at Candition.com. Submitted by qedcook.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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| | | |  6 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Advanced | Cheveran (92 reports) | ||
Comment: Enjoyable canyon - some fun stemming, partner work, and anchors. It's been wet recently, so there is some water and mud. We left the wetsuits behind and didn't mind (75 degrees out). At the obstacle anchored from a horn on the left (horn is shallow, not especially confidence inspiring), you have some options. We did a pack drag to a jump into the pothole for lpar, since it was deep (check depth!!). We did a partial bypass. The first optional pothole offered a tricky but engaging sand trap placement. We then opted for more sun and less swimming and we clambered out and skipped the rest (at least the next 2 holes look fairly contrived in present conditions). We noted that it might be tricky to get to the final rappel anchor from the last pothole if you go full direct.
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| Great | Very Low 
| None 
| Normal  | 8 hours
| 5 people Brand new to Advanced | Tcarlisle (75 reports) | |
Comment: Group of 5 including one athletic and adventurous beginner. There is some water in the canyon and while you will get your feet wet and muddy all deep water is avoidable so a wetsuit is not needed. We did rework some anchors and left everything in good shape. That being said, the final anchor is a massive cairn in a pot hole set way back--like 50 feet--from the edge. The webbing has more knots than necessary and extra strands but is in good condition. Since it was decent and would have taken a lot of time to clean up we left it as it is.
It is possible to walk around and bypass the "pothole section" but we actually stayed in it and had some fun experimenting with unnecessarily creative anchors. We had the idea of building a hookable cairn and wanted to test it out. We took the opportunity to enjoy a prolonged lunch in the shade at the bottom of the final rap before exiting. We had heard the Kelsey Exit was kind of miserable--comparable to the infamous MIA Exit, but honestly, it really wasn't that bad. I've exited up other rock filled gulleys that were more challenging, loose, or risky. The Kelsey exit is steep but solid.
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| Good | Very Low
| None
| Special challenges | 6 hours
| 3 people Intermediate | Ryandc (8 reports) | |
Comment: Group of 3, on April 29, 2024.
Lots of downclimbs, lots of stemming, a few sections of slant. There are a couple of things to note: - After doing the first rappel, I went ahead to rig the second rappel (which the beta indicates is 30 feet). I downclimbed it. And while I'd love to say "Yep, I'm that awesome," the reality is I was just doing the typical follow-the-watercourse thing, saw what looked like a mild slide into a pothole, and took it. So you don't need to rig what shows up on the beta as the second rap. However, it might be a good idea to if the pothole is keeping water (you'll either be stuck tossing your pack into water or potentially jumping into water of unknown depth). - The first rap is a a two-stage one. Make sure your ropes don't get crossed. With a 150' rope, it can be double-stranded. Do note that right now, this is a very awkward start due to how the webbing is extended. However, it's practically unavoidable; this is a stemming start. Webbing and anchor are in good condition. You rap down, into a pothole, do a corkscrew down to the bottom. Don't pull the rope until you're at the bottom. Right now it's a few pieces of webbing tied to a rapide tied to another piece of webbing tied to a rapide. You will almost certainly stick hardware here if you don't do this one double strand for the last person. - The last rap is a nice, clean, 60 or 70-footer. Again, 150' rope landed on the ground with at least 10-20 feet of extra rope on either side to spare. This is a much cleaner start and a much easier rap. Last 15 or 20 feet are freehanging. The anchor is extended about 30 feet. - After the second rap, you can go downcanyon right on a bypass. I would recommend this. There is one particularly sketchy looking slide that would be necessary to enter the fourth or fifth pothole after the second rap. - There is a squeeze in the first set of narrows that may prove problematic for those that are claustrophobic. I went down doing a kneebar with my pack tethered. - The exit is good but may be tiring. Look for the cairns, because the instinctive solution ("Keep going up") will land you in trouble. It's all 3rd Class Minus (IE, super easy scrambling, might need a hand here or there)... assuming you stay on the cairned trail. Which I didn't, and ended up in an occasionally sketchy place. Suggested stuff to bring: good gloves, 40-60 feet of webbing, accessory cord, knee pads scuttle butt.
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| Good | Deep pools
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 10 people Beginner to Advanced | Korey (65 reports) | |
Comment: Fun canyon with lots of variety. Runs the gamut of desert canyoning with stemming, narrow slots, and potholes. Had a little rain scare as were we just descending into the first pothole, but no noticeable rise in water levels.
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| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal |  3 hours
| 7 people Beginner to Advanced | Ibleedcoffee (6 reports) | |
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| Good | Very Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 5 hours
| 4 people Intermediate to Expert | Johnbcaves (160 reports) | |
Comment: Digging/postholing thru deep drifts, sometimes stemming over the snow just to save effort, and having to be extra careful to inspect where the ground actually is below the snow... sometimes it's bridged over deeper slots and deceiving. Easy downclimbs were made extra challenging by ice. Some small jumps were made easier by snow mounds, but the "soft" sand was basically all frozen solid- a definite tradeoff... and then we come to the potholes with a layer of ice on top. One we had to walk across and one we had to rappel (off a very directional anchor) into. The deepest of these was luckily only thigh-deep and we skipped another half dozen or more near the exit. Exited the 3 mi hike out Butler Wash due to snow conditions.
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| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| | | | | Beerslot (17 reports) | |||
Comment: Excellent Day 2 canyon! We were surprised by the quality of this canyon - good sequences of down climbing, chimneying, partner assist, etc. Memorable beauty in this canyon though no interesting rappels of note. Exit hike had a fun sequence of chimneying to four class exit - a rare, fun troll toll. ST, LT, MS, and SA
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| Great | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Good | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Great | Dry
| None
| Normal | 6 hours
| 7 people Beginner to Advanced | French de (33 reports) | |
Comment: Nice canyon, lots of down climbing and unique rappels. We replaced all but one of the anchors and extended the quik links over the edges to prevent grooving. Very little water even after recent storms in the area. The climb out looks more difficult than it is and very scenic going up. Don't miss the ledge on the right about 2/3 of the way up. It is easy to miss. That ledge gets you over to the sandstone slickrock for easy climbing the rest of the way up. Everyone was a little sore after this canyon, lots of action
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| | | | | Candition.com (287 reports) | |||
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com, see Trip Report for full details.
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| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||