Conditions:Sentinel Falls-20190909153331
Latest: |
8 Sep 2019 (5 yrs, 9 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | AmandaC (40 reports), Jessie Leila (17 reports), Rodtel314 (36 reports), Morgan (103 reports), Reeves (37 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | Very Low |
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| Wetsuit: | Rain jacket |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Special challenges |
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| Time: |  12 hours
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Team: 7 people with experience level Intermediate to Expert
Trip report URL:
Comments: Morgan: Third descent of this canyon. It's a rope eater - we briefly stuck a C-IV below R1 after missing the R2 anchor and combining the two rappels, but were able to retrieve it after one of our party climbed and downclimbed R2. (On this note, R2 may be optional for a party with strong downclimbing skills.) A second rope sustained a core shot over a sharp edge DCL on the 20' nuisance drop at R7. Alex: We installed a redirect to prevent further coreshots on the nuisance rappel - the first occurred after a single rappeller. For future trips, recommended to either downclimb the second part of the rappel or use the redirect. We spent substantial amounts of time rigging R3 and R13 because we did not bring a rope longer than 200' aside from the 660' for the final rappel. It is highly recommended to bring longer ropes for these drops. Partly as a result of extra time spent at those rappels, we exited in the dark and had difficulty finding the previous party's track. However, we found reasonable bushwhacking routes down through the talus field to the trail.
Morgan: Bringing at least one rope in the 250-300' range in addition to the long rope you use for the final drop is HIGHLY recommended. We had the opportunity to talk briefly with the second descent party, who had run this canyon the day prior, and they warned us that several of the 200' rappels were appreciably longer than 200'. Having brought only 200'ish ropes and a 660' for the final drop, we identified these rappels in-canyon as R3 and R13. While it would have been possible to utilize the long rope we brought for these rappels, we decided as a team not to risk sticking the 660 on R3 due to the experience cited by the first descent party and opted to avoid managing 660' of rope back to back on R13 and R14 (final 530' drop).
We were able to find and construct an intermediate anchor on a ledge approximately 170' down R3, but would in hindsight have preferred a longer (250' or so) rope for R13 to avoid knot pass shenanigans and a significant amount of time spent problem solving at these two rappels.
The big drop is amazing, though extremely slippery and cold.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great | Low
| Rain jacket
| Special challenges | 9 hours
| 4 people Beginner to Expert | Sqshemet (77 reports),Kirbside (98 reports),Epeairs (72 reports) | |
Comment: All anchors looked like they hadn't been replaced since 2019. We replaced the first two bolted anchors and fiddlesticked the rest. At R14 we found no evidence of the bolts anywhere. Maybe the whole block they were on sheared off the wall? We added a single bolt and two knot chocks in their place.
Special challenges since finding suitable anchors to avoid rope snags and cuts was tricky, especially in the nuisance drop series leading up to R13. | |||||||
| Great | Very Low
| Rain jacket
| Special challenges | 12 hours
| 7 people Intermediate to Expert | AmandaC (40 reports),Jessie Leila (17 reports),Rodtel314 (36 reports),Morgan (103 reports),Reeves (37 reports) | |
Comment: Morgan: Third descent of this canyon. It's a rope eater - we briefly stuck a C-IV below R1 after missing the R2 anchor and combining the two rappels, but were able to retrieve it after one of our party climbed and downclimbed R2. (On this note, R2 may be optional for a party with strong downclimbing skills.) A second rope sustained a core shot over a sharp edge DCL on the 20' nuisance drop at R7. Alex: We installed a redirect to prevent further coreshots on the nuisance rappel - the first occurred after a single rappeller. For future trips, recommended to either downclimb the second part of the rappel or use the redirect. We spent substantial amounts of time rigging R3 and R13 because we did not bring a rope longer than 200' aside from the 660' for the final rappel. It is highly recommended to bring longer ropes for these drops. Partly as a result of extra time spent at those rappels, we exited in the dark and had difficulty finding the previous party's track. However, we found reasonable bushwhacking routes down through the talus field to the trail.
Morgan: Bringing at least one rope in the 250-300' range in addition to the long rope you use for the final drop is HIGHLY recommended. We had the opportunity to talk briefly with the second descent party, who had run this canyon the day prior, and they warned us that several of the 200' rappels were appreciably longer than 200'. Having brought only 200'ish ropes and a 660' for the final drop, we identified these rappels in-canyon as R3 and R13. While it would have been possible to utilize the long rope we brought for these rappels, we decided as a team not to risk sticking the 660 on R3 due to the experience cited by the first descent party and opted to avoid managing 660' of rope back to back on R13 and R14 (final 530' drop). We were able to find and construct an intermediate anchor on a ledge approximately 170' down R3, but would in hindsight have preferred a longer (250' or so) rope for R13 to avoid knot pass shenanigans and a significant amount of time spent problem solving at these two rappels. The big drop is amazing, though extremely slippery and cold.
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