Incident:Fall into hydraulic in Davis Creek Canyon 2016/06/24
| Incident:Fall into hydraulic in Davis Creek Canyon 2016/06/24 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2016/06/24 |
| Location | Davis Creek Canyon |
| Severity | No loss |
| Canyoneering-related | Yes |
| SAR involvement | No |
| Navigation problem | No |
| Environmental problem | No |
| Communication problem | No |
| Planning problem | No |
| Skills problem | Yes |
| Body movement problem | No |
| Rigging problem | No |
| Rappel problem | No |
| Insufficient gear | No |
| Gear failure | No |
Summary[edit]
Fall into dangerous hydraulic
Accounts[edit]
I fell 40' down a waterfall into the most dangerous hydraulic of Davis Canyon with a pack on my back and a bag clipped to my side. I'm writing this partly because I think it'll be therapeutic but also because I hope people can learn something from it as well.
We went into Davis Canyon in the PNW at extreme levels. This is a canyon I'd run 4 times prior (in high flow) gone first or last on all the dangerous sections, and was able to escape the potholes/hydraulics. There was at least 30-40% more water when we went in. The canyon has changed significantly since the last season - logs that were anchors had been flushed away, rappels are now jumps, logs used as footholds are buried 2 feet underneath the water, downclimbs became slides, and the swirling potholes weren't just swirling, they were swirling and all white water. The last technical rappel is the most dangerous. It's 80 feet and all the water lands into a hole about 3x4 wide (and very deep). Even in high flow, we normally rappel directly into the flow and land in the hydraulic and escape it. It'll bob you up and down for a while…but with a couple good kicks and diving down, you can catch the current out. With the current flow, our group decided it would be safer to avoid this hydraulic. This required rappelling down some very slippery rock DCR, crossing the waterfall, getting onto a ledge, traversing to a ledge, getting off rope and jumping 30 ft from the chaos. Once you start crossing the waterfall, you run the risk of penduluming. Two people had gone down before me. We needed to deploy the pull line so as to set up a meat guided rappel. The anchor is on a slippery slope DCR and Luca had attached two rope bags to my side before I got on rappel. In order to get around him, I had to go below him and stepped over the rappel line (as it was weighted by the force of the water). As I started rappeling, I realized the lines were crossed and that some of the ropes had started to come out of the bag. I struggled to fix the issue as I was slipping on slippery rock, had problems pulling up the rope bags and moving them since they were getting pulled down by the water, and had problems lifting the rappel line since that too was getting pulled by the water. Luca saw the issue and told me ascend back up. He thankfully made the call that I was too frazzled to deploy the two rope bags and instead gave me a bag to take down instead. With the pack to my side and my own pack on me, I rappelled down a couple feet. I slipped, but no problem, I've done that before and got back up. Now I had to cross the slippery waterfall. Once you start crossing the waterfall, you are no longer directly in the rappel line and risk penduluming. I could tell the pack on my side was getting pushed by the water and was throwing me off balance. When I crossed the waterfall, I slipped again. But this time I was in the full force of the water and I struggled and kicked to get back on my knees and feet. I should have locked off to free my hands to get myself upright, but I death gripped the rappel line and the line that I hold through my biner attached to the descender and kicked my way up right again. When I was back up on my feet, I was 2 feet away from a ledge that I thought I could use a little momentum to catch the ledge. I had minimum friction on (which I always use when rappelling in waterfall), took a step…
All I remember after that is that I was falling, being engulfed in water, having a tremendous of waterfall pushing me down. I knew I hit a few things on the way down but before I knew it, I was deep inside a hydraulic and took a few good spins. I attempted to swim to the surface, but even with a few strides, I still wasn't at the surface. I remember thinking "shit, I didn't breathe before I landed!" I wanted to take a breathe but still hadn't broken the surface. I kept kicking and eventually made it to the surface. I remember feeling relieved but then immediately felt the pack at my side dragging me down. Immediately I knew I was not in a good situation but all I could think to do was to just keep my head above water so I could breathe. I tried swimming out but the pack kept pulling me back. The entire waterfall was also crashing down on my head. I just remember trying to swim out (more like flailing my arms) and suddenly I was getting pulled out.
Thor had thrown a rescue rope and though I had no clue that he had thrown it, I had somehow managed to grab it and Logan and Thor pulled me out. The first words out of my mouth (and I think I repeated it a few times) was: "I couldn't get out, the pack kept pulling me down." I luckily came out with a few bruises and a whole bunch of new things I've learned.
I've only had a night to process the events but here's what I've realized so far:
1. The canyon at this flow is only for really, really experienced Class C canyoneers. I'm not even qualifying myself - I'm talking guide level who regularly practice in this type of flow. This canyon has serious consequences in this flow.
2. Normally, I use minimal friction on a waterfall so as to avoid inverting if there's too much flow (seen it happen several times). It's also good when going through a heavy flow section to go quickly. I should have gone with minimal friction and added friction as I got to the slippery section and crossed the waterfall.
3. I should not have rappelled with my pack or the bag on my side. The plan was to throw them once I crossed the waterfall but I didn't even make it that far. If you throw them any sooner, they'll get lost in the hydraulic.
4. When I slipped in the waterfall, I should have immediately locked off so as to free both hands to regain my stance.
5. I shouldn't not have made that large step to the ledge. Slow and little (stable) steps is better to cross a strong waterfall where you risk penduluming. Once I took that large step, my left foot probably slipped, I was in the full force with water pushing my pack down, the pack on my side down, and me down. It inverted me horizontally. With minimal friction and that force, I didn't stand a chance and I fell.
6. When I was in the hydraulic, I should have dived underneath to escape the hydraulic.
7. Always have the most experience person go down first and have the throw line ready.
8. All packs/rope bags should be closed or tightened to avoid water from getting in and acting as a sail.
9. Most canyoneers who are right handed rappel with the rope bag clipped to their left side. This is fine for dry canyons but is deadly for Class C canyons. In this situation, if the pack is clipped to left, it is closest to the water and could quickly fill with water, tangle the rope, and pull you down. If you slip with the pack clipped to your left, you'll have to fight the force of the water pushing down the pack. If the pack is clipped to the right, it's further away from the water. If you slip, it's less likely to fill up with water and won't act like a sail to push you down further. The key is to keep the rope bag as far away from the water to avoid it being a sail -- it it needs to be moved from one side to another on rappel, lock off and change it.
10. In this flow, the drop needs to be bolted differently. The waterfall should be crossed much higher up (DCL) in order to avoid traversing a slippery waterfall. Once I get my balls back (and lower flow), this will be fixed.
11. I've rappelled lots of strong waterfalls before and feel comfortable in big water, but this situation really threw me in for spin (literally).
12. You might see me in dry canyons for a while. No, I'm kidding.