Scott Chandler
Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
This past weekend I was down in the Swell to teach with The University of Utah's Canyoneering courses. I managed to convince a friend of mine to take the class because we'd be teaching water canyon skills and we went down a bit early to do Zero Gravity before the class met up.
The trip down Zero Gravity was a blast. We blew through 2 hrs car to car with maybe a bit over an hour of that through the canyon. While we hit water right at the start of the canyon the canyon was drier than it could have been (the jump pool was at least 3 feet below full.) Rich partner assisted me up the semi keeper and surprised me by climbing up it himself while I got stuff out to give him a handline. Both being small we fit under the chokestone like a glove.
I got a video of it here:
After the canyon we proceeded to the end of the road at Straight Wash to wait for the class to appear and dry gear. Soon 11 other folks joined Richard and Myself at the trailhead and we prepared gear. A quick lesson on beta gathering and maps was done and we proceeded. In an attempt to shortcut the shortcut we climbed a good couple hundred feet just to get cliffed out. So much for those three sets of beta, map, and GPS
. Back we went and then over to the shortcut and then boom we were at the mouth of Eardley Canyon. Now to climb the hill... How far? To the top. Oh....
It took a while to get to the top. I never thought I would climb to the top of the San Rafael Reef but hey this canyon required that! A couple students rusty from the winter struggled up the hill and those ahead got lost. Eventually the strung out group found the gully to the bottom. It compares to Mystery I would say. It is slightly better but it is still a nasty gully. Gathered at the bottom we plodded to the beginning of the water, and hit it right around 1830.
Wetsuits were donned. Water was sipped/begged (most everyone was running out) and the three instructors talked. With the little time we had before nightfall we would not be able to do the pothole workshops we had hoped to do, folks would get cold. So instead we would show them how an efficient team can blow through a canyon.
Eardley was a blast. We blew through it in a couple hours, leap frogging rope and utilizing people well. All potholes had enough water to be easily escapable with only one where a partner assist would be nice. All were still swims though. Light failed us about half way through. The quick pace kept us all warm. Yells of "Scott, are you ready to play though yet" were a common sound as we leapfrogged. Soon we were out and changing. My last water vanished down my throat. Now to walk back? It was certainly a trudge but we all made it around 2200. Lots of water was drank and quick meals went down before we were all snoozing like babies.
The next day left us with a decision. The original plan was to drive to Music Canyon, to go down and teach ascending to go out. But the long day before and lack of workshopping the potholes made us wonder if the students would get the most from that option. We left it up to them, do Music and ascend, or go to the top of Zero G and do some workshops. The students picked the workshops.
So back to Zero Gravity I found myself. We hung around the top teaching pothole escape techniques with the natural arch, guided rappels, and ascending. While they weren't the most practical, they were better than nothing. Looking at the class we decided everyone could go through Zero Gravity and off down it we went.
Fun times in the Swell!!
The trip down Zero Gravity was a blast. We blew through 2 hrs car to car with maybe a bit over an hour of that through the canyon. While we hit water right at the start of the canyon the canyon was drier than it could have been (the jump pool was at least 3 feet below full.) Rich partner assisted me up the semi keeper and surprised me by climbing up it himself while I got stuff out to give him a handline. Both being small we fit under the chokestone like a glove.
I got a video of it here:
After the canyon we proceeded to the end of the road at Straight Wash to wait for the class to appear and dry gear. Soon 11 other folks joined Richard and Myself at the trailhead and we prepared gear. A quick lesson on beta gathering and maps was done and we proceeded. In an attempt to shortcut the shortcut we climbed a good couple hundred feet just to get cliffed out. So much for those three sets of beta, map, and GPS
. Back we went and then over to the shortcut and then boom we were at the mouth of Eardley Canyon. Now to climb the hill... How far? To the top. Oh....It took a while to get to the top. I never thought I would climb to the top of the San Rafael Reef but hey this canyon required that! A couple students rusty from the winter struggled up the hill and those ahead got lost. Eventually the strung out group found the gully to the bottom. It compares to Mystery I would say. It is slightly better but it is still a nasty gully. Gathered at the bottom we plodded to the beginning of the water, and hit it right around 1830.
Wetsuits were donned. Water was sipped/begged (most everyone was running out) and the three instructors talked. With the little time we had before nightfall we would not be able to do the pothole workshops we had hoped to do, folks would get cold. So instead we would show them how an efficient team can blow through a canyon.
Eardley was a blast. We blew through it in a couple hours, leap frogging rope and utilizing people well. All potholes had enough water to be easily escapable with only one where a partner assist would be nice. All were still swims though. Light failed us about half way through. The quick pace kept us all warm. Yells of "Scott, are you ready to play though yet" were a common sound as we leapfrogged. Soon we were out and changing. My last water vanished down my throat. Now to walk back? It was certainly a trudge but we all made it around 2200. Lots of water was drank and quick meals went down before we were all snoozing like babies.
The next day left us with a decision. The original plan was to drive to Music Canyon, to go down and teach ascending to go out. But the long day before and lack of workshopping the potholes made us wonder if the students would get the most from that option. We left it up to them, do Music and ascend, or go to the top of Zero G and do some workshops. The students picked the workshops.
So back to Zero Gravity I found myself. We hung around the top teaching pothole escape techniques with the natural arch, guided rappels, and ascending. While they weren't the most practical, they were better than nothing. Looking at the class we decided everyone could go through Zero Gravity and off down it we went.
Fun times in the Swell!!
