Date of Event: 6/4/2007
Canyon involved: Heaps
Region: Zion National Park, Utah
Country: USA
Submitted by: Dave Nally
Source: “Deaths & Rescues in Zion National Park” by Dave Nally
Injury: Fatality
Cause: Rigging error: incorrect use of carabiner block
Description of Event: On June 4, 2007, Keith Beidermann, age 48, of Garden Grove, California, fell to his death while canyoneering in Heaps Canyon. This is a technical canyon with numerous potholes. It requires a very long day or two days to complete. Depending on the amount of water in the potholes, it can be very exhausting. The final sequence involves three rappels on a near vertical face. The last rappel is 285 feet long.
Beidermann was accompanied by two other canyoneers. At the final sequence of rappels, the first of Beidermann’s partners was lowered so that he could retrieve a 300-foot rope that they had previously hidden in the rocks below (before starting their hike). During the lowering, the rope became stuck on a ledge for a bit, then fell, and became tangled. This required an extra 45 minutes to get the rope untangled. It was now dark. Once the first man was all the way down, and the hidden 300-footer was found, Beidermann hauled it up to the bird perch anchor. This rope was used by the second man to rappel to the bottom. The second man rappelled without incident, although the first man down had to help slow down his descent several times by using a fireman’s belay (pulling on the brake rope).
Upon completing the 285-foot final rappel, Beidermann’s two companions were at the Upper Emerald Pool waiting for him to descend. It was unknown at the time why Beidermann, who was an experienced canyoneer, fell the entire drop to his death. Once his companions determined that Beidermann had not survived the fall, they hiked down the trail to Zion Lodge, and reported the incident to Zion Dispatch at 11:30 p.m. Park Rangers responded to the scene and confirmed that it was a fatality.
Later, investigators determined that the carabiner-block that Keith had used was set so that both the carabiner and the rope that was tied to it, slid through a second carabiner it was supposed to be blocked against. Beidermann was connected to this rope that slid through, forcing him to plunge from the anchor all the way to the ground.
Later, investigators determined that Keith had set a carabiner-block up against the large carabiner he used for lowering, which was clipped into and hanging from the small rap-ring. When he initially weighted the rope, it was fine, but something shifted when Beidermann was on the rappel, and not far below the anchors. The carabiner-block slipped through the large carabiner (acting as the rap ring), and his rope was released from the anchor. That is what caused him (with his rope) to plunge 300 feet to his death.
Analysis: Anchors need to be properly set up and checked. One method of a block is a carabiner-block. It is set with a clove hitch tied to the spine of a large carabiner. This carabiner should be locked. Its size must be significantly larger than the ring (or rapide) that it blocks up against. The carabiner-block should not be blocked against another carabiner, especially one of the same size. If the blocking carabiner is smaller than the anchor ring, it can slip through the ring, causing catastrophic consequences.