Date of Event: 3/17/2018
Canyon involved: Salamander Canyon (aka Hot Spring Canyon)
Region: Southern California, Cleveland National Forest
Country: United States
Submitted by: Danielle Monroy
Source: Canyon Collective
Injury: Fatality
Cause: Static block failure, no backup

Description of Event:  Two experienced canyoneers, Joy Welling and Casey Petersen, set out to run the canyon. Three and a half hours and 2.5 miles into the canyon, they reached Tanriverdi falls, 160’ waterfall. A 200’ Imlay Canyon Fire rope was rigged to the anchor with a figure 8 block. As Joy got on rappel, Casey said that he

watched and talked with her for the first 15-20 feet of her decent until I could not see her. I then walked away to grab my 200 foot rope to attach to the tail as a pull. She was on rappel for at least a minute or 2. At which point, I heard a clink and looked over and saw the rest of her rope go over the edge and heard her hit. My guess was that while shifting on the face of the falls, the 8 may have been caught on part of the rock, somehow releasing the 8. I have used this block technique and never seen it fail. I yelled for her, no response. I looked over the edge and could not see her. I checked to see if I had service, although it was slight I was able to call 911 knowing I would not have any service at the bottom of the falls. I spoke with dispatch and was able to quickly describe my position in relative to the mountain range and my coordinates, then lost signal. I went back to the ledge where I was able to clip into the webbing and lean over as far as I could where I saw her lying in the pool face down, unresponsive, no movement.

A helicopter was able to bring in a SAR team to rescue Casey and retrieve Joy.

Analysis:

  • The figure 8 block is normally used in contingency rigging for flowing water conditions. The figure 8 block used in this accident was not set up for contingency; it was essentially being used as a static block.
  • The block failed when the rope somehow released through the figure 8 device. As with any static block, this failure mode can be mitigated by securing the tail and/or retrieval side of the rope to a suitable anchor.

The accident site