Date of Event: 7/24/2010
Canyon involved: Spry
Region: Zion National Park, Utah
Country: USA
Submitted by: Dave Nally
Source: “Deaths & Rescues in Zion National Park” by Dave Nally
Injury: Abrasion, Laceration, Puncture wound, Sprain/strain, Fracture
Cause: Weather, Flash Flood
Description of Event: On July 24, 2010 Joe Cain, David Frankhouser and Jason Fico, three Las Vegas canyoneers were descending Spry Canyon. Over one inch of rain dumped in the canyon’s headwaters in a 30-minute time period. The weather forecast had indicated a 30% chance of rain for the day. Spry Canyon requires a dozen rappels, the longest being 165 feet.
By mid-afternoon they were mostly through the canyon. They heard thunder but had no way of knowing that the National Weather Service had upgraded the forecast to a flash flood warning. A swirling red river came out of nowhere, quickly rising from the canyon floor. There was no option for the canyoneers to escape. They were in a deep, narrow chamber mid-canyon. Water was filling up around them. They were clinging to a single rope anchored into the rock wall. Rocks, leaves, and sand fell down and pelted them as the heavy rains drenched them from above. All three were experienced rock climbers, and they considered chimney climbing up the rock face―a move that climbers use to shimmy up or down between two walls. Cain said there was no way he could have climbed up the walls that were as slick as ice. “What could we do? We were grasping for straws. “I thought I was going to die,” Cain added. “There was actually enough time to think about that, and I was thinking about my kids and them not having a dad. It was very terrifying. We had to hang on for dear life until we couldn’t hang on anymore and we got lucky,” he said.
Finally, too tired to hang on any longer, they dropped into the water. They were tossed through a narrow corridor in the canyon until they tumbled over a 40-foot cliff.
Cain survived the fall with a broken tailbone, torn muscle tissue in his back, and a one-inch-deep puncture wound in his knee. He landed in an eddy and swam over to some rocks. “The way I came out and landed, I popped out,” Cain said. “The way the current was flowing, it was enough. The water was shoulder deep. I got myself up on a rock, and I saw blood running down my leg and my back hurt. But I wasn’t paralyzed!”
After he climbed down a little ways, a group of hikers ahead saw or heard him, and they helped him climb to safety. He asked if they saw his friends. They waited for 10 or 12 minutes until someone finally spotted the other two―one walking, and one injured. “This was a miracle, because for those moments, I thought I was the sole survivor,” Cain said.
Frankhouser and Fico had both been swept over an additional cliff, falling 60 feet more, while the water pressure forced their heads underwater. At times, Fico said, he lost consciousness from the turbulent surge. “I guess I could have crawled and possibly gotten out, but David grabbed me and got me out of there,” Fico said. “I could barely move. I felt myself blacking out, and I grabbed onto the first thing I saw. I realized my leg wasn’t working.”
Fico suffered a broken hip. Six screws were used to hold the bone together, and he had to use crutches to get around for a period of time. Frankhouser survived the two combined drops of 100 feet almost unscathed, except for a few bumps and bruises on his leg. “There was probably 18 inches of this dirty, gritty foam that was on top of the water,” he said. “It was coming up and going over my head, and I couldn’t breathe. I remember landing. My shoes were blown off, and I had those neoprene socks on and they were gone too. I was barefoot―I remember feeling sand in my toes, and I couldn’t believe I didn’t have shoes on. It was all very surreal!”
The trio waited for help at the mouth of Spry Canyon with two other groups of hikers. Someone had a headlamp, and they set it on strobe mode in order to signal for help. Park ranger Ray O’Neil was off duty at the time, but decided to check the canyon because of all the rain. “I looked across and saw at the mouth of Spry Canyon this huge waterfall coming out,” O’Neil said. He radioed two on-duty rangers. All three rangers saw the flashing headlamp. The three canyoneers were rescued two hours later. Cain and Fico were airlifted to a hospital in Saint George, Utah.
Analysis: Under normal weather conditions, a rain forecast of 30% for the Zion area means there is a 30% chance that any Zion slot canyon will experience flash flooding. It is not possible to forecast which particular canyons will get hit. This accident occurred during Monsoon season, when the weather is less predictable and forecasts are less reliable. Extra caution is advised when making the Go/No-go decision during Monsoon season, and any time a flash flood advisory is in effect.