Gorging (2013) - full transcript

- If you say we're
going rock climbing,

you're going rock climbing.

But the description for
canyoneering would be

we're going hiking, wading,
swimming, rock climbing,

rappelling over waterfalls.

- Inverted mountaineering
is the negative space

of the mountain, and all
you're doing is descending.

You're not climbing up, you're
going down all the time.

- It's almost like
caving in a way.

A little bit of challenge
and a little swimming

kinda dark, kinda cold.



Have to do things a
little differently

than when you're just walking.

- The beautiful thing
about canyoneering

as a sport is rappelling
and down climbing,

getting in the water and
splashing around and having fun.

It brings out the kid in us.

- That's looking pretty good.

We used to call it gorging.

We thought that's what
it really sounded like

'cause you're going
down a narrow gorge

and we'd get sandpapered.

- Originally, people had
a very narrow concept

of what a canyon is.

If you say you're going to
Utah or northern Arizona



to go canyoneering, they say,
"Ah, yeah, the Grand Canyon."

But canyoneering
can be practiced

anywhere there are mountains.

I live in Cedar City, Utah,

and you'd think the people
of Utah would all know

what canyoneering is,
but I'm always amazed

that I meet people in my town

that I tell them canyoneering

and they say "Is that
like with a canoe?"

- Now the experience of the
climbing inside these gashes

in the Earth is called
slot canyoneering

and it's not something
to be taken lightly.

- A hopelessly obscure sport,
canyoneering found recognition

only after occasional
TV appearances.

- Aaron amputated his
arm below the elbow,

utilizing his pocket knife.

- The most
remarkable, airing in 2003,

when news of a man trapped

by a boulder captivated
a global audience.

- I feel that I did
what I had to do.

- Before
the publicity,

stories about
canyoneering's origins

included river pioneers and
even more primitive inhabitants.

But for decades, as countless
hideaways laid uncharted,

canyoneering remained
accessible only

to the most intrepid explorers.

- So, we go northeast

and we should hit
that rim just right.

So, okay.

- By 1986, with
barely enough participants

to be considered a sport,

canyoneering was edging
into mainstream's periphery

with the arrival of a guidebook.

Featuring over 100
canyon adventures

with photos of
surreal topography,

the book was as beautiful
as it was obscure.

- My main distributor at that
time was a guy in Salt Lake.

He took it down to one store

and he introduced the book there

and the guy looked at him funny

and he said "Where's
the Colorado Plateau?"

He said, "Boy, I think
you've got a problem here

"because these guys don't know

"where the Colorado Plateau is."

- Despite
it's pragmatic name,

the vast desert region
had already captivated

the tenacious guidebook
author from Provo, Utah.

- We gotta be 100 meters

from that last end of
the last little slot,

the one we walked through.

There's a little teeny drainage

and that's what we're
looking at right here.

When I got into it, it was
an unexplored area basically.

Just all these neat canyons,

you don't find them
anywhere else in the world.

We can do this.

Oh, if we come in there.

That's the slanted
part I remember seeing.

I enjoy going through
the slot canyons.

I mean, it was just fun for me,

and I figured, well, slot
canyons are for everybody too.

Oh, shit, eh, that worked.

I was one of the first guys
out there to do a guidebook

for this region.

I was in that first
wave of people starting

to write guidebooks.

- A
prolific adventurer,

Mike Kelsey's earliest
feats were detailed

in guidebooks on
mountain hiking.

Among his first published,

was the inexhaustible
world guide,

listing over 600 ascents
across the globe.

The book included his
attempt to solo climb

the Himalayan peak, Masherbrum.

Discovering exciting
terrain closer to home,

Mike's canyon guides featured
accessible walk through treks,

but his work began
on a new edition.

He hoped to include an entirely
different kind of adventure.

- I could see that
the best scenery,

the neatest slot canyons,
though they were the darkest

and maybe the most
water sculptured

and they're the
ones with dropoffs,

so you had to rappel.

I knew then that this was
the next step in adventure.

- The terrain that
had caught Mike's attention

was called technical
canyoneering,

referring to steep, vertical
canyons with drop offs.

And while thousands of
technical canyons existed,

they remained
accessible only to those

with climbing skill
and equipment.

- The tunnel that goes through
the east entrance of Zion

goes right by Pine Creek.

In the old days, you
could stop in the tunnel.

You could look over
into this canyon.

And I saw some amazing
things out those windows

and I decided that I
wanted to go in there.

- Nearly a decade

before Mike had
written his first book,

a deep canyon in
Zion National Park

had captured the attention
of a young climber

named Dennis Turville.

The year was 1977 and
the canyon Dennis planned

to descend dropped over 300
feet within a half mile.

With hazardous obstacles
lurking in the darkness below,

Pine Creek was
considered more a tomb

than a climbing project.

- I realized that I needed
two 150 foot climbing ropes.

I needed full on climbing
gear, a wet suit for any pools

that might be down there,
that probably were.

And then I brought
the last missing piece

of the equation and that
was a climbing buddy, Dean.

- You know, we'd been on
plenty of adventures together

at that point, so it was
pretty easy to say yes.

The only weird part was,
yeah, we're going down

instead of going up.

What's with that?

It seemed to me pretty
unimposing initially,

but then once you
get to the spot

where it just all of a
sudden turns vertical down.

When you can't see the
bottom, where you're going,

there's the unknown down there.

- I had gotten to the first
big rappel in Pine Creek

and it was a place we called
the Cheese Rock Factory.

The water over eons of time
had worn different holes

through the rock and
it literally looked

like the sandstone was
Swiss cheese in there.

I got off of the fourth rappel

and I was walking through
this beautiful white sand

and I'm realizing no one's
ever been here before.

I'm it.

I'm the first guy to
walk through here.

We were the first
humans to see this

and that just sent
shivers up my back

and it made me wanna
do more of them.

Every time we went out, we
were doing a first descent.

We had canyon after
canyon after canyon

without anybody around
to see anywhere.

Sometimes when we walked out
of Zion Narrows afterwards

with packs and ropes and
clanking pieces of iron,

people would look
at us pretty funny.

We could see the questions
forming in their head,

but they didn't dare ask them.

And that was good.

- While accessing
terrain where few could follow,

Dennis explored canyons in
solitude for nearly 20 years.

- I do remember him pouring
over 7.5 minute topos

to really look for
skinny little canyons.

Ones where the actual
contour crosses the creek.

- Most of our names have
to do with our impressions

of the canyon when
we went through it.

Troll's Treat was because
we felt like we were a bunch

of trolls carrying our
packs through this canyon.

And treat because it was fun.

We felt we had a
reason to name them

just as climbers
name climbing routes.

We were naming our canyon routes

after whatever we felt like

because we were the
first ones through.

We had the right.

These canyons just
led me toward others

that were getting
increasingly more difficult,

longer, harder to get
to, harder to get out of.

And as we found more
and more challenges,

we found techniques to
match those problems.

We realized then that
what we were doing

was a special thing.

That it was intensely enjoyable

but it was rigorous, and
it wasn't for everybody.

- By
1997, as work began

on a fourth edition guidebook,

Mike had acquired
technical climbing gear.

- I got into Zion
and did some rappels.

Went down Pine Creek.

I started thinking, you know,

maybe there is room for
another type of guide here

because this'll add
a little more flavor,

a little more adventure
to just canyon hike,

just walking down
a boring canyon.

The best canyons out there
are the ones you have

to use ropes to get through.

It introduces people to
a new challenge there,

a step up in adventure.

- Delving
into deeper, more
challenging terrain,

Mike's work marked a dramatic
new twist on guidebooks

as mundane hikes were updated

with thrilling new
rappelling routes.

But before the
book went to print,

the quaint sport would
make an unexpected debut

when on a summer
afternoon in 1997,

a startling event sent shock
waves across the nation.

- Thundering flash floods
swept away 12 people.

11 of them died.

- The eighth and
ninth bodies were found later.

Searchers never found any
trace of the other two.

- It was on international news

and the Navajos said that
they got a tremendous number

of phone calls because
people never knew

that landscapes
like that existed.

There they are watching
their TV in New Jersey

or wherever they are

and looking at this tight
little sandstone slot canyon.

So the interest spiked.

- As
inquiries flooded in,

it was the arrival
of the internet

and accessible information
that fueled the excitement.

As canyoneering was
ripped from obscurity,

Zion National Park witnessed
the first wave of participants.

- A lot of local folks had
known about the slot canyons

in Zion for a number of years.

But with the advent
of the internet,

all of a sudden that
information was out there

for large numbers of people.

- I think guidebooks and
the internet both appeared

at roughly the same time,

but both of them,
coupled together,

it all just created a firestorm
of canyoneering interest.

- This is called standard mode.

If I want a little more
friction, I can drop it here

and that's called vertaco.

So, this is the textbook
way of doing it,

but I've seen students that
will come over the top this way

to add more friction,
and that's okay.

And they go under here.

I've had a few come over here

and then go over the top.

And there's all kinds of
different ways that'll work.

So, I like it because
it's somewhat idiot proof.

- As
recreationalists arrived

to try the new sport,

a young professional guide
from Phoenix, Arizona

assembled a teaching group

called the American
Canyoneering Association.

- When people started
publishing guidebooks,

it made a huge difference
in the amount of traffic

in the canyons and the number
of people that got into it

because all of a sudden
they're more accessible.

We felt like canyoneering was
gonna get enough promotion

on its own, all we
wanted to do was

once you become a canyoneer,

can we help you
become more safe.

Safe and efficient
solutions, right?

- Before
establishing the ACA,

Rich Carlson made his
living bringing clients

on climbing and
mountaineering excursions.

An outdoor enthusiast
throughout his life,

Rich had discovered
canyoneering in the late '70s,

experiencing the solitude of
the sport's formative years.

But during one early adventure,

Rich found himself in
a precarious situation.

- Well, at the
time I wasn't thinking

of going down a canyon

as being something technical.

All I was thinking was
I was out for a hike

that would have a little
bit of scrambling to it.

- In a naive
oversight, 21 year old Rich

had climbed down without
considering his ability

to reverse the move.

- Going down canyon and
realizing I couldn't
go any further,

the oh shit moment
was coming back

and assuming it would
be easy to go back up

what I just came back down.

It was at that point where
I saw those two drops

and being stuck in between them,

when I realized, man, someone
could get killed in here.

- Ready?
- Yeah.

- When I finally managed to
get out and got back to my car,

I was thinking, I am so stupid.

I am so stupid, I will
never do that again.

Okay, who's up?

I feel like part of my job
is to instill a respect

for all the great
things about the sport,

the beauty and the adventure
and so on and so on,

but also instill that there
are risks in this sport.

- Going down a canyon is easier
than going up a mountain.

All you have to do is rappel.

Once you know how to rappel,

rappelling isn't
that big of a deal.

That's the simplest
part of canyoneering.

- Canyoneers can easily
get themselves deeper

into the doodoo than
a rock climber can.

A rock climber has
to go up first.

And if you get to a point
where you can't go any higher,

your partner lowers
you down and it's over.

In a canyon, you start downhill.

You do the first
rappel, pull your rope,

and if you can't deal with
what's in front of you,

you're screwed.

- There are lots and lots
of problems in canyons.

Pools of water that may or
may not be over your head.

Mud, log jams.

So you need to be ready for
whatever you might run into.

And canyons teach
you quite quickly,

if they're hard enough,

and if they're long enough,

if it's mean enough,

just what you're up for.

- We live in this
society where we're stuck

in an office somewhere, behind
a computer or something,

and for some people,
they want some challenge.

It gives the readers a
chance to enjoy something new

and in this world
we live in now,

we're always looking for
something to do on weekends.

- Currently
there's a lot of people

that haven't developed
an outdoors sense.

There's a lot of us that
were raised in the outdoors.

We've got parents
that like camping,

hiking, hunting,
fishing, whatever.

But there's people
now that are going

from the sofa to the canyon.

And if something goes wrong,

they can't find that
thing inside them

to be able to deal effectively
with the situation.

- We knew that people
would get into canyons

and get in trouble.

We knew it was coming.

It was inevitable and
it was not that hard

to see down the road
what was gonna happen.

- Most of us that
say we want adventure

are secretly hoping
we don't find it.

- Hmm.

Well, I thought it would
be a little easier to find.

They said it would be
difficult to find in the dark,

but it's still light ,

what does that say?

There is dirt road
going up there.

Looked pretty chunky.

I'm not sure where
I'm going .

Ah.

I think it's time
to look at the map.

Is this the right weekend?

- Encouraged by his
father to enjoy the outdoors,

Steve's childhood was
immersed in hiking,

fishing and camping.

Even into adulthood,

when Steve had exhausted
his local trails,

his father guided him

into an entirely new
kind of adventure.

- I gotta read the directions
on how to use this thing.

- Exploring canyons

that were just a stone's
throw from the hiking trails

they had explored
throughout their lives,

Steve and his father
rekindled the thrill

of local adventure.

- It was a whole new adventure,

seeing all these waterfalls
that are so close

to the hiking trails.

It was quite an exciting
experience for us.

- There's so much
to see out there.

There are waterfalls that
are a hundred feet high

and would have never
known that they were there

without being introduced
to canyoneering

and knowing how to rappel
off of those waterfalls.

- When we first started,
it was a little bit

of a sense of both awe and fear,

but we managed to make
it through all right.

- Being told to
just trust the gear

and that moment of
standing on solid rock,

the next thing you know you're
legs are dangling in the air.

Should you be doing this?

Is it safe?

That's where the
thrill comes in.

To overcome that barrier,

to put yourself out there.

It's a lot of fun.

A little chilly last night.

Had to put some fleece on.

I am really wondering what
the Facebook site says

on how many people
are coming now.

I'm thinking the rain may
have turned people around,

changed their minds.

- Steve's
introduction to canyon thrills

had gotten off to a shaky start

when in 2003, during
their annual trip

to Zion National
Park, his father had
stumbled on a brochure

with directions to
a remote canyon.

- We didn't know
anything about it

and we were quite ill-prepared

for what was about
to come about.

- We knew that there
would be various places

to scramble over
small waterfalls,

but at that point,
we really didn't know

that that was
considered canyoneering.

We tried so hard to
keep everything dry.

We took a length of rope so
we could string our packs,

shuttle them across the pools.

We probably looked ridiculous.

- I got so cold at
one period of time,

I had to take off
my cotton t-shirt

and put it in my backpack.

I mean it was warmer
without any shirt on at all.

- Despite
the awkward start,

Steve and his father have
garnered enough interest

to devote their
free time in pursuit

of their newfound hobby.

- Well, it wasn't pretty.

- But without
climbing experience,

developing the necessary skills

would become a lasting endeavor.

- Just don't pull
yourself up too hard

and knock your head .

After completing that canyon,

we realized that we needed
to develop more technique.

- Learn a little more
about the technical aspects

of going through a canyon.

- We knew
that we would want

to graduate to other canyons.

- You okay?

- We realized that
we need to get some training.

- Okay, bring your hands
out from behind you.

Okay, right here you
can lean forward,

put your hands on my shoulders.

Watch that rock down there.

Okay.

Lean forward.

- Offering
a unique curriculum

of canyoneering
technique and safety,

Rich's course is filled
with students eager

to try the sport.

- Jumps over the log,

runs around the back
side of the tree.

- But following
the success of his classes,

it was another innovation

that stirred the
fledgling community.

- One of the first things
that ACA accomplished

was a development
of a rating system.

The first component is numeric.

It goes one, two,
three, and four,

and that's related to the
difficulty of the terrain

or the rope work involved.

A class one canyon
is a canyon hike.

A class two canyon
should be considered

maybe an intermediate canyon.

It's got some
scrambling involved.

Class three canyons are canyons
that involve rappelling.

And a class four
canyon is something

that will have, let's
just call it an advanced

or expert canyon.

The second component is an
alpha character, A, B, or C.

A is a primarily dry canyon.

A class B canyon is
one that's got water

but basically no current.

And class C canyon is a canyon

that's got flowing water in it.

- The ACA rating
system was accepted instantly

as the standard in canyoneering.

Even Mike, recognizing
it's significance,

included it in his
latest guidebook.

Published in 2003, the
Tehcnical Slot Canyon Guide

responded to a growing
need for adventure

including only canyons that
require rope to traverse.

With each canyon
listing a rating,

readers could choose
an undertaking based

on a desired level of challenge.

- Your rope comes up
out of the rope bag,

passes through the rappel ring,

and you set your rope length.

When people get
into canyoneering,

they're after two
kinds of information.

One kind of information is
what technical skills do I need

and another set of
information they need is

where are the canyons.

Part of our American
way of doing things

is "Point me in the right
direction, I'll figure it out."

Of course, I feel like
the technical information

is the more
important of the two.

You should get the
technical skills

before you go
looking for canyons.

- Look good there.

This thing should be warm.

This is the old fashioned way.

Wax the back, cut and paste.

But it works damn good for me,

so I don't care.

People probably think
I'm funny as hell

using this old method,

but I can do these
about as fast as you can

on a computer.

Cut that off.

That's the one of size
I want right there.

In this country, there's
a lot of Cedar Mesa.

Sandstone.

Let's see this one now.

Should be big enough.

Right now my biggest
problem is space.

Space in my store
room for books.

Because neither of these
books will be great sellers.

This was here years ago,

while my mother was here and
we rented the top part out,

I closed it off and made
a separate apartment here.

Now, this is a mess.

This is my old
office right there

and everything's filled up.

This is typical
bachelor, I guess.

This is where I
lived for 20 years

in this little apartment
here, plus the office.

Now, I got some
books down here now.

It's kind of an extra
bedroom if I want it.

So what I'm gonna
have to do is just

to forget about having a
guest bedroom, I guess,

and take this bed out of here

and stack more books in here.

Most heroic author of all.

The author, that's, I use that,
if you will, is of course,

the great man you
so viciously malign

in your slimy
article, Mark Kelsey.

I don't know what.

I think this was the black hole.

He said, hell, nobody
used to go down there.

Now I went past
there on Memorial Day

or one of those weekends

and there was 13 cars stacked
up there, parked there

with everybody going down there.

Slot canyons are his, that's
the note I made on the outside.

The slots are so small

that it doesn't take
much to ruin them.

I've seen a lot of them
in the last few years

and the results are sickening.

Anyway.

- When I did my first attempt
on Edge of the Earth canyon,

I told everyone, you
are not to tell anybody

that you ever went here.

What we really
wanted was a canyon

that hadn't been descended

that maybe we were the
first people to ever see,

and that we'd be
pretty seriously sure

of not seeing anybody else.

When you're talking
about a canyon

called Edge of the Earth,
it's not on any map

and no one is gonna know
what you're talking about.

We knew early on that
eventually people were going

to find out how fun
running through canyons

and rappelling through pools

and overcoming the challenges

and seeing the beauty
of these canyons,

it was going to become popular.

But we weren't gonna
hurry it along.

- It looks like a
storm in the water.

I knew that there was
so much more out there

and finding what was online

and eventually
picking up guidebooks.

There was a drive to
want to see it firsthand.

I've seen the local
canyons so much,

I've barely touched
on what's in Utah.

The slot canyons,
it's nice when you get

into somewhere you have to
squeeze to get through them.

I think that's unlike
what we have in LA.

Knowing how tight
these canyons can get,

it just adds a different
element of excitement.

- While exploring,
Utah's narrowest slot canyons,

Steve's scrambling
brought him further

into unknown territory.

- All right, woo.

That's a hard start
to the morning.

- Using the
opposing walls for support,

he had discovered stemming,

a climbing technique crucial
to traversing tight canyons.

Inadvertently,
Steve had stumbled

into advanced canyon terrain.

- Initially, we weren't
that far off the deck

and we just kept moving along

and it did get to a point
where it may have been 30 feet

or so off the deck.

I'd never done
anything like that.

I didn't know what I
was getting myself into.

I'm getting a little off here,

I don't really like.

Anybody in the
party were to slip,

it's not like it's
going to kill you,

but you're certainly gonna
get yourself stuck in there

and be trapped.

Wow.

Getting down and just
dropping into the sand,

it was a relief that
that canyon was over.

That was hair
raising .

But you look back
at it and you go,

that was a good kind of scary
because I had a great time.

It's not something my
father's going to do

or even some, a few
people in my circle

of canyoneering friends, I
don't think it's something

that they would want to do.

Knowing that I got
through that canyon

without much difficulty,

you'll think what other
canyons are out there

that have that element
of excitement in them.

Check out some other canyons
of greater difficulty.

- Now, with your right foot,
go ahead and move it down

to that shelf that's
six inches below.

Nope, just down.

Just down.

There you go.

Almost, okay.

Now, if you switch
your left hand back

to that position,
is that comfortable?

- Um, nope.
- Okay.

Left hand right
here on this ledge.

- Why?
- Right hand on that ledge.

- Why?
- Drop down maybe a foot

and a half.

- Put your left hand here.

- I could actually walk down.
- Okay.

Then you're good.

- Okay.

I did some pretty dumb things

when I was a young rock climber.

I see people now doing some
of the same dumb things I did.

You're right handed,

your right hand should
be on the break strand.

And I'd rather see you
leaning up against the rock

or sitting, brace
yourself, be secure.

It's like having
a kid and saying

"Son, I've been
there, I've done that.

"You don't have to go through
the same stupid things.

"Let me help you pass that
just with a conversation."

You kids don't listen, do ya?

And I don't expect
very many people

that are coming up
the ranks in climbing

and canyoneering
to listen either.

They need to learn
it on their own.

And with the tail,
let's go ahead and start

with about 2.5,
three inches of tail.

Now, stick your finger
inside of that girth hitch.

You'll be happier if
you're using a finger

instead of a thumb, though.

- Okay.

- Take the end piece
off, put that piece on,

and then the end
piece back again.

- I got the first there.

Op, now I gotta
start all over again.

- What the ACA teaches
is a set of skills

that I refer to as
tools in the toolbox.

But does everybody
have something

that generally looks like this?

- Starting over.
- Rip here.

- Hard skills are here,
here's how you tie this knot.

Here's how you rig this rope.

Here's how you set up an anchor.

Soft skills are things like
common sense and judgment

and those aren't
as easy to teach.

And I mentioned in the
classroom this morning

that that's the way
I always teach it,

but then I see
students in panic mode

that just go like
this, and it's okay.

It works.

Here's the tools
in your toolbox.

We hope we've given
you enough information

to point you in
the right direction

as to which skills
are appropriate

in which kinds of situations,

but until that person is
standing out there by themselves

on the top of a cliff

and making the decision
for themselves, who knows.

- As the main canyons
have been done,

everybody knows how to
get through these now

once a guidebook comes out.

Then you're always
looking for more

and the natural
evolution there is

that some of these are
getting more difficult

and more dangerous.

In case we have to go
back up this canyon,

we'll know where to turn.

Whoa.

Look what we have here.

These are bear tracks.

Three little toes right there.

How on Earth are they
getting into this canyon now?

Everybody wants to
be the first man

to reach the top of Everest

and every person,
every canyoneer wants

to be the first one
to make the descent

of such and such canyon.

11 a.m. at first
slot of big drops.

I think we can climb
up there if we have to.

This looks like a
swimmer, right here.

Could get up there and walk
on the bench for a ways.

I think we're running
out of room here.

Yeah.

Well, there's trees
and more water.

We'll go back and
get up on the bench

and it looks like there's
a two anchors, two maybe.

One thing I enjoy
is being the first

to make it public
and put it on a map.

I enjoy that.

I consider myself, I
guess, in that small group

of people who enjoy being
the first to go down

because there is that danger

and we don't know what
the hell's down there.

We got a tree over there.

We can anchor it by.

I see some places we can
build an anchor or something.

That looks like
we're in business.

Whoa, little steep right here.

Maybe we can just.

Little bit scary.

Just, you know, two
or three quick hops

and you're over there.

Getting a little past
my comfort level here.

I don't like this.

Perfect.

Whoa.

Got a little tree over
there, so that's good news.

Uh, we don't have any
anchors down below here.

So I think we're
gonna have to just

one big rappel down to there

and then I think we can just
get bench walk over there.

That's what it
kind of looks like.

But we're gonna have to
do something up here.

We might have to
use this little rope

to go back from the
rim on this tree

and then have it come over.

That's what I'm
thinking right now.

Oh, hell.

Hell, look.

We're not the first .

- As the number of
canyoneers continued to rise,

even the most remote
corners of wilderness

show evidence of visitors.

- Back in Pine Creek
days, I didn't think

that it would
become what it has.

I thought that it would
eventually become popular.

It was just too cool.

Edge of the Earth has a
very distinctive pour over,

which we call the
Monster pour over.

And that image is now on
the side of a U-Haul van.

I cannot tell you what
my feelings were like

on the day that I
first saw that image.

I used to say in the '80s even,

I'm gonna take you to a canyon,

we're gonna go down there
on Labor Day weekend

and we're not gonna see
a soul for five days.

I would have a hard
time doing that now

and that's what I miss.

These people, they think
that canyoneering began

when they discovered
it on the internet.

And that canyoneering
wouldn't even be possible

without the internet.

And I came up with a
term for these people.

I had to, and I decided
to call them canyonista.

They're not climbers.

They don't have the background.

They get hyped up about the gear

and about the
notoriety of canyons,

especially when a guidebook says

this canyon is for
tough guys only.

- Okay, you guys ready?

Hey, are you okay?

- There's no reason anyone

should break their
leg on a rappel.

A rappel is an
infinitely safe thing.

You have to be a complete idiot

to break your leg on a rappel.

- Oh, shit, Matt.

Holy shit.

- I'm rolling, whoa, whoa.

- In canyoneering, a
lot of people come up

with ideas for techniques.

One person will look
at it and they'll say,

wow, that's a really
cool technique.

Other people will look at it

and they say "Holy
crap, that's dangerous."

Canyoneering above
all should be fun.

My biggest concern would be

when somebody else
looks at that video

what is their perception.

If somebody looks
at it and laughs

but inside, they're thinking,
"Man, that guy was lucky."

Okay.

If somebody is looking
at it and thinking,

"Here, hold my beer,
let me give it a try."

Then it's a problem.

- These are the people,
a lot of people,

that are going
down canyons today.

That's not good
for the rest of us.

And it's not good for canyons.

It's not good for
government agencies

that have to rescue them.

It's just kind of
spiraling out of control.

- Wow.

Holy shit.

I turned around the camera.

- Good morning.

What are your plans, man?

- Probably
heading back to town.

- You thinking about coming
up tonight or tomorrow

or basically calling it quits?

- Tomorrow I've gotta go get
some stuff done at my work.

- What are your plans, man?

- I think
I'm gonna go home.

- What's your plan?

- I don't know,
not feeling so well.

- What's your plans, man?

- I think it's
gonna be a day off

or do something short.

- Some people are calling it
quits and going home early.

- .

- Rendezvous are
not guided events.

They're an opportunity for
self-reliant canyoneers

to get together with other
self-reliant canyoneers.

So, folks, we're
doing really well.

It's40 and people
are showing up

for our eight o'clock departure.

And when you tell everybody
they're equally responsible,

they all become cats

and nobody's able to hurt them.

- So guys, this brings
up a good point.

We're already running late.

So, I think let's
make some decisions.

Are we all one group?

Are we two group,

and what's our plan of attack?

Who's in the top
down, playing around?

So, pretty much we're one group.

- I'm comfortable that we
can move quickly enough.

- I'm not.
- And finish with headlamps.

- I have done it.

I'm not confident.

Playing through is
always a challenge.

We're just gonna
have to be efficient.

We're gonna have to be
better at being efficient.

- Okay, let's go.

- And when it's all
over, I look back on it

and take a deep
breath, heavy sigh.

- With
attendees assembled

from all over the U.S.,

Rich's Arizona
rendezvous was geared

for a successful week.

But those who couldn't
make it to the event had

to find adventure
closer to home.

- Woohoohoo.
- Yeah.

- That's a hoohoo.

- Going deep now.

Oh, in the beginning,
it was amazing

how many times we could
do the same canyon over

and over again.

Being that their local, it's
just an hour drive away,

I've probably been
through Little Santa Anita

30 times, perhaps.

- Woohoo, got me down
in the woohoo again.

- I think I tired on doing
the same, same canyons.

Yeah, you definitely
wanted to graduate

to something a
little bit bigger.

A bigger rappel, just to
have different challenges.

Certainly getting into
canyons where it is necessary

to build your own anchors.

It's not gonna just be
clip onto a bolt and go.

- With
a steady regiment

of home base canyoneering,

Steve's desire for more exotic
adventures was mounting.

But until his next trip to Utah,

he would have to settle
for local terrain.

So desperate was his
quest for thrills,

Steve was primed
for any opportunity,

even recognizing his chance
after floodwaters had set off

a landslide into his canyon.

- I remember last
time we were here,

there was a bunch of boulders
that needed to be moved.

That's why I thought
this would work.

- With his
favorite rappel section buried

under rocks and debris,

Steve sees the challenge
to restore the canyon

to original condition.

- I think the key stone
to move is right there.

- It probably
weighs 500 pounds.

- You know how much fun that
was to go down this channel,

then walk underneath the
chalk stone and come out.

There was a pool underneath.

We had some movement!

- I was a little concerned,

particularly when Steve climbed
underneath that big rock

and were dislodging
these very large boulders

that were probably anywhere
from 100 to 500 pound.

It was a little exciting
and a little disconcerting.

I was more worried about him.

- Look at that, look at it go.

There she blows.

- Initially we
started to move beyond

what we would consider
simple canyons

and do some more
difficult canyons.

I moved up the ladder
to a certain level

and a certain comfort zone,

and he went beyond that
and move into areas

that he was comfortable
in doing, but I wasn't.

As you explore more
and more of these,

you really need to leave
off at that one rung

and let the people who
are more equipped to climb

to the next rung continue on.

- There was an element
that you want to move on

into more difficult canyons
that require more skills.

I think everybody who has
the sense of adventure

in the outdoors, always wants
to challenge themselves.

You feel that you
have what it takes,

and to get out there
and actually do it,

it's exciting to find
out what you're made of.

What you can overcome.

- My hat was off to him

and he was very
comfortable in starting

to do some of the more
difficult canyons.

I was happy to see that

as long as he was
doing things safely.

- As we started doing
bigger and nastier canyons,

we started thinking about
it very intellectually.

What kinds of problems
could we run into down here?

What if you get too cold?

What if your pack
self-destructs?

What if your rope is cut?

Any of these things
could happen.

- On one end of the spectrum,

you have things like
somebody's t-shirt got stuck

in their rappelling device.

It's not life threatening,
it just is a problem

that needs to be
addressed in some way.

And then on the other
end of the spectrum,

you've got things like,

what if I go out into
a canyon all by myself

and pull a rock down
on top of my arm.

- So I, and the boulder
smashed my left hand here.

- We were in constant fear
of running out of bolts

or having a rope
chopped from rockfall

and so we started
inventing ways of dealing

with these problems.

Climbers used bat
hooks for a long time

and simply that they were
little c-shaped hooks.

You were able to engineer
your way up the rock

without placing a
number of bolts,

simply by climbing
up the little holes.

It would also be a way of
climbing out of canyons

if we ever got
stuck by bad weather

or injury or something else.

Later on, as the years went by,

there were a number
of people that died

because they hadn't
been thoughtful enough

to figure out some of
these what if questions.

- Hm, 640, the
same shutter speed.

Let's see, hold it,

there's a thing here.

May 26, 2011,
that's not long ago.

This hike is doable
for experienced hikers.

The water level was very low,

which added
considerable difficulty.

Hmm.

Easy route back out
of the canyon is

through a, is tough to navigate.

We had to do it in the dark.

Well, with some scrambling.

No kidding.

Allow six to eight
hours for this hike.

Six to eight hours.

I've never done it
in less than five.

It's always been
about five for me.

I have no idea who would
have taken that long.

Let's read more.

Well, well, a 57 year
old lady made it through

with some help.

Six to eight hours.

Well, it's a 57 year old lady

that's never
exercised in her life.

But maybe it was tough.

Anyway.

Oh, let's see.

So we're, say,51.

I'm gonna write this thing down.

But if they'd spent
some money on it

like the CCCs did
back in the '30s

when they made all
these other trails,

then it would last a long time.

So, anyway, here's
that other sign.

So, well, it's exactly
the same sign as up above,

but they're just saying do
not descend the Black Hole.

That's ridiculous.

Just only well-prepared people
should do it, or something.

This is a little
bit of overkill.

I guess they're trying
to save themselves

from having to come out
here and rescue people

and I don't know how many
times they've had to do that.

That one girl from
Alpine or American Fork

or somewhere up in
northern Utah, you know,

she got drowned.

They had a big flood,

a big storm up near
Bridges National Monument

and that was on a Friday,
Friday afternoon, I suppose,

and then they came in
here Saturday morning

and the flood came about
eight o'clock as I recall

and it caught them right
in the worst possible place

that they could be for a flood

and they lost one
girl, a teenage girl.

That's what this is all about.

They're afraid people
are gonna come down,

the ill-prepared people
are gonna come down here

and attempt it and then
they'll have to drag them out.

So, anyway.

- It was supposed

to be a five day
adventure of a lifetime.

David Fleischer and Kim
Ellis helped lead a group

of teenage hikers from
Salt Lake City down

into one of Zion's most
treacherous narrow canyons.

- A
foreboding canyon,

Kolob Creek had
first been explored

by Dennis and his
friends in 1978.

They couldn't have
known at the time,

but their canyon would
become the setting of tragedy

when 15 years later,

a boy scout group
attempted the same descent.

- When they did
that first rappel,

they're in water
that is normally

one inch to two inches deep.

It was so swift right there

that they could hardly
keep their footing.

I'm out of there.

Right then, this is
obviously too much water.

- With
excess water arriving

from a nearby reservoir,

the group found the
canyon in unusual form.

- Can you describe what
that should look like

if it were safe?

- You wouldn't hear any noise.

You'd hear a nice
babbling little brook,

and a little trickle of
water going through there.

- I can understand, okay, well,

why don't we just go down
a couple little drops

and see what it's like and
maybe leave rope someplace,

but they didn't do that.

They just went for it.

- At that point in time,

they should have been
giving it a lot more thought

and made a decision that
maybe we're not aware

of what conditions we're
gonna face downstream.

- Rappelling
into turbulent water,

group leader David Fleischer
was caught in a whirlpool

while still connected
to the rope.

In a brave, hasty effort
to rescue his partner,

Kim Ellis jumped into the pool,

but in the chaos, Ellis hit
his head on the rock wall

and disappeared under water.

- The decision should
have been made right then.

Let's get out of this canyon.

To try and continue
and then turn around

and lose a second
person was unnecessary.

- Believing
it was too difficult

to retreat up canyon,

a rattled Fleischer ordered
the group to proceed.

But less than a hundred feet
from where Ellis had vanished

and while descending into
another churning pool,

Fleischer was again pulled
into the powerful hydraulics.

- David Fleischer
and Kim Ellis both drowned

in raging waters.

The six survivors could only
wait and hope for rescue.

- He just wanted to take the
kids down that canyon so bad

that he completely forgot who
he was and where they were.

- It's unfortunate that a
couple people lost there lives.

It's especially unfortunate

because it didn't
have to happen.

There were some errors
in judgment made.

- Just as
Zion had been grounds

to the first influx
of canyoneers,

the park would also witness a
steady increase in accidents.

In response, park
managers went to work

in developing sophisticated
rescue procedures focused

on extracting victims
from inaccessible canyons.

And with an average of 60
backcountry rescues each summer,

the national park
had plenty of chances

to perfect their skills.

- Of course we want to
be good at what we do,

and so we want to be good
at search and rescue.

We want to improve the
high angle techniques

that we can use.

We wanna improve our
emergency medical skills.

So I do feel like
we've got an advanced,

highly competent search
and rescue team in the park

but that's not really the
message we wanna get across.

If you get hurt in one
of the slot canyons,

you're gonna be
there for a while

and we'd rather
people recognize that

than feel like there's a
highly competent rescue team

in Zion and that I
can go push my limits

and those guys will go get
me if something bad happens.

I believe strongly in
the concept of wilderness

and part of that
concept of wilderness

is the idea that
when people go out,

we have to make good decisions,

and if we don't, we're
gonna pay for those.

We want people to be ready to
solve problems for themselves.

We want people to be ready
to take care of themselves

and we definitely
don't want people

to feel like somebody's
gonna take care of them

if they make mistakes.

I hope that people
continue to look

for more tools in their toolbox,

more ability to solve
problems on their own,

and I also hope that people
continue to understand

that Zion is more than
simply an outdoor playground.

It's a national park,
it's a wilderness.

- So you guys all know
this isn't a guided trip.

We're all responsible for
ourselves and each other, right?

I think an important
part of my job is

to facilitate experiences,

not to be the boss,

and to encourage other people

to become self-reliant
canyoneers.

If my goal is to step back and
let them solve the problems

and let them make the decisions,

I start getting a little
nervous if it's a large group.

- Okay, someones off on that,
so go ahead, next person.

- On rappel.

- Okay, rope.

- All right, who ever is next.

- I do have high expectations
from former students.

I am confident that I give
them a solid skill set

for their toolbox.

Off rope.
- Okay.

- Thank you, Steve.

- Just seeing people that
are willing to step up

and accept some responsibility

and not wait for somebody else
to do what needs to be done,

pretty proud of the
guys that I trained

that stepped up to the plate.

- Off rope.
- Off rope.

- Hey, Quint.

You two and two more?
- Yeah.

- Once things
started moving smoothly

it was nice to just sit
back and be one of the crew

going through a canyon.

Demonstrating competency
throughout the canyon,

Rich and his team were rewarded
with a thrilling finale.

- Six, seven,
eight, nine, 10, 11.

- It's your reflection
in the window there.

It looks like
there's someone else.

- You coming up
with 11 like I am?

- Now I can take my wetsuit off.

- But put your hiking boots on

in case we have go
looking for Walt.

Walt is missing.
- What?

We thought Walt
was with you guys.

Oh, was Walt with us?
- No.

- From where I was, I could
see where he was going

and I said, "Walt,
it's not gonna work."

And he said, "Oh,
don't worry about it.

"I'll go up to the
top of the ridge."

So he went.

The problem with somebody
taking off on their own

and not telling the
group what they're doing

is they leave the
rest of the group

in a position where they've
gotta guess what's going on.

And right now it would
be really nice to believe

that he's still in that
creek bed heading that way.

Because he kept asking me

what direction is
my truck from here.

And I pointed, I said, but
you don't wanna go that way.

He could have got cliffed
out, slipped and fell.

He could be hurt out
there bleeding somewhere,

and we have no idea
where the hell he is.

- Structure.
- Come on.

Find a hold.

- There's a protocol
for the lost person.

The protocol is to sit down
and let yourself be found.

Of course, not all people
know that they're lost.

If you know what
the person is doing,

you can come up with a plan.

But we had no idea
what he was up to.

It's a very helpless feeling.

- There are a select
few places we'd be able

to pick him up at

so we're just gonna
have to hope for that.

- Oh my gosh.

- Did you see my flashing
headlamp over there?

- Walt, we are happy to see you.

- I figured you
were either happy

or you were gonna ditch me.

- No, we did wait a
considerable amount of time.

- Well.
- Hey, well let's.

- I owe you all a
nice dinner for that.

- No, no, no, you're fine.

- No, I'm not fine.

I screwed up .

- I was thinking ,
we just dodged a bullet.

There was an extreme amount
of luck involved in that.

Part of me was relieved,
I was happy to see him,

happy to see him safe.

Another part of me
wanted to kick his ass.

- Jigger huh?

- Okay.
- No, I'm still pissed at him.

- Well, I.

Following the success

of his first technical guide,

Mike set out to create
a second volume.

Hoping to include new
offerings in the updated book,

he turned to more
challenging canyons.

- In the last, well,
three or four years,

I was continuing to get to
do more difficult canyons

and maybe I've got too
many difficult canyons

in that edition.

It would be nice to be the
first to get through this thing.

That's what everybody
wants to do.

They want to be the first
descent or something.

It took a while to
get down, didn't it?

- Mike's opportunity
for challenge arrived

in the form of high stemming.

Too narrow at the
bottom for passage,

v-shaped canyons force the
canyoneer high off the ground

and where a climber might
place protection from a fall,

smooth canyon walls
offer little support.

As Mike's adventures
reach new heights,

so do the consequences.

- The extreme now of
course is X slot canyons.

That's definitely
life-threatening there.

- The X and the R are
actually part of kind of an

off the wall rock
climbing rating.

And it basically boils down

to the risk involved
in the canyon.

The X canyon might have

some difficult
exposed rock climbing.

It might be a canyon

that's got very long
sections of commitment.

You do a rappel, pull your rope,

and you have no choice
but to finish the canyon.

- In 2008,
Mike's updated version

of his Technical
Canyoneering guide

had included over a dozen
R and X rated canyons.

- There's people who want
to extend the adventure

of going through these canyons

and those are the only
ones who are gonna

even attempt R or
X rated canyons.

I guess that's the
reason I added it,

for those who want to go as
far as they possibly can.

That's hitting the
limit for most people,

the absolute limit.

- One person could
make an argument

that they shouldn't
be published at all

to keep people away from them.

Other people will say,
yeah, but sooner or later

people are gonna hear about 'em,

so we're doing the community a
service if we do publish them

and make it very clear

that these are difficult,
high risk canyons.

- And hopefully
they'll have the sense

to work their way up,

start out with just simple
rappelling and simple slots

and then work up to the point

where you're doing a
lot of chimney work.

- I think there
is a fair warning

as long as people in fact
understand the rating system

and more importantly,

they've actually done
an honest assessment

of their own skills.

Some people do a couple
of easy canyons and say,

"Okay, what's next?"
and they wanna jump

into something big.

They need to pay more dues

before they jump
into the big ones.

- Okay, let me think about
this just for a second.

- With a growing
resume of canyon descents,

Steve progressed into
more serious endeavors.

And expanding on a
knowledge base gained

from early canyoneering classes,

he sharpened his skills
under the guidance

of experienced partners.

- Thank you.
- When you're the belayer

at the bottom.
- Yeah.

- You want to keep
your arms locked

so you walk your arms up.

Pushing into the wall.

- Pushing into the wall.
- Now you can bend.

- So, just sliding
my hands up the body.

Just uh.
- Yeah, you work them up.

- Work em up.

Okay, not sliding .

- Don't pull, push.

You were pulling me down.

- Oh okay .

- Oh yeah, very nice.

- I've got it.

- Poifect.

- I'm not doing that.

- As part of a team,

difficult canyons were traversed
with ease and efficiency.

But as Steve advanced into
more hazardous ratings,

the biggest challenge
still eluded him.

- The walls are
low at this point,

marked at 1265
meters on the map.

So climb left or north
up a little ridge.

Once on top, route
find northeast

to where you can overlook
the lower end of Middle Fork.

Planning for an X canyon,

I think initially there's,

there's some anxiety as to

what am I getting myself into.

You immediately have to wrap
while the canyon tightens up

and you'll start
your high stemming up

to about 10 meters or so.

Certainly in a canyon that
requires high stemming,

you're putting a
lot on the line.

You have to have
the skills to do it.

If you don't, then you're
in the wrong canyon.

Knowing what you're
getting yourself into

I think is very important.

Knowing that it's
something that you're going

to be comfortable with

'cause you are committing
yourself to the canyon

and you have to complete.

Safely.

- As far as evolving from
just walk through canyons

to the X slots,

I mean, it's just
natural progression.

You're looking
for new adventure.

Everybody's looking
for new adventure.

So it's just natural
progression from walking

up to the X slots.

So yeah, my readers come
along with me, I'm sure.

We got about halfway
through the canyon

and had to turn back.

Just down a bit is
where it slots up again

and that's the middle slot.

It's an XX slot.

So it's a good one.

Anyway, we went down there
and had to come back out.

On the right hand side
of that wall there

is what we climbed up.

And right now, I'd hate to
go back and do it again.

It looks pretty tough to me.

Okay.

I think about where
it turns there is

where it starts to get
pretty nasty looking.

- A dark,
menacing fracture.

Scorpion West was
listed in his guidebook

as the most difficult canyon
the author had ever seen.

- And I was down climbing
one piece without the helmet.

None of us had helmets on

because we were just getting
into the difficult spot

and I slipped and fell.

I fell on my pack,

but my head hit the rock
behind or something.

It wasn't very far, you know,

and it was bleeding like a dolt,

but nobody took my picture then.

- High
off the ground,

the group encountered green
moss covering the walls.

Without the friction
of the sandstone,

the already treacherous
adventure had become deadly.

- I think we were
getting exhausted.

You know, this was a hot summer

and we were getting
tired at that point

and decided it was
too much for us now.

- Fatigued from hours

of relentless high stemming,

Mike and his group turned back.

In his book, Mike deemed
the canyon impossible

without the aid of
climbing hardware.

It was his first
incomplete canyon.

- Well, I don't really
have any animosity

or whatever toward the canyon.

We just didn't make
it and that's it.

Don't cry over spilt milk
or whatever they say.

But, I mean, I started
getting up close

to 60 when I was doing
this for the first time,

so it pays, with
something this difficult,

it pays to be young
and a little stupid

like I was when I was a
younger, mountain-climbing,

big glaciers, big
crevasses, going alone.

Kind of stupid.

You gotta retire sooner or later

from some of this
difficult stuff.

I'd rather live to
die of old age than

in the bottom of one
of these, frankly.

- He's starting to reach
his limit of what he can do

comfortably and safely

and I think he recognizes
it which is great.

My concern goes up
as the ratings go up,

but I know he's fully
capable of these.

But there's always the
risk factor that goes up.

You have to, again,
be comfortable in
what you're doing,

and at some point,
you have to realize

that maybe you
shouldn't be doing it

and maybe that's why
they call it Don't Do It.

- A long ways down.

Having an idea what an X
canyon is and the stemming,

it's certainly, it woke me
up at night more than once.

What am I gonna be doing,
risking great injury

if I were to fail.

I'm feeling good, absolutely.

I think there's
some nesting birds

that live right there.

It looks tight.

It's lots of, right away,

gee, that's like a
foot wide down there.

Crazy.

- Dude, that
whole thing is moving.

- Is it really?

Oh, I don't like that at all.

Oh, poop.

I saw it move.

That pack is heavy.

What if something happens
that's not going your way?

What if someone tires
and can't proceed?

What if part of your two,
if someone were to fall,

what do you do?

You hope that, well,
you're planning,

you're planning that
you have a strong team

and there's not gonna be
any of those what ifs.

All right.

Wow, it really, the
bottom did drop away.

I would say we're
probably 50 feet up.

It's hard to get a clear
picture of the bottom.

I'm gonna say that's 50.

Now I'm forced to go
down just a little bit.

We're getting a little mossy.

It's not wet,

but certainly below
me looks moist,

but this part right here is not.

I think it needs a little
water to come back to life.

I gotta get up higher.

Don't wanna rely
on that handhold.

Got a charlie horse .

I'm getting a workout here.

Elbows are starting
to feel abraded.

This section's, I think you
can actually see further

to the bottom and maybe it's a
little psychological as well.

I think at some point it
crosses over from less fun

to more challenge and
I enjoy the challenge

so you can keep
developing your skills,

but I think the
fun has diminished.

Up here at the turn, it looks
like it's a wider bottom,

it looks like I can make
out a little bit of a sand

on the bottom and
maybe some grass.

So, hopefully we'll be
walking for a little bit

and move forward.

Get off the stemming
here for a little bit

and let our bodies recuperate.

Or I see now, I guess I
really didn't see the bottom.

I thought I did.

Maybe I was fantasizing but
now I can look out there

and see that golden wall,

so I suspect we should
be walking at that point.

Whew.

I think we're gonna be walking
here in another 30 yards.

The canyon did not relent.

I guess, I'm just gonna wait
until I see what it is for sure

because I thought
it was opening up

but it's still very tight.

Here we are at the end
of the stemming section,

the long section
that Kelsey describes

as an hour and a
half of stemming.

And at this point
here is a way to exit

if you don't want to continue
on with more stemming.

Certainly people can get
out here and walk back.

So that's where we are and

we're just gonna continue on.

Oof.

- Don't Do
It delivered everything

the guide book had promised.

An unrelenting testing
ground where a careless move

would be deadly.

After hours of
continuous high stemming

at heights up to 60 feet
above the canyon floor,

Steve found his
ultimate adventure.

- It was long day.

It was an early start.

It was a lot of fun
and the challenges,

I think that defines
an adventure.

The risk is part
of the excitement.

It certainly is for me.

- Only a short
distance from the final rappel,

Steve would soon add Don't Do It

to his list of accomplishments.

- Well, we just had
a cloud move overhead

and we're getting a very
light drizzle on us right now.

A little drizzle's not
gonna be a problem.

It would be nice to get
out of the tight section.

It's pretty tight right there.

The walls are getting
slippery here.

- Steve!

Steve!

- You do kind of climb the
ladder as you continue on

and do perhaps more
challenging canyons.

When you start to
feel more comfortable

with that last rung, you
move onto another one

because you tend
to look for more,

I don't know whether
it's challenging

or more beautiful places to go.

But we look for the
beauty that's out there

and sometimes that
beauty comes in places

where there is some
degree of risk.

You just hope you
can manage that risk

and continue on and
find that beauty.

- I can still put weight on it.

I just took a little
slip right here

when a rock broke loose

and it kind of made my
shoulder hurt a little bit

but I still have
good mobility in it.

Oh, gotta keep pulling
it really hard.

It caught me totally off guard
that my foot was gonna slip

and it was quite a scare.

All you could to
was grasp at things

to do your best to stop.

Fortunately I did.

There's not much more stemming

but that's not gonna
help the stemming any.

It may have been 40 feet
still off the deck there.

I was fortunate that it
wasn't worse than it was.

- A few years ago I did
feel a responsibility

as the guy that started the ACA,

as the guy that was
training other instructors

and so on and so on.

I felt like pulling
my hair out at times.

Thinking like why isn't
this message sinking in?

- Get and length and
width out of there.

- But I'm at the point now,

maybe I'm just older, wiser,
more patient, whatever.

I just know people
are gonna be people

and some people you can teach,

some people need to
learn it the hard way.

Some people are gonna get hurt.

Some people are gonna die,

but you can't help everybody.

- Well, that's
where I wanted it.

That just went on and on.

That was just relentless.

I'm tired.

My arm feels better
now after my fall,

like maybe the
ibuprofen kicked in.

I've done it.

I'm glad I did it.

Not likely I'll come
back and do it again.

Good time to pack it
up and get outta here.

I'm a little cold now.

- If you don't want to be
thought of as a canyonista,

you really need to
increase your skillset

so that you can make
decisions on your own

and so you can get
yourself safely

through a canyon on your own,

whatever it might throw at you.

You don't have to
have Canyon Beta.

You don't have to
read guidebooks.

If you want, really,
to be a gorger

in the true sense
of the old term,

you wanna go down there blind

and just react to what
happens and do it well.

That's gorging.

Dark slide.

Now we wait for
people to be gone.

This could take a while.

There are too many canyoneers.

There are too few canyons.

Go, go, keep walking.

Keep walking .

That's really the
bottom line for me

is I'd like these canyons
to remain the way they were

when I saw them first,
and that's impossible.

Except a couple of canyons
that they haven't found yet

and I'll be damned if I'll
tell them where they are.