Accident Summary
A fatigued canyoneer carrying excess weight nearly passed out and lost control while on rappel in this canyoning accident (near-miss) at Weijin Creek. The canyoneer had rigged his figure 8 descender in low friction mode in order to finish the pitch as quickly as possible due to being cold. As he descended, he was forced to wrap his leg around the guideline to add friction and slow his descent. Later on, he had to additionally jettison bags in order to avoid blacking out from overexertion.
Weijin Creek Canyoning Accident Details
| Dates of Event | 2024/01/01 |
| Canyon/Route | Weijin Creek [GPS] |
| Team | Recreational Group |
| Cause | rigging error; fatigue |
| Result | self-rescue |
| Source | https://reurl.cc/RWOar6 |
Location
This canyoning accident (near-miss) occurred while rappelling down the 100m waterfall found at the 5th confluence from headwaters of Weijin Creek.
Team
8 total (4 members involved in accident); all experienced
Teammate A: ～30 descents
Teammate B: 100+ descents
Teammate C: 70+ descents
Teammate D (the injured party): ～30 descents [Height: 180cm; Weight: 67kg]
Equipment
[Rope A] 100m 9mm CE4Y PICK-LINE
[Rope B] 80m 8mm Kevlar
[Rope C] 70m 8.5mm Glacier Black Cascade Newt
[Rope D] 30m floating rope
[Rope E] 20m technora 6mm
Weijin Creek Canyoning Accident
A Cold Hanging Anchor
After rappelling 40m on the last pitch, Teammate D approached the top of the 100m waterfall. Following some observation, he decided to set a traverse line on river left and create a rebelay with better line-of-sight of the pitch.
While Teammate D was rigging an anchor on the left bank, he paused to fix a problem with his hammer drill’s waterproof bag. Noticing this, Teammate A volunteered to be lowered to install the rebelay. Teammate D lowered Teammate A, who then installed a rebelay station just below the top of the waterfall. This hanging rebelay had a full view of the pitch. Teammate D then joined Teammate A at the hanging rebelay station, bringing two bags with him.
Both worried about the powerful flow, Teammates A and D decided it was necessary to lower someone down without bags. This would allow them to gauge the power of the waterfall and set rope length if necessary. As Teammate D was lowering Teammate A using Rope A (100m), he found the rope seemed require more strength to hold onto and determined it was the influence of the strong flow hitting Teammate A.
Once Teammate A reached the bottom of the pitch, he disconnected from the rope and swam to the other side of the pool. (It was later confirmed that Teammate A thought everyone would be able to descend in the flow.)
Establishing a High Angle Guideline
Back at the hanging anchor, Teammate D invited Teammate B to descend to the rebelay station. After some discussion, it was decided that Teammate B would rappel to the bottom of the pitch without disconnecting. Then Teammate D would release the rope while Teammate D swam it over to the opposite shore. After Teammate B successfully swam the end of Rope A (100m) across the pool, a lower anchor was established and a guideline was rigged. The guideline angle was steep (about 45-60 degrees) and required the entirety of Rope A (100m).
Teammate C brought Rope B (80m) to the rebelay station to serve as the rappel side of the guideline system. The system featured a rope bend on the rappel side located adjacent to the anchor. Once the system was rigged, Teammate C noted to Teammate D that another bag could be brought down.
Descending With Extra Weight in Low Friction Mode
Due to prolonged cold exposure at the anchor station and lack of movement while waiting for teammates to progress through, Teammate D wanted to descend quickly and rest. He took two heavy bags with him in addition to the rappel rope. He carried: Teammate B’s mountaineering backpack on his back, a Rodcle TAKAMAKA on his harness’s right tool loop, and Rope B (80m) on his belay loop.
In spite of the extra weight, he rigged his figure 8 descender in low friction mode.
Upon descending just a quarter of the distance of the guideline, Teammade D realized that his figure 8 was not providing enough friction and the skin on his hand was already painful from the force of his grip. He instinctively wrapped his leg around the guideline to use his wetsuit to add friction.
As he continued to rappel, the rappel side of the rope became entangled on a Kong Oka descender which was hanging from a tool loop on his harness. He stopped to resolve the issue. After ensuring the rope was free of entanglement issues, he continued to descend with his leg wrapped around the guideline in order to add friction and continue slowing his descent.
A Second Self-Rescue
During the last quarter of the pitch, Teammate D simultaneously began to feel a head rush and noticed that his brake hand was losing strength. In an attempt to reduce weight, he detached the Rodcle TAKAMAKA bag from his harness and threw it into the pool below.
As for the mountaineering bag on his back, it lacked quick-release buckles. He attempted to fling the bag off his body by swinging his torso with raised hands but nothing came of it.
As he began to close his eyes, he could hear his teammates instructing him to continue descending to the anchor. After confirming he still had feeling in his lower body, he successfully descended to the bottom of the pitch.
Potential Improvements
- Avoid rigging steep high-angle guidelines
- Consider tensioning guideline
- Be aware that descending with extra weight on steep guidelines requires extra friction
- Lock off and adjust to high friction or use a descender adjustable friction modes
- Guideline could be used to lower bags prior to descent
- Rig guideline to be releasable from the top anchor (a rope bend prevented it’s release)
- Rig guideline to be releasable from lower anchor (rigged non-releasable at lower anchor)
- Last Resort: cutting lower terminus of guideline
Additional Conclusions
Canyoning accidents are the result of multiple factors which compound to form a serious situation. After an error or accident occurs, there will be a lot of “I thought…” and “If only I had X, then it wouldn’t have happened…”
Before rappeling, it is crucial to discuss potential scenarios and perform mutual checks. It is equally important to maintain composure after a potentially serious situation develops. We have made this incident public out of fear that other canyoneers might make the same mistakes, and with the hope that this report can prevent that by serving as an educational warning.
Visit the Taiwan River Accident Database to browse more river tracing and canyoning accident reports.