Gearing-Up

[clovehitched]

We've made a couple of purchases for the Utah trip recently.

On Thursday I ordered some 9mm static rope from a nice man in the Peak District whose daughter is called Sarah Brown. It arrived by courier at 10am the next morning (Good Friday! That was keen). We are now the proud owners of 100 metres/330 feet of 9mm static rope for abseiling. I cut it into lengths of 115 and 215 feet. The first one is a nice size for doing short abseils of up to 50 feet, or maybe a bit further if we single-line and use a pull cord to retrieve it. The second one is specifically for double-lining 100 foot abseils, of which we expect to encounter a few, including this one. The 215 foot coil is quite heavy, which is something to consider for long hot hikes across the desert.

Some of the canyons we plan to descend feature swims through water which doesn't get a lot of sunlight to warm it up. As a result, even in 40 degree celsius air temperatures it can be very cold in the water. Local companies will rent a wetsuit, but a bit of online investigation revealed they're pretty much as cheap to buy. Buying one also has the advantage of not having to wear one that's been snugged up to the crotches of a few dozen people before you.

Mine arrived this morning, and this evening I tried a little experiment. I put it on and ran some cold water in the bath. Taking the temperature revealed it was about 10 degrees. Dissatisfied with this, zoeimogen went and got a load of ice and other cold things from the freezer and dumped them in, to lower the water temperature another degree or so.

I then got in the bath (which I thought was quite brave, as I've never worn a wetsuit before and didn't know how well it was going to work). It's a shortie wetsuit - covers my torso and upper arms and legs, but that's all.

The water round my arms and legs felt freezing, and they quickly started to go numb. My body was chilly for a few seconds, but then stabilised and didn't feel particularly cold at all. Were it not for my exposed arms and legs I would have been very comfortable. As it was, my extremities were ... bothering me, so I got out. That water was probably as cold, if not colder than anything we'll face in Utah, and I think it'll be fine to swim in, even if my limbs are cold (they'll warm up quickly in the hot air).

I get the impression that the_local_echo was waiting to see me in the wetsuit, on the expectation that I would "look hot". I had a look in the mirror in the wetsuit, climbing harness and helmet, and I think it does a good job of smoothing out those nice curves that I do have, maing me look like a fairly androgynous 35 year old with an unremarkable figure. It's odd, because in the advertising picture (mine's the blue one) they look so shapely *grumble*.

I'm totally making Zoe and Sylvia perform the ice bath experiment when they get theirs.

Comments

[moonspark.livejournal.com]

I <3 wet suits. They work so well.

Hm, yeah, the water is pretty cold at this time of year -- even in June the water in Lake Powell was FREEZING and required a wet suit.

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

We'll be there in July, but even when we did The Subway last year in August... well, here was my reaction:



That's amongst the canyons with the warmer water we'll be in this time - some of the ones we want to do are apparently much colder, and it doesn't matter what time of year you do them - they never warm up.

The wetsuit seems like a much more civilised option :-)

[moonspark.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. I was like, "40 degrees? It's not that hot yet."

[katsmeat.livejournal.com]

From (a lot of) windsurfing and (a small amount of) diving I know wetsuits as the worst garments devised by humans.

But better than hypothermia. If it smooths, I guess that means it's tight, just what you want as a baggy wetsuit will squirt out warm water and pump in cold every time you move your limbs.

[gg-the-undead.livejournal.com]

can i just say that i think that you, the_local_echo, <lj user="zoeimogen" are very brave? i swoon when i look at the *picture* of that abseil (said by me who's scared to go down ladders) Utah is a beautiful state (as i'm sure you know from your last trip) and i hope you enjoy your trip. it gets better the 2nd time around.

[gg-the-undead.livejournal.com]

oops messed up the lj tag

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

Thanks :-)

We've been working up to this stuff gradually. If all goes well, next year we'll be back doing some of the more "intermediate" canyons with the 200-300 foot abseils, but we'll have to see how we get on with the 100 foot stuff first.

The first time I went to Zion, I had a panic attack on the Angels' Landing hike. I've come a long way since then.

The nice thing about Zion is that pretty much everything has bolted anchors, so it's a nice safe place to learn. In other places on the Colorado plateau, there is no such assistance and you're left to your own devices for anchor building. Get it wrong, and you take the quick way down...

[gg-the-undead.livejournal.com]

"intermediate" canyons with the 200-300 foot abseils

*gulp*

also, how do you deal with the heat? 40C would wither me in like 15 minutes. last time i went to zion, t'was in late april, and the 32C was close to my limit for hiking, and i stayed in the shade.

tho i guess if you're canyoneering, you're pretty much in the cooler spaces.

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

tho i guess if you're canyoneering, you're pretty much in the cooler spaces.

Mostly, although The Subway involves several miles across the slickrock.

Mostly we cope by drinking lots of water, more water, complaining a lot, drinking more water, working out the best time of day to hike in the shade, drinking more water, and bitching about the heat.

Oh, and drinking lots of water!

Last time we were there we did Angels Landing on a day where it had reached the low 40s by the time we were on the promontory. That was uncomfortable, but on the way down, just below Walter's Wiggles, we bumped into a chap coming up who was somewhat on the overweight side, and had picked the one hour that Refrigerator Canyon got full sun. He did not look comfortable, had almost no water left, and it was pretty clear he wasn't going to make it. I suspect he turned round fairly shortly afterwards.

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

Having the right clothes seems to help a lot as well.

[zoeimogen.livejournal.com]

Mostly we cope by drinking lots of water, more water, complaining a lot, drinking more water, working out the best time of day to hike in the shade, drinking more water, and bitching about the heat.

Oh, and drinking lots of water!

One has to be careful though - I know someone who came back from a trip to the Middle East because he'd suffered from kidney failure due to drinking too much water!

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

The fact that the platypus only holds 3 litres does kinda limit things.

[zoeimogen.livejournal.com]

He's quite small and I doubt was ever that far from a source of water, would have been quite easy to drink manylots of litres. Was there for about a month I think before he ran into trouble too.

[gg-the-undead.livejournal.com]

i was too scared to even start up the chains. but still the walk up to that point is beautiful and refrig canyon amazed me - 32 or thereabouts then suddenly *so cool*.

instead of going to the landing, i went the other way, past the stinky toilet, on a less used trail across the slickrock. just to ramble around and get off the paved trail for a bit.

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

The first time I tried to get up Angels' Lading in '97, I freaked just after the start of the chains, and had to give up and come down again.

That I'm now excited about doing Pine Creek is a testament to overcoming these things, I think. I returned to Angels' Landing in 2003, tried again, and found my nerve was still right at the spot where I'd lost it. Once I'd taken a step beyond that point, it was suddenly all OK, and I was able to make the top. Been up there several times since.

Although last August, I did cry briefly on the way up. :-/

The other way is the West Rim Trail. It's the way into some of the more extreme slot canyons (including Heaps Canyon, which ends with a 300 *metre* drop to the Upper Emerald Pool - seriously hardcore - not sure how I'd feel about an abseil that long, although I guess if it went wrong death would be fairly quick and painless). You also get serious multi-day hiker types coming down that way from the campground at Lava Point, which is far too many miles away!

There's also the possibility of skipping off trail and nipping round the head of Refrigerator Canyon onto Cathedral Mountain. A short walk takes one to the spot where that picture of the Landing and Walter's Wiggles was taken - we perched on the edge of the cliff and took the same shot. At one point, I dropped my little camera spirit level over the edge, and it got me wondering if there was a little pile of broken camera gear, 1000 feet below that spot!

[zoeimogen.livejournal.com]

It does take time to acclimatise to those sorts of temperatures, if you just go in and do it you'll wilt - it's easier after at least 48 hours.

[lizardc.livejournal.com]

I don't know what they do in the pictures, but there is no way that any wetsuit I've ever been within a mile of (including my own!) has been even remotely flattering!

[pteppic.livejournal.com]

Those pictures are wetsuits spread out over a plastic and metal body. Assuming you're not a terminator from the future, your body is made out of flesh and boney things and as such squidges.