Order Confirmed

Spry is one of my favoritest canyons -- a lot of interesting terrain, good views, not too easy, not too serious. A good place to take foreign visitors as it is quite unlike European canyons.

I was anxious to see what had changed by the week of rain we had before. Spry is more-changeable than other Zion canyons; several pools come and go as the sand goes and comes. (And always too soon!)

Some great folks signed up for the trip - Rebecca, Sandy, Amy and Keith -- so I knew it was gonna be a super-fun trip! Got a fairly early start and headed on up the hill!

Having done Spry about 30 times, and being old and weak, I fantasize that I have worked out the easiest route for the ascent and descent. Or at least the one I like the most. On this trip it was noted that my route uses six trees as landmarks! Pictures here being tree #1 and tree #2. "Handy root tree" being numero three...

We are seeking a person to fulfill the Production Assistant role at our office in Kanab, Utah.

JOB DESCRIPTION -- PART TIME - 10-15-20 hours per week

The Production Assistant will perform these roles:

A. Measure, spool up, cut ropes at various lengths, finish the ends, tag and bag.

B. Prepare parts for production: hot cut straps, collect buckles, cut fabric pieces, collect parts according to the cutting sheets and organize these to go out to our home-based stitchers….

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A beginner proposed a list of gear they NEEDED to get. Here is my response to the first half. VERY opinionated Am I. —— I love your enthusiasm, and welcome to the obsession - but...

Slow down sailor! (I am prone to hyperbole:) It is like you are all gung ho to go help the Ukrainians, and have rounded up a musket, a cavalry saber and a spear, plus a drone you bought from Temu...

First off, Climbing and Canyoneering are very different sports. Climbers think there is an 80% crossover in technique and gear; Canyoneers have learned there is a 20% crossover. It's like Tennis vs. Ping Pong. - but at least that has Pickle Ball halfway in-between.

So, don't mix the two. Your proposed gear list says 'gear need for climbing and canyoneering'. Climbers in general know nothing about canyoneering. Canyoneers definitely know nothing about climbing. (exception: some people do both, know both.)

Several years ago, I surveyed canyoneers I know who had done quite a few canyons in Zion, to build a star rating for all these canyons. Some of the canyons are obscure, and had only a few people had done them. Some of them were ultra-popular. I did put a little finger on the scale by counting my opinion twice, but otherwise, this was ‘fair’.

I could do a survey now, and it would come out different. The world has moved on, the canyoneering populace is quite different than it was 15 years ago. Is this a historical artifact? I would not go that far — I think it better represents the quality of the array of Zion canyons than a current survey would. Or maybe I am just grumpy!

A Brief History of the FiddleStick

Developing the FiddleStick was very much a group project, though I do claim credit as the driving force behind it, being the 'equipment person'.

The Spark

The year was 2011, March 12th actually. We were doing a rest-day hike/rappel canyon partly to go look at a very large arch that Scott Patterson had noticed in Marinus Canyon, North Wash area, Utah. At the top of the canyon, we found the arch, with a spacious flat top about 30 feet down from the rim. We needed to do a short rappel to get to the top of the arch.