Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Damn. Definitely a little faster than they should have been going. Lucky no one is dead.

 

Yep, I agree. Additionally, I believe it was an avoidable event.

 

I'll admit that coming from North pass there were a few sections where I would be at near triple digit numbers, but after helping with that recovery and seeing first hand how lucky that they were not killed or seriously injured . And the other 2 rollovers prior to that one. I have slowed my roll down CONSIDERABLY.

 

were you nearing triple digits when you crushed that spindle?

 

That happened on a side trip on our way up Mazuarka Peak. And may have gotten a little worse coming down North Pass from Papoose Flats

 

As I’ve mentioned before in this thread, these days I tend to set a limit of 40-45 on any dirt surface - even very familiar ones. On even broad turns I now slow down a fair bit from that as well. Regardless of driver skill or vehicle safety systems the risk of rollover is just unacceptably high. I’ve had two scares that made me realize how quickly a minor wobble could convert into a total loss of the vehicle.

Add to that the consequences of a rollover are far more extreme than say when commuting. In civilization an EMT is on you in about 10 minutes. Out in DV it is hours. And apart from my body if my daily driver gets totaled I don’t care. My truck on the other hand has a whole bunch of my time and sweat in it that insurance doesn’t cover.

Lastly every road in DV has amazing views. No need to rush through them.

 

Well said. Go to Death Valley, come back alive, and rig right side up.

 

no time but the time we make

 

nice photos Crom!

 

Doesn't surprise me, tbh. Turning right to go left and vice versa is the last thing on someones mind that's never gone high speed on dirt lol.

Where about did they wreck? That road looks flawless

 

I’m no stranger to high speed, though more on pavement than dirt, but two things have made me really slow down. One is age (wisdom, responsibility, fear, slower reflexes? Or all of those). The other is, as I do more mountain biking, while it’s mostly single track, it’s sometimes unavoidable to bypass all forest or BLM multi-use dirt roads. If you’re going fast on a narrow curvy road, think about what you’d do if you encountered a bike. Obviously less of an issue on high speed straight sections in DV, but still. And not just bikes, there could be burros, deer, tortoises, wild horses etc. Or an LC80 on its roof, sideways in the road.

 

Definitely off-road, canyoneering fatality in DVNP
https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news...xFI6skJ7yD2Xy6APTDdXKEpIUUg4WUuNwQ2wzijYoyXZM



DEATH VALLEY, CA – A man died on March 23, 2019 while canyoneering in Death Valley National Park. Matthew Yaussi (41), of Glendale, California, was rappelling down a 380-foot cliff when he fell to his death.

Canyoneering is an activity that combines hiking, down-climbing, and rappelling down canyons. Canyoneering has been increasing in popularity in Death Valley, and there are now about 200 documented routes.

Yaussi and his companion had hiked about 4,000 feet up a ridge before starting their descent of Bottomless Pit Canyon, the informal name of a canyon south of Titus Canyon in the Grapevine Mountains. According to an online description on ropewiki.com, this canyoneering route involves 19 rappels down cliffs or dry waterfalls. Bottomless Pit was first descended in 2012, and it is not a commonly done route.

The two canyoneers planned to break the 380-foot rappel into stages by setting up an anchor on a ledge partway down. Yaussi’s companion had already rappelled to the ground when Yaussi fell to his death at approximately 8:30 p.m. His companion activated an emergency locator beacon and was extracted later that night by the U.S. Navy’s VX-31 helicopter, based in China Lake.

Yaussi’s body was recovered the next day by an Inyo County Sheriff’s Deputy and California Highway Patrol’s H-80 helicopter.


-www.nps.gov/deva-

 

Oh man. Sad news for sure.

 

I have a lot of pictures to sort through

 

Sad news on the fall. I've only done a bit of rock climbing and very minor mountaineering but I know from the various classes and workshops that I've done that rappels at the end of a long day are notorious for accidents. If they are correct on the time of 8:30p for the fall then that was an extremely long day since it sounds like it started with a 4000 ft climb. It was also dark by then.

My family was actually in the park that day at the end of our trip but we would have been in a hotel in Vegas by the time of the fall and the rescue.

 

We were camped out in DV on Saturday. It was very windy...wouldn't want to be on the side of a mountain in it. There were some of the worst dust storms I've seen in Panamint Valley.

Sad news indeed.

 

Typical oversight is to forget a knot at the ends of the rope.

 

Well it wasn't much of a trip and so doesn't have much of a report, but for what it's worth:

January 2019 Death Valley Trip Report

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Some pretty cool high speed videos of kangaroo rats evading death by snake. Kangaroo rat reaction time as little as 40 ms (for reference human eye blink is 150 ms). Biologists had noted kangaroo rats somehow escaping rattle snakes even when apparently bitten but in lower speed video appeared as if rat was just randomly thrashing. Didn't understand how the rats also manged to just hop off without any apparent effects from the bites. Turns out it is an incredibly coordinated and ludicrously fast reaction by the rat and even when bitten they dislodge the fangs before they can be envenomated.

 

Very cool! Kangaroo rats are neat. always find them in Joshua Tree after dusk. they say they can live their entire life without drinking water, recycling moisture from things they eat, and what not, truly amazing creatures.