09/16/2026
“It works until it doesn’t.”
That's what Stan — a former student of all of our Technical, Advanced, and Rescue courses — realized this past week while on a Canyoneering trip with some of his family in Spyhole Canyon (Sedona). Stan emailed me to share the story of how he rigged a contingency anchor on the last rappel as an afterthought, even though he didn't expect to need it.
Stan put it this way: “I literally heard your voice [Jared] in my head saying ‘Always rig for contingency!’”
Minutes later, his wife Mel's hair became caught in her rappel device mid-drop. Because Stan had the contingency rig already in place, she was lowered down safely in seconds.
Most rappels never need a contingency plan. That's one of the traps that beginners get themselves into, it's easy to skip the extra step when things usually go fine. The one time they don't is the only time it matters, and by then it's too late to add it in. It's basic material that we teach it in our very first Technical Canyoneering Course, but it only works if it's a habit, not just something you learned once and stash away in the back of your toolbox.
It barely costs any extra time to rig a contingency anchor into the system. It's just a habit worth having every time.
— Jared
Photo: Mel right before the incident occured
