Moab Canyoneering during the Winter?

Headed to Moab with the GF to celebrate her birthday this coming up January. Plan is to stay in town and head to Arches both days to do some moderate hikes. Originally we were not planning on bringing any climbing gear as we just plan on hiking but I'm itching to do something on ropes which leads me to canyoneering. Never "officially" canyoneered but I have a bit experience with rapping, multipitch, trad, etc... I looked on the NPS website and they have a page on canyoneering with some established canyoneering routes (see below). I'm still researching but wondering if anyone has any good beta for this will be my first time in Arches. 

• Fiery Furnance
  • Krill
  • Lomatium
• Great Wall
  • Bighorn
• Lost Spring Canyon
  • Lost and Found/ Undercover
  • MMI
• Park Avenue
  • Tierdrop
  • Not Tierdrop
  • U-Turn
• Petrified Dunes
  • Dragonfly
• The Windows
  • Elephant Butte

Cheers!

Roadtripryan.com has your back!  Plenty of info to get you going. I’ve done almost all the ones around Moab. Start with park ave and I’d say not tierdrop as a first. Easy route finding and a 60 m will get you down. Let me know if you need any additional info but honestly the website helps a ton and the comments on the routes.

Good luck!  

I'd second the roadtripryan site for route beta. Just a heads up, most of the canyoneering around Moab isn't especially slotty, but it's still fun.

Bighorn is a little sketchy; you end up rapping off slung huecos about as big around as your pinky finger, and by the time you get there you're committed.

Lost and Found is one of the best routes around the area.

Elephant butte isn't really canyoneering or climbing, but a great time. Don't waste your time bringing any gear besides a 60m rope.

Dragonfly has the potential to be frigid and miserable in January. I wouldn't recommend it in the middle of winter.

Depending on the precip that we get, you may also want to look into the granary routes in Long Canyon.

And in general, be mindful of the veneer of ice the slickrock can get in the winter; it can be almost verglas-like at times.

Jordan Lister wrote:
Bighorn is a little sketchy; you end up rapping off slung huecos about as big around as your pinky finger, and by the time you get there you're committed.

I'm not familiar with the ethics surrounding canyoneering, but have seen that canyoneering routes will have bolted anchors. Why not add a bolt or two, instead of doing (what sounds to be) a super sketchy rappel? As a climber, making a rappel more sketch than it needs to be seems crazy. 

climbing00 wrote: I'm not familiar with the ethics surrounding canyoneering, but have seen that canyoneering routes will have bolted anchors. Why not add a bolt or two, instead of doing (what sounds to be) a super sketchy rappel? As a climber, making a rappel more sketch than it needs to be seems crazy. 

https://www.canyoneeringusa.com/intro/ethics-style

Last time I did something like that...I had to cut my girlfriend's arm off with a pocket knife. Be careful. 

climbing00 wrote: I'm not familiar with the ethics surrounding canyoneering, but have seen that canyoneering routes will have bolted anchors. Why not add a bolt or two, instead of doing (what sounds to be) a super sketchy rappel? As a climber, making a rappel more sketch than it needs to be seems crazy. 

Because canyoneers, like cavers, are an odd bunch.  LNT is a larger part of their game than in climbing. In a canyon, bolts are aid. 

Elephant Butte is a good one but short, don't do anything with water in winter. 

Andy Novak wrote:

Because canyoneers, like cavers, are an odd bunch.  LNT is a larger part of their game than in climbing. In a canyon, bolts are aid. 

Elephant Butte is a good one but short, don't do anything with water in winter. 

Totally! The challenge in canyons isn't physical. It's about meeting the canyon on its own terms and figuring out a system that works and preserves the beauty of a seldom visited place. 

Things like sandtraps, water pockets, fiddle sticks, pack drags, and captures make you inspect and analyze the canyon geometry on a very deep level. I think it builds appreciation as well as challenge.

That being said, the canyons around Moab, especially in Arches NP, are simple and have bolts many places or are otherwise straight forward.