I have asolutely no rope experience, but am very interested in this idea. would I be totally out of my element if I were to come down and participate? if I had to pick a day the 24 would work granted I’d be driving down from Seattle.
the only prerequisite is that you be in decent physical condition with decent to good upper body strength. getting down is easy… getting back to the top is likely what most American men would consider “strenuous.” furthermore, backing out over a cliff can be, for people who are not used to such things, terrifying. your adrenaline WILL surge, your heart rate WILL spike… if you have any kind of blood pressure or heart problem, this probably isn’t a great activity for you.
and the only OTHER prerequisite is a small quantity of required bare-minimum gear, which i will list with estimated costs and recommended places to buy this evening.
anybody and everybody that has those two covered is welcome.
i’m gonna have to put this in here at some point, so i might as well do it now- putting all your body weight on gear dozens of feet above a rocky death is not something to take lightly. there is a risk of injury or death, engaging in this activity, and you must recognize this before you come out. the gear and methods we’ll be using are sound- so long as you follow protocol and use quality gear, you will likely survive the day unscathed… but understand the inherent degree of danger associated with deliberately dangling yourself above heights the human body is not designed to sustain drops from. i am not a rappel instructor, and so far, as far as i know, there will not be any rappel instructors present.
if anybody has any questions or concerns, feel free to post them, or PM me.
Either day is good for me. Good luck with your surgery!
i sort of missed the direct question… so to answer, specifically, you’ll definitely be out of your element, but that’s half the point. are you afraid of heights? you won’t be by the time we’re done. 
well… looks like Easter had to go and be on the 24th. uncanny how that happens.
so the event is scheduled for the 23rd, unless it being easter weekend is gonna prevent everyone from coming out.
let me know. i wanna get a firm head count. it doesn’t sound like there’s huge interest, but i think we should probably limit it to no more than 7…?, for safety reasons.
Would love to come, but that weekend is out for me traveling. Have fun and be safe!
i found the most kick-ass spot anybody could ask for tonight… the only way it could be any better would be if it was longer. as it is, i eyeball estimate it at 40-50 feet. plenty good for our purposes. excellent top access, straight wall down, nice landing, and stairs back up.
i know the guy that owns the building, he’s pretty cool in general- but i’d say it’s about a 50/50 chance he’ll let us use it. i’m sure everybody would have to sign liability waivers… but gunslingers like us are used to that. cross your fingies… gonna ask him tomorrow. hell… he’s old, but maybe he’ll even want to join us.
so who’s in on the 23rd of April for sure? tradja, still down? titleist? t-bone? where my dawgs at?
this is a premature post… but i’m too excited to not post something
i just got off the phone with the guy that owns the building, and it sounds like we’re gonna be able to work something out. just so happens, the roof of the building in question has leaks- just so happens, i have almost a decade of construction experience- mostly in roofing.
HAH!
he’s gonna get back to me probably this afternoon with a ye or nay… has to run it buy the “boss” first (wife).
cross your fingers… if we get the OK on this, it’s gonna be one bad ass day on the ropes.
Sorry for the delay. I’ve been at Magpul classes the past 6 days and am camping, with only sporadic wifi access on a flaky iPod Touch. I’m in for 23 April. The bldg sounds great, thanks for sourcing a great venue!
I’m driving from Bend and anyone along the way is welcome to carpool. I will bring the meager gear I listed above.
i promised a gear list a few nights ago…
as i’ve said, it depends on what YOU want to work on. if you just want to have fun and learn straight up rappelling, then i’d suggest either renting a sport climbing pack from a local climb shop- probably $25 for the day- or buying a harness, 'biners, belay device, etc. if you rent a sport climbing package, you’ll have everything you need.
so loadout for tactical rappel, to buy:
- harness $45-$90, for a good sport climbing harness, or $150-$300+ for an authentic “tactical” harness (not recommended). any climbing shop, and REI, unless you want the fancy shit- then you need to check out Yates gear online
- HMS locking carabiner $10-$20, any shop, REI
- belay device… some suggestions-
…ATC - $12-$16 at REI,
…DMM V-Twin - $25-$30 (no longer in production, but US Outdoors in portland still has some- these are very good devices for rappelling, as they don’t get hot)
…figate - $3-$15 (also doesn’t get hot, and is the traditional standard, but can be difficult to control, they twist the rope, and are generally considered obsolete outside of the tactical community) available for $3 at Climb Max in portland, or you can get the supposedly better (i’ve never tried it) Super 8 at REI for like $15… they probably have regular figates too.
…Grigri - $75ish at REI - these, and similar devices, are sort of cool for rappelling where you know you’ll need to make a lot of lock-off stops or have to fuck with gear, etc… anything that will require quick stopping or both hands
whatever you do- please don’t bring a “tube” or “pyramid” type device… they get way too hot, and i’m anal about heat on nylon. i don’t even like the ATC, for rappelling, but it’s what everyone seems to have… - basic thicker leather gloves. in my opinion, from a cost perspective, you cannot beat Walmart’s $8 “Wells Lamont” gloves. get a pair that fits close, but not tight.
- helmet if you want (if we get the building, probably not gonna wear it) $40-$140+
grand total: $80 - $285ish+, and you’d be perfectly outfitted at $80. when in doubt, go as basic as you can.
anyone feel free to point out anything i’m missing
for a purely E&E day on the rope-
- 18’ of 1" or wider, preferably tubular, rated nylon webbing, available at MOST climbing shops (many don’t carry webbing that wide, so call ahead), and REI has plenty. i personally don’t trust surplus shop webbing- those places have no problem selling JUNK $5? nothin’
- HMS locking carabiner $10-$20
- leather gloves $8
- helmet if you want $40-$140+
- basic rappel device (I’m going to demonstrate the munter hitch, and probably everyone who wants to will get to try it, but it unnecessarily tears up the rope) - if you’re willing to put out the bucks, and you live less than 200’ from the ground, then a Grigri is actually a really good investment for an E&E kit. might save your life, if you have to rappel in a panic.
grand total - $25 - $100
feel free to pm me for clarification/whatever
fuckin wives. i should just say “never mind, dont bother,” anytime anybody says they need to consult their wife first.
no go on the building. he says the wife said it’s too much liability, and the “wall is too fragile to have people climbing up and down it.” as if a wall that cant handle a rubber-soled boot can somehow weather weather.
but i’m at least inspired, now… i’m gonna keep looking. if nothing else, rocky butte is always available, and it’s still plenty adequate.
QFT. Whenever anyone says this anymore, I take it as a “no”.
In any event, are we still on for 23 April, at Rocky Butte instead? A building would have been great since those of us with climbing experience have rapped rock lots of times, but usually not a manmade structure.
Are there any bridges we could use?
there are some bridges. the problem with bridges, however, is that they’re generally verticle rap only. still fun, and a great opportunity for “rap jumping,” if you’ve never tried that, but not great for demonstrating urban rappel techniques, and worse for improvised methods. but there are definitely some bridges i’ve looked at.
thurman street bridge
washco “trussles”
latourell creek bridge, east of corbet
if i look hard, i can find another building. i’m going to be calling two other people today regarding their nearly abandoned, beat up rickety buildings about a block from the building i wanted to do it at. there’s a good chance one of them wont need to consult his wife first, and would like to trade labor for access.
if we can find a building, i have a professional climber buddy who wants to come- we haven’t talked about it, but i know for a fact he’s got SHITLOADS of gear and probably wouldnt mind sharing. he’d also probably be a great source of additional knowledge.
in the mean time, we’re still on for RB on the 23rd.
I have no gear and no experience in rappelling, but it sounds like fun. It would be myself and my son
how old is your boy?
see above for a necessary gear list. unless you can borrow two complete sets of gear, you’ll have to buy or rent it… there’s just no even partially efficient way to share gear, on the ropes.
but there’s no experience requirement- just the promise that you’re physically fit enough to be experiencing a tremendous adrenaline dump, and potentially “jugging” back up the wall to the landing, depending on the venue we end u[p with.
speaking of jugging… i have a fat 3/4" “lifeline” i can use for jugging, but i’ve only got one ascender that’ll work for rope that size. anybody else (tradja) happen to have a shitty old rope and an ascender or two we could use? i’ve got two ascenders, a couple more would be handy. and since pretty much nobody else in the group climbs, you can be pretty sure you’ll actually get them back when we’re done. 
I have 2 ascenders and a static line along with some other basic gear. I want to come but I need to know the schedule of the day, specifically start and end times.
My son is 21. Where, in the Seattle area, might we rent equipment?
I’m not in the best of shape, but I can handle an adrenalin dump and I’m not afraid of heights. Not in the worst of shape either. When I asked my wife if she’d like to try rappelling, she just fixed me with That Look
Damn this sounds like a great day…
I need to get back to the Pacific Northwest…
havent thought about it… it’s gonna depend on where we end up. or not. probably gonna be 9 or 10am to whenever people start whining about their wives and decide to leave. it’s not getting dark till 8 these days… if we get a good venue, where we can get back up quickly, we can actually probably cover a LOT in the first couplefew hours, then just fuck off for the rest of the day.
well 21 is certainly old enough… but that sort of puts YOU in “hay, that ol’ man ain’t gonna ride, is he?” age, doesn’t it?
i’m not all that up on shops in seattle- i just know what i hear from people… but i’m under the impression that you guys have more/better shops than we have even down in portland (and we’ve got a good selection). Second Ascents is a mostly used gear shop- i’d bet they’ve probably got a good selection of rental gear… i even have their number- 206-545-8810
let me know if you need more help with that- i know a couple climbers from WA i can tap for info.