Would be interested, depending on schedule. I have an assortment of gear from mountaineering days that could be used. I haven't used in in a few years and would be good to do some refreshing of the skills.
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Member
Would be interested, depending on schedule. I have an assortment of gear from mountaineering days that could be used. I haven't used in in a few years and would be good to do some refreshing of the skills.
I will keep my money, my freedom, and my guns. You can keep the "change".
Banned
i'm back.
anyway...
i'm not sure the spot i had in mind is gonna be a good place, for several reasons.. not least of all, it's a public cliff area, and can get super crowded. usually not, but it'd suck if we roll in and the two walls that are only semi-appropriate for new guys rappelling are being climbed. i think it's unlikely, but possible. it's also pretty treacherous up there when damp/wet... so if it rains at all, the danger level spikes. i'm gonna start thinking about a new venue, still within the portland metro area. if anybody spies any good walls/cliffs/abandoned warehouses/semi-hidden bridges/etc, let me know.
as to the "course outline," we can cover whatever you guys are interested in. MY thinking is to focus on E&E, but let me know what your interests are, and i'll see what i can work out. if nobody has any interest in E&E, we can just do some straight up full tactical loadout rappelling and have fun. let me know what you're interested in.
as to costs...
to put together a full rappel kit will run you probably $60-120 in gear, depending on the type of harness you get.. REI actually has one for about $40- the Black Diamond Bod. plus an additional $150-200+ for a rope, depending on your rope needs. for our training day purposes, you can use my rope. rappel devices vary a lot, but are generally between $12-$90, and you can even get "figates" (figure 8s) for $3 at Climb Max in portland right now (also a great place to get the rest of your gear- very cool, very helpful people).
to put together a full E&E kit will run you probably $20-25 in gear (not including rope).... so there's obviously a pretty big difference in gear requirements.
to RENT a rock climbing package (harness, carabiner, belay/rappel device, shoes (won't need them), chalk (won't need it), and helmet, will probably cost you around $20-25 at one of several local climbing shops
the first two don't include hemlet, which, depending on where we end up doing this, may or may not be required. the biggest concern is falling rock... so if there's no risk of that, we can probably get away without it. but helmets are still always a good idea- dropped gear splits your head open just as easily as rock, from 80' up.. and smashing into the wall head-first also tends to lacerate/abrade head flesh. i've yet to see anyone do the latter, but anything can happen. doesn't necessarily need to be a climbing helmet- ballistic helmets, hard-hats will work fine.. those fancy multi-hundred-dollar non-ballistic head-gear crash helmets some of you guys have will also work fine.
Member
Welcome back.
Any word on scheduling?
Member
A number of years ago, we would use Rocky Butte. Not the climbing cliffs but the man-made stone structure at the top. Not sure if it would even be allowed anymore but a thought.
I will keep my money, my freedom, and my guns. You can keep the "change".
Banned
Whenever... probably schedule it out into spring, for the hopes of better weather.Originally Posted by tradja
rocky butte is exactly what i had in mind- the climbing area. ropes are prohibited on the "castle" up top now.. we still use it for bouldering, but no chalk and no ropes, is the new rule. and since there's usually about a billion people up there, it's probably best to comply.
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That sucks. Used to go there 10-11 years ago. There would not be anyone up there to speak of. I guess the climbing thing has become way to popular. Horsethief Butte out past the Dalles has some pretty good cliffs but there were always more people out there + it is a long drive (at least for me it is longer than I am willing to drive).
Anyone have an in on a fire department's training tower? (I know, not likely to be allowed)
I will keep my money, my freedom, and my guns. You can keep the "change".
Banned
yea.. climbing has pretty much blown up in the last decade. what used to be mysterious is now easily knowable, thanks to the internets... so people are doing shit they never would have otherwise done these days. thats my theory, anyway.
horsethief is definitely far for a day rappelling. there's several spots in the gorge, both OR and WA side, that are half that.. but for just plain rappelling, there's places right smack in the middle of portland- just need to find/decide on one. i can think of several places right off the top of my head that will make due, but i'm holding out for ideal. there's a couple bridges sort of off the beaten path that might make decent spots, as well as a couple abandoned buildings that i want to check out. all right along highway 30 as you leave town. hoping to get time to investigate this weekend.
Member
Bump...any news? I'm still interested.
Banned
haven't really been thinking about anything involving ropes while this weather has been so awful. absolutely terrible. perpetually wet and freezing cold. all we need is a spot, and we can schedule... ill start looking again- this weathers got to clear up at some point.
we'll probably just end up going to rocky butte. it's not a bad place, just not ideal for straight up rappelling. there's a really low wall... probably 25'... at the top of the buttress thing sort of in the middle of the bluff that has a pretty easily scalable boulder pile right next to it. i could probably throw one of my fat lifelines down there, and people can jug back up. if we're doing rocky butte, it'd be cool to hit one of the taller walls... the wizard wall would be awesome (absolutely terrifying)... but that would save a shit ton of time, and allow everyone to go down 6, 10, 12 times each, probably. the more the better.
Banned
it occurs to me that i have surgery scheduled for the 27th of April and will be in rehab for 6-8 weeks after that... so we should probably get this thing scheduled ASAP.
why don't we just go ahead and schedule it for the weekend prior? April 23rd or 24th. whats better you for guys, sat or sun?
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