Week with Mike Wilson

MikeWeinerONE

MikeWeinerONE

Member
So, drove up the coast to Hood River, Oregon with Wilson to hang out with these rad dudes at Flystyle. Check out some of what went down... and yes, there is a ropejump
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I'm not gonna lie man I had a few thoughts watching that video. I don't know much about climbing at all, so if I am wrong I fully retract all this.

-Set up looked bootsy (a bunch of carabiners/quickdraws clipped together around a square metal pole?)

-Jumping off with a climbing rope from that height seems like it might be testing the ropes integrity... or maybe I have just watched too many fatal bungee jumps at liveleak.

-God the instant that rope snaps taught looks like it would decapitate somebody. My spine hurts just watching. Doesn't look enjoyable.

-Almost had a little TOO much slack in the rope on one of those tries...

Hood River and Wilson are cool though. Theres that.
 
So we spent several hours setting that up. There is a tremendous knowledge of the rope, knots, and how this was going to play out. I wouldn't recommend most people trying to set that up, but the rope was anchored incredibly well. It also was doubled over, and attached both at the back of the harness by the neck, and the front of the harness in case anything went wrong. The rope we used has 11% stretch to it, however, after it got wet the first time we figured that it would be less springy. That is the reason for the person standing at the bottom, to pull Mike if it didn't snap and just drug him along the water.

For the means of length, I couldn't include the whole set-up process, but it was incredibly well thought out and planned, and it worked perfectly how it was envisioned. Good response and concerns tho!
 
To answer PopsicleStand's concerns, you are absolutely right! That was by far the sketchiest rope swing setup I have ever seen. I'm truly surprised someone didn't get seriously hurt or die. In the climbing world, a very, very common saying is "metal on metal = death." You do NOT clip carabiners to other carabiners. The overall rigging of the anchor, besides the carabiner on carabiner element, was terrible. It was exerting forces on the biners in a crossloading manner. When a carabiner is crossloaded, it is drastically weaker, and more prone to failure. These were also aluminum carabiners, which are less than ideal for this type of application. Steel carabiners should be used, as steel bends, while aluminum breaks. Lastly, all of the carabiners I could see being used (including on the harness I believe) were wiregate, non-locking carabiners. In an anchor, locking carabiners are a must. If those guys make a habit of doing this, and do not receive better instruction, someone WILL get seriously hurt. Take the time to learn the art of rigging, how forces are applied, and how to make a properly redundant and equalized anchor.
 
yeah thats what I was thinking. What if one of those carabiners got pulled across the edge of the pole in the middle of the horizontal aspect of the carabiner. I feel like it could just snap.
 
for the thing that climbing ropes are not able to withstand that power.

in theory they wont break by a falling human being of normal size.

the forces get very high, but the increase "stretching" when higher forces are applied leads to the fact that they literally cant tear. although i wouldnt bet my life on it.

you dont use the carabiners without a locking mechanism for anything safety-related (except for when youre climbing lead, but there its just tolerated because it would otherwise be a HUGE hassle).

maybe its safer than it looks, but from here, idk about all that
 
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