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| Subject: Re: Rappelling Pictured Rocks | |
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Author: Ben Reeck (todayI am long-winded) |
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Date Posted: 22:27:37 09/17/06 Sun In reply to: pathfinder 's message, "Re: Rappelling Pictured Rocks" on 14:51:03 09/17/06 Sun Last year, before rappelling I started e-mailing the PIRO (PIctured ROcks national lakeshore) Rangers/authorities about rappelling. I think I started in March - giving them the date of my rappelling, which was in August. I was given kind, nice answers to my questions. I had never been there, so I was trying to do as much advance work as possible via the internet. As the questions in my e-mail messages became more specific the replies from PIRO changed. The replies started coming from the PIRO legal department. The replies became vague. I asked "IS RAPPELLING ALLOWED AT PIROT?" The reply was that there were ANSWERS to that question. That did not sound like a definite "NO" to me, so I went forward with the rappelling. A friend who was planning to go rappelling with me found the PIRO document that outlines the park usage. It is over 100 pages in length. Before the men came rappelling with me I showed them e-mail messages from PIRO and my reply to their last letter. The PIRO area is over 40 miles of coastline. There are very few rangers. I was the only one with anything to lose, because it was all my gear. I decided to go forward. I felt I was operating in a safe manner and had been conscientious about preparing for a safe activity. There is about a 12 page document about all of this that I have saved. I could e-mail to you, if you are interested. EVERYTHING IN THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS ACCORDING TO MY FOGGY MEMORY... The man who found the PIRO document about park usage has family members (Dad & Grandad) who operate a canoe livery. This business has been in operation for 2 or 3 generations. Some legislation was passed that affected the use of water at the place they have a campground. They (campground owners) believe that they are grandfathered in for use of a river. The authorities (don't know now if it is State or Federal) have threatened to arrest, sieze property and pursue legal action if they attempt to put their watercraft into the river or stream. I was very open with the Park Rangers and just went and did the rappel. 180 feet is a FRIGHTENING height! I believe Winston Churchill said that there was nothing as invigorating as being shot at with none effect. I would place this in the top 10 (having never been a target of a live rounds). I also purchased a Porta-Bote - thinking it would be cool to take a water craft over the cliff and launch into Lake Superior. That hasn't happened yet. I don't own a canoe or kyak. I have 3 daughters and wanted something that the whole family could get use of - as opposed to a toy for one person at a time. I have spent very little time on the water and don't know how to safely operate a boat ... yet. I have NICE and NEW equipment for rappelling. The exception are harnesses which are home made. They are patterned after a harness my Dad made 20 years ago. Dad trimmed trees when chain saws were not used. He still cuts and trims trees, but he gave up working from a saddle after he turned 84 years old (that is not a typo). Anyone want to rappel? Smaller drops of 40 or 50 feet are fine, too. I had never done any rappeling before PIRO. I went to an arborist meeting where climbing technique and safety were discussed. I talked to a man who had rappelled at PIRO. I became familiar with hanging from a rope from trimming/cutting down a couple dozen trees. After doing that I thought rappelling would be fun. YES, RAPPELLING IS FROWNED UPON. BUT ... they allow the ice climbers to rappel down after they climb ice. Rappelling in AUTUMN or summer does not pose the risk of ice crashing down on one. >Hey Ben, > >What are the rules for rappeling there? I was under >the impression that rappeling was frowned upon. > >Autumn is always a better word than FALL> > [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |