Nonsense Thread

[Panici]

Looks like a blast! Probably great exercise to boot.

[Chilezen]

Here's some nonsense for you all

I have been doing a lot of canyoneering lately. Loads of fun. Relatively safe adrenaline rush too.

Gad dayum. That does look sick. Good job!

[MrBurgundy]

That looks like loads of fun..

Honestly, AZ is one of the most beautiful states I've been to.... That looks epic..

You're making me want to get back into backpacking.. Last big trip I did was years ago when I did the High Sierra... what a fucking epic trek..

Did you guys take classes and shit to figure out the canyoneering?

[MR E30 325is]

Thanks gents. It's a load of fun and a lot of exercise. 13 rappels last weekend, 21.5 hours spent (includes ~6 hours of driving), and ~11 miles in total.

Both of those places are within just 1.5 hours of where I live, AZ really is a beautiful place, as soon as you leave Phoenix/Tucson behind.

The GF and I did Rim to Rim to Rim back in March, semi-backpacking, and that was the hardest thing I have ever done.

Burg, I work in the ropes course industry, so knots and ropes are kind of second nature at this point. I did do some research on canyoneering specific knots and ways to rig releasable/retrievable anchors, etc., but no high dollar course. I am in charge of setting up all of the anchors and setting rope length and things like that (this is what I prefer). We travel a bit heavy, but are always prepared. Once you're in a canyon, good luck getting out before you get to the end.

We take it very seriously, myself especially, and it's worthwhile for sure.

A couple more bonus pics from another place in Sedona a couple weeks ago:

About to go over the edge of the largest free hanging rappel we have found thus far

Half Dilly by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

130 ft free hang

130 ft free hang by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I'm always the last one down, and I have to reset the anchor from a releasable system to a static one (and hope that I don't get stuck on the way down). No one up there to double check my work, and we are most definitely at 'certain death' heights when we go over the edge.

[E30 Wagen]

Really beautiful scenery, but I think I'd max out my heart rate doing that lol. I've got no problem with heights or climbing high up a sturdy ladder (since I do that a lot in construction), but being pressed up to a cliff face or dangling at 'certain death' heights gets a big nope from me. Making me want to visit AZ though.

[Chilezen]

, and I have to reset the anchor from a releasable system to a static one (and hope that I don't get stuck on the way down).

Could you explain this a little more please?

[Panici]

130 ft free hang

What a shot! Glad you give the rigging the respect it deserves.

I'm also interested to know more about the anchoring system you use.

[MR E30 325is]

Really beautiful scenery, but I think I'd max out my heart rate doing that lol. I've got no problem with heights or climbing high up a sturdy ladder (since I do that a lot in construction), but being pressed up to a cliff face or dangling at 'certain death' heights gets a big nope from me. Making me want to visit AZ though.

Oh man, sitting in a harness on a rope is easily 5 times more comfortable than being on a ladder. Haha. A tremendous fear of heights plagued me most of my life, but there is something about feeling secure around my waist that alleviates that all the way.

[MR E30 325is]

Releasable anchor in a nutshell:

I don't want to ascend ropes, because that is incredibly tiring and I am lazy.

Canyoneering is a very rewarding activity, as long as everything goes well.

If not, it can quickly become a huge problem. I always have a Sat Phone on me, so we won't die out there, but I want to get home at a reasonable time.

I rig releasable at the top in the event that someone gets stuck partway down the rope, all I have to do is belay them from the anchor. I send down just one end of the rope, and tie a specific knot at the top that has 3 components, a friction knot (this is what I belay with), a tie-off knot that is releasable when the rope is loaded (this keeps me form having to hold the other end of the rope the entire time) and a safety knot (this is in case the bag rolls away and tugs on the end of the rope).

Say someone is halfway down and their shirt gets stuck in their belay device. Without a releasable system I would have to set up another rope, descend down to them, fix the problem while we are both in the air, and then ascend back up the rope to undo all of the knots at the top. This is the shitty part. It's just so damn tiring to ascend a rope.

But with a releasable system I would simply undo the safety knot, undo the tie off knot, and then slowly feed additional rope into the friction knot. They touch the ground and once the rope is unweighted they can easily fix the problem. Once they are off belay I simply pull the excess rope I fed into the system back out and re-tie the knot for the next person.

This can't be done for me, as I am the last one down, and there is no one to run the anchor for me. So I go to a static system so the rope can be pulled down to the ground, as we don't leave ropes behind. If I get stuck I have the know-how and equipment to unload my belay device, free it, reload it, and then continue down.

Disclaimer: This is not nearly enough information to do this on your own. Operating in the Z-axis is incredibly dangerous. Always travel with someone who is experienced.

[MrBurgundy]

I am once again single

[2mAn]

I am once again single

No wonder you're free this coming weekend!!

Lets see some pics of the EX??

[MrBurgundy]

No wonder you're free this coming weekend!!

Lets see some pics of the EX??

...Lot's of time to do car stuff now haha...

Naw, she's too nice to do that to.

I will post pics of all the new ones

[2mAn]

I will post pics of all the new ones

Quoted to use against you later

[Chilezen]

Technically speaking, using his word choice, he will be posting pictures of future ex's, not specifically future girlfriends. So if he marries the next girlfriend, we may never see her, or even know if she really exists!

[MrBurgundy]

Technically speaking, using his word choice, he will be posting pictures of future ex's, not specifically future girlfriends. So if he marries the next girlfriend, we may never see her, or even know if she really exists!

She goes to a different school bro