Long Rappel

[HenryJ]

It is not often you get to do things that really make you feel alive on a weekday , and at work. Today was one of those days for me

The last three years I have been training some employees of the Owyhee Irrigation District in high angle rope rescue , confined space rescue and rappelling. This is partly for self preservation. The Owyhee Dam is 45 minutes away from the nearest rescue team. Our team is available and ready on a moments notice. We cover a huge area.

Me on the far right.

I applied for and received a Safety and Security grant from our insurance carrier. This allowed me to purchase 4 mobile radios , two portable radios and two 600' ropes with bags. The radios are 128 channel programmable and compatible with local law enforcement and emergency services. This addition to our teams equipment greatly enhances our capabilities and range.
The long ropes and vital communications can be a great asset for our area.

Today I actually got to try out these bad boys!

There is a big blue tarp that blew up on the rocks on the south side of the dam. It has been there for over five years as best we can guess. In preparation for the 75th anniversary celebration this year, and as a good practice session, we made it a goal to remove it. This entailed a very treacherous area and a very long rappel.

I studied the line from below and decided to follow the "wash" down, then move over to the tarp. The line straight above the tarp did not look as good from the top or bottom. That circle is the tarp. It was about 20'x 20' and draped over a bush that had grown up through it too.

From below it looked like a pretty easy decent. Once on it that was obviously a gross mistake. It was really steep and lots of loose stuff. We found two places to stop and rest a little while untangling ropes below us.

The tarp was about 30' to the north of our line down. There was just not a better line from the one we took down. I climbed across a little above the tarp , but did not like the situation. Too risky.

I opted to go down parallel and work across the face to a position where I could reach it.

It is hard to see from the sun glare , but that is just after I got half the tarp cut loose. I am on the left and my partner , Mark is on the right.
It really was wedged tight and I could not get close enough to pull it loose. I ended up cutting it in half with my knife and tugging it loose a little at a time. I almost gave up a couple times. It took us nearly two hours to get this far. I really hated to leave it there.

I was able finally work loose the remaining half and kick it down as I rappelled down from that location. Mark was able to free my rope where it hung up and we proceeded to head on down to the power plant. The rappel took nearly three hours and was close to 500'. We took our time and stayed safe.

One of the guys used my camera and did not get enough photos, but I guess he was watching out for us and had never used a digital camera before.

That is the longest rappel I have done to date. Hopefully some day I will get to rappel the glory hole or at least the face , just for fun :rappel:

A good day at work. Those don't come all that often. Enjoy them! :jumping:

 

[HenryJ]

The sideways 30' to get to that tarp did give me pause. My partner was going to be the first to attempt it as he had more rock climbing experience and was lighter than I. He was not comfortable with the spongy feel of the long rope and hesitated. I am not one to push anyone. I did not want him doing anything he was not comfortable with.
I took the lead again.
I was aware that a slip would send me swinging across the rocks and smacking some 40' or more away. I kept the pressure in line with my rope and was fortunate to have a shelf in line for good footing. Once I got my leg over that and braced against it, I was much more comfortable with the situation. This also gave me a point to rappel straight down from there with my rope over that vertical out cropping.

The terrain was treacherous for sure. Not an easy rappel. That is one reason I took the lead on this one. In a pinch we did have ascenders and could have gone up in a dire situation. They work great for anchoring in place and did several times.

That much rope was a new experience. You had to feed it up for the first half of the rappel. The weight alone was nearly enough to hold you in place.
We are using NFPA rated two man ( 900lb ) rescue rope. CMC Lifeline ( New England Ropes ) 1/2" static kernmantle rope. Tensile strength is around 9500 lbf. It will stretch 4.8% over the length of the rope. That is nearly 30'. I didn't let my partner in on that little fact until afterward. He was nervous enough about the spongy feeling at the half way point. I can not imagine what his feeling would have been if he knew it could stretch that far I personally selected the equipment we use. It is all good equipment and is very well cared for. I told him , and silently to myself ...Trust the equipment. You must have faith. It will be just fine.

We had five men on top and three on the bottom. They easily pulled the rope up after we released the bags and knots at the bottom.
Two men on top tied off with harnesses to attend each rope, one in rappelling harness ready to come down if needed and two standing by. Three below. Two spotters and one standing by below. All first aid trained. Two of us EMTs.
We have a Skedco flexible stretcher , backboard and c-collar with us at all times. The combination can be used in many ways and is rated for hoisting to aircraft if needed.
This rappel had way too many unknowns, so I took way more than we need for an easy rappel.

I had a few moments of pause when my bag went down and no one could see it. I was not sure if we had enough rope to reach bottom. You know how it is when you plan it and are sure the rope is long enough, but the thought still plays on you with a new rope. No way was I coming back up after we passed the 100' mark. I could not tell if it was just the weight of the rope , or if my bag was hanging in mid air below somewhere. My spotter could not see it and neither could I. There were several anchor points left over from construction of the dam. We thought we could anchor in and use both ropes to get down from a lower anchor point if it came to that. I had lots of contingency plans. Worst case a helicopter or another rescue teams saves us. I am not proud. If it comes to that, I made an error. It will not cost a life.

 

[Scott Brady]

Awesome story Henry, and a good cause too. Bravo!

 

[flywgn]

Great report, Henry J.

The next time I fish that river downstream of the dam I'll get a closer look at the face..."look", mind you, nothing else.

We often camp along the river w/in sight of the dam.

Allen R

 

[HenryJ]

...We often camp along the river w/in sight of the dam.

Allen R

Drop me a line next time you're headed there. I'd love to meet yet another member.
I usually camp by boat when we go up there.
Who knows might even be able to work in some campfire conversation

 

[BigAl]

Wow, 3 hours is a long time to sit in a harness But I'd do it in a second. What kind of rappal device did you use?

 

[HenryJ]

What kind of rappal device did you use?

We were wearing PMI Pit-Viper Cave Harness with a CMC large steel rescue eight descender attached with a SMC Large Steel Locking carabiner.

We carried and used a set of ISC Rescue Ascenders. They really are good. Simple one hand operation. Easy to attach and stow.
We had one inch webbing attached to them for foot holds and a short one to the rappelling carabiner for tying off.

 

[blupaddler]

Wow!!! :wings: Oh wait...
:rappel:
:rappel:
:rappel:
:rappel:
:rappel:
(each is a 100' section)

Sounds really fun! And you managed to clean-up the area while having fun, err, I mean training.
Congrats on the 1/2" line. Good stuff. Except when you have to stuff the bag, that's when everyone knows their seniority level. he, he.




Any reason why you didn't have a belay line?

Also you should try and use a personal rappel rack instead of the figure 8. The 8's tend to twist the line, as I am sure you know. And the racks allow you add or remove the bars, essentially adding friction. These work really well in rescue scenarios. We don't even use the 8 anymore.

Here is a sample of what I am talking about.
http://www.rescueresponse.com/store/bms_micro_rack_dual.html


Oh, if you want a vacation and REALLY good training, check out these guys:
www.peakrescue.org

 

[HenryJ]

... on the 1/2" line. Good stuff. Except when you have to stuff the bag, that's when everyone knows their seniority level.

That stuff can really be work putting it all back, but four guys on a bag makes it go pretty fast

Any reason why you didn't have a belay line?

Just no good way to facilitate that for me. I would lead and belay the line for my partner. Only the last 50 foot or so did I have someone on belay. That was when I tossed the last of my rope to the roof of the hydro power plant. A clear straight rappel is much safer and more fun too. This was a situation that required some calculated risk.

...you should try and use a personal rappel rack instead of the figure 8. The 8's tend to twist the line, as I am sure you know. And the racks allow you add or remove the bars, essentially adding friction. These work really well in rescue scenarios.

Agreed. We use those for confined space rescue on the State Hazmat Team. I do not have as much time using those as we don't train with them nearly as much.
We also have four other rope bags with pulleys and retrieval equipment. Bar decenders might be something we could add to the Owyhee team at some point. Right now we are happy to have long ropes and some new capabilities. Cost plays a part too. I do what I can to maximize the bang for the buck. I picked up quite a bit of equipment from a friend who was getting out of the sport.
The eight is simple and we are pretty simple ourselves. I work with what I am comfortable and knowing all the limitations. A rescue would have been geared very differently for a patient recovery. Likely we would have accessed the location the same way, packaged and waited for an airlift. Lake Owyhee is an automatic launch for Lifeflight. It is just too remote for any emergency. The helicopter can be there in 30 minutes. It takes 45 to drive there, and that is after the locals get a crew enroute.
Our goal in a rescue scenario would be to gain access, prepare for retrieval or access, package the patient and be ready for responding emergency personnel.
"Do no harm and do not exceed your level of training." My mantra

Climbing is very addictive. I can see how people gather all sorts of gear and invest a sizable amount of money in it. I am not sure that I want to get "that involved". It is fun and I am glad that I get to do things like that.
You would probably be surprised at just how afraid of heights I am. I am the biggest chicken, but training with the fire department, Hazmat, and a little mind over matter you can accomplish anything.
Life is too short. Try the long rope sometimes :wings:

 

[BigAl]

We were wearing PMI Pit-Viper Cave Harness with a CMC large steel rescue eight descender attached with a SMC Large Steel Locking carabiner.

We carried and used a set of ISC Rescue Ascenders. They really are good. Simple one hand operation. Easy to attach and stow.
We had one inch webbing attached to them for foot holds and a short one to the rappelling carabiner for tying off.

You are hard core wearing a caving harness for 3 hours. not much cushion or comfort built into them. I have a petzl of that style. I like the super low attachment point. Did you ever try one of these ascendars?

It attaches directly to the harness and lets you do sit/stand ascending really easy. As you stand, it slides up the rope automatically. That in combo with your hand ascendar with a footloop and you can climb at a good pace. We used to practice pick offs and they made it much easier b/c you didn't have to mess with the ascendar while holding a lot of weight.

Sadly, all my caving/climbing gear isn't getting used, but I did make a killer zip line one day last year at our local quarry/swimming hole.

 

[HenryJ]

You are hard core wearing a caving harness for 3 hours. not much cushion or comfort built into them.

Agreed. That may be just a kind way of calling me crazy? :hehe: They do offer lots of maneuverability. That I like. We did have a couple small ledges where we were able to take the load off and rest a little on the way down. Good places to plan the next move.

Did you ever try one of these ascendars?

I have not. I had not seen one until now. That does look good.
I really haven't been into this at all recreationally. My primary focus has been work related and rescue. Our equipment is pretty basic so far. It will be fun to add to it as time goes on. I will keep that ascender in mind. It does look handy.
I think the hand ascenders that I have would function the same if attached to the belt. We have two sets, so I might try that. Thanks for the idea

 

[BigAl]

I think the hand ascenders that I have would function the same if attached to the belt. We have two sets, so I might try that. Thanks for the idea

They probably would, with either you have to make a "necklace" to attach to the top of the ascendar and around your neck. Light cord works fine, it's not for life support, it just pulls the ascendar up the rope as you stand. The climbing technique is sometimes called "frog" if you want to research. Try it sometime when you're just messing around.

 

[HenryJ]

They probably would, with either you have to make a "necklace" to attach to the top of the ascendar and around your neck. Light cord works fine, it's not for life support, it just pulls the ascendar up the rope as you stand. The climbing technique is sometimes called "frog" if you want to research. Try it sometime when you're just messing around.

I will! Thank you!
The tips are great.
This area does not have a wealth of support. All people around here "used" to rappel or climb, "a long time ago."
Much of what I have picked up has been from people such as yourself, as well as researching the latest tools and techniques.
I never stop learning and hope I never do.

Thank you.

 

[flywgn]

Henry J, I will give a shout when we head that way. Probably be sometime late summer or early fall.

Allen R

 

[HenryJ]

Henry J, I will give a shout when we head that way. Probably be sometime late summer or early fall.

Allen R

Do that

We are hoping to do a rappel of the Dam face later in the year.
I am also way overdue for a Dry Creek Expedition. It is an excellent recharge.