Rope Jumping in the Snow (Dialup Warning)

coldclimb

When a plain old swing just isn't enough, sometimes one must take it up a notch. Yesterday, Richard and I took off and rigged a rope jump from the underside of a bridge. We contacted Kelsey to meet up with us, and eventually Shasta joined us as well. Here's what came of it!

If you'd like more, there's forty total in a list format at http://www.morffed.com/climb/temp They're the "bridge" ones!



Richard preps for the first jump.




Good to go!




It often takes a bit to psych up for it.




The look of disbelief that this is actually going to happen.




And then the first jump!




Myself, shot by Richard, coming off on my second jump.




Richard airborne with snow trailing behind.




Myself, also shot by Richard.




Richard launching again, shot from above. I wonder if any of the folks driving by wondered why I was wearing a harness... :rofl




At this point we had to go rescue Kelsey, who broke down on the way. We picked him up and resumed our jumping.

Kelsey rigs for his first jump.




The ever-present hesitation before the jump.




"This is crazy"




And he goes for it!




Richard ponders his next step.




AIRBORN!




This is when SHASTA finally arrived, as light was beginning to fade.




Kelsey at the apex of his swing after jumping.




Shasta kicks off her first jump. Light kept getting suckier and suckier, and I'll admit I didn't shoot very well in it. Oh well, next time!




I found I kept trying to pan, when I probably should have kept the scenery in focus and let the jumper be blurred. Here's Kelsey hucking a backflip!




So that's as quick as I could make this post. Of course if you've got time to browse, there's forty pics total located at http://www.morffed.com/climb/temp They're just a list, sorry I can't offer a page to browse them on. Just click through the "bridge" ones. Hope you enjoy!

rustic

Nice set! I liked some of lower angle ones on your linked page, I think they helped to give some better context. Maybe try to get a few wide shots of the area next time so that the viewer has a better idea of how high, how wide, how far out in the middle of nowhere, etc.

Looks like a great time, thanks for sharing!

Skippy

I tell you what mate, ya know what I love??
I LOVE the feel of the GROUND UNDER MY FEET

I couldn't do what you get up to, as exciting and adrenaline rushing as it may be, it's not for the faint hearted.

I love your posts, the places you climb are amazing.
The fact that you do it amazes me all the more

Glad you all walked away safely.
Awesome post :ivar .... Stay Safe.... Skippy
.

gus

Man you blokes are loose !! I only jump off stuff if something bigger than me is in chase.

I do always check out your photos though..im guaranteed of something different & you never disappoint mate !

coldclimb

Hehehe, thanks for the comments all! It's great fun, you really should try it sometime! You should know you know what you're doing beforehand of course, but man it's fun!

schmoo

Despite the spine-tingly feeling I get looking at these shots, it does look like a lot of fun. Is this similar to bungee jumping?

DoctorIt

schmoo wrote:

Despite the spine-tingly feeling I get looking at these shots, it does look like a lot of fun. Is this similar to bungee jumping?

kinda sorta, but think swinging instead of bouncing. Dynamic rope is designed and woven to absorb the energy of a fall by diverting it in a (side) direction. Bungee's dissipate the fall more elastically, by stretching.

Nerd-out over.

John, Kelsey, crazy as ever. But what the boys are not pointing out is that doing this off a bridge with a solid anchor is much safer than on the second or third pitch of a climb up a cheer cliff, where you blow through at least one piece of protection on the way down and sometimes the "side" the rope ultimately diverts you in is directly into the wall.

coldclimb

schmoo wrote:

Despite the spine-tingly feeling I get looking at these shots, it does look like a lot of fun. Is this similar to bungee jumping?

Yeah Doc is on the right track. A climbing rope stretches, but doesn't stretch and bounce like bungee. What it does is absorbs the impact over a DISTANCE so you don't just jolt to a stop, but it doesn't bounce back like a bungee cord will. In our case here we added a good amount of SWING as well, instead of jumping directly above the anchor, which also adds some impact absorption as Doc says. Although you CAN take a direct fall on climbing rope and be fine, it's just much better on everything involved to try to dissipate the impact as much as possible.

If you google "Dan Osman" you'll find some pretty mind-blowing rope jumps!

anwmn1

coldclimb wrote:

Yeah Doc is on the right track. A climbing rope stretches, but doesn't stretch and bounce like bungee. What it does is absorbs the impact over a DISTANCE so you don't just jolt to a stop, but it doesn't bounce back like a bungee cord will. In our case here we added a good amount of SWING as well, instead of jumping directly above the anchor, which also adds some impact absorption as Doc says. Although you CAN take a direct fall on climbing rope and be fine, it's just much better on everything involved to try to dissipate the impact as much as possible.

If you google "Dan Osman" you'll find some pretty mind-blowing rope jumps!

Bridge jumps reminds me of stuff we use to do in large hay barns. Looks like a lot of fun- ever try to do a panning shot as you jump?

That guy Dan Osman is just plain nuts!! It would be a rush but Holy Crap!!

coldclimb

anwmn1 wrote:

Bridge jumps reminds me of stuff we use to do in large hay barns. Looks like a lot of fun- ever try to do a panning shot as you jump?

Yeah... I tried... It turned out some pretty poor results, but I'd love to practice more!

leaforte

You only live once, so why not. Looks like fun!! The first shot of 'Richard', up close and personal, is nice. You candidly got him in a quiet moment, maybe before his jump, maybe saying a little prayer?

"Rope Jumping in the Snow" is a thread title hard to resist.