View Full Version : Ever done abseiling?
I thought I'd try something new...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/PICT0078.jpg
We waited in 36 degree sun for the instructor
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/PICT0088.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/PICT0121.jpg
The briefing
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/PICT0127.jpg
My first abseil
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/JMvNga358731-02.jpg
I'm in the middle, we soon got hang of it
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/N7HZ8N746592-02.jpg
The smile says it all, its a load of fun
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/PICT0126.jpg
I went down time and time again, couldn't get enough of it...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/DGS5GQ022679-02.jpg
The view from half way down
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/zunkus/Abseiling/ZlsFu.32596502.jpg
My designer friends and me.
Miss Alpinestarhero
03-08-07, 12:41 PM
Im too much of a chicken to try that :rolleyes:
How was it? fun?
Maria
when I was a kid.... first time ended up swinging around upside down.... after I got over that it was a laugh -but I preferred going up....
Oh... and a few caves in my college days - although that were a bit cold & wet... although dropping down was way better that going back up again...
cool scenery btw
Luckypants
03-08-07, 01:01 PM
Abseiling is fun in it's own right. Wicked when used as part of another adventure sport. Try canyoning, coasteering, kayaking or plain old climbing to combine this bit of fun with other 'extreme' (:rolleyes: ) activities.
Get out there and have fun.
philbut
03-08-07, 01:10 PM
Try caving - OK so the views aren't quite so beautiful but there are some incredible underground caves and lakes. You can combine climbing / abseiling and caving (oh and swimming too but its REAL COLD!). I guess you could also canoe down there if you bought one of those inflatable ones :bounce: - I've just invented a new sport, subterranean white water canoing!
I love free climbing best of all, done kayaking and its great. My biggest wish is river rafting. I've seen a documentary of three guys traveling the whole length of the Amazon river on a rubber dingy. They almost died of thirst, hunger and drowning countless times. Hats off to those guys, too extreme for me! And yes canyoning looks like great fun too.
kwak zzr
03-08-07, 03:06 PM
i did abseiling once at the outward bound centre in aberdovey, the post office sent us there when i first joined:) i really enjoyed it, took a little time getting used to leaning back tho and letting the ropes do there job.
Luckypants
03-08-07, 03:17 PM
I've just invented a new sport, subterranean white water canoing!sorry mate, york canoe club ran Dr. Bannisters fall in Long Churn cave in '95 or '96. I'm claiming a first descent for that one :D Photos appeared in Canoe&Kayak mag.
philbut
03-08-07, 03:23 PM
sorry mate, york canoe club ran Dr. Bannisters fall in Long Churn cave in '95 or '96. I'm claiming a first descent for that one :D Photos appeared in Canoe&Kayak mag.
Blast. And i would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those pesky kids! :smt012
Seriously though, that sounds pretty cool. I always get a little claustrophobic when water and caves are mixed. The leader tells you there is a clear path through to the next cavern, but when you have to swim under to get to it. brrrr. that "but if i get stuck" thought always goes through your mind. i guess any caverns you ran in a kayak would have to be reasonably big (and not entirely submerged)
neilfab
03-08-07, 03:32 PM
Done it twice from the top of buildings; The Hilton in Leeds city centre and from the op of Morden Civic Centre both for charity and then down a water fall in a cave...somewhere??!! as part of an outward bound thingy in Ullswater in January feck!! that was cold!!:shaking:
hoodlum
03-08-07, 08:04 PM
try going down the cliff face face first - looking where you're going rather than where you've been. It's an awesome experience...........
seedy100
03-08-07, 10:10 PM
Did it for the first time two weeks ago!
Off the top of county hall in Chelmford 110 ft aparently.
I enjoyed the experiance. I intend to do it again, from somewhere higher if possible.
To link to another thread - how about abesiling races for AR08?
try going down the cliff face face first - looking where you're going rather than where you've been. It's an awesome experience...........
That's great fun, not for those with the vertigo.
Not so sure on where they let you keep your hands, with a figure 8 and a proper harness I'd keep only one hand on the rope to feed through the 8 and keep the other well out of the way. I always used a glove too. Don't like burning my hand, but like going fast.
I've done it out the side of a chinook. :cool: I've also parachuted out the back of a Hercules.
Spiderman
04-08-07, 12:24 PM
I've done it out the side of a chinook. :cool: I've also parachuted out the back of a Hercules.
Oh man! I am soooooooooooooooooo jealous of you Ape.
I did some absieling in the cadets when i was much younger. I really aint great with heights and the idea of hanging off a cliff on a flimsy looking bit of rope (ok they did tell me it had a 2 ton breaking strain but it still looked bloody skinny to me) really did nothing to help...until i went for it. OMG how much fun is that. Even if my footing did slip a coupe of times that day and i discovered why you shouldnt try and snog mountains it was great fun.
Alway wante to do it out the side of a chopper, SAS styleee, or off the post office tower is my other fantasy.
Glad you tried something new Zunkus and enjoyed it. :D
try going down the cliff face face first - looking where you're going rather than where you've been. It's an awesome experience...........
Yeah, an experienced friend of mine told me I could go down head first but I'm a little apprehensive about that. It seems more dangerous. Then again I'll give it a try next time round.
I got stuck in a world war two shelter once, which caved in in some places. It was an ex british fortress site called Selmun fortress overlooking the sea. I panicked when we couldn't go forward anymore whilst crawling on all fours and my friend behind me found it difficult to reverse. Become claustrophobic since then. I still love caves but the fear is there.
It's good fun, except when you're trying to do it with a 40lb pack and an SLR strapped to your back.
philipMac
05-08-07, 09:08 AM
I've done it out the side of a chinook.
I've done it underground, under a waterfall, in perfect darkness, with 100m of rope and an ammo box clipped on to me.
The Chinook probably wins though.
In a way its easier to step off underground, because you cant see the bottom. When you are on a long pitch, and you are transferring from one rope to another, 50m above the next thing to stand on, while hanging on the rope you are transferring off, you tend to focus.
http://www.orgt.gatech.edu/caving/pics/bicen.jpg
Pedro68
05-08-07, 11:29 AM
Only ever done it off 40ft abseiling tower when I was much younger and suffered from vertigo ... great fun though and would certainly do it again. Once we got the hang of it we were seeing who could get down in least number of jumps ... we managed it in 2 jumps eventually ... one bang in middle of tower and 2nd one hitting the floor :)
We went to do it on a 100ft quarry face somewhere and I chickened out there ... but the funniest part was watching one "know it all" jump out and swing back in and twist his ankle, after the group had been specifically told not to jump due to the uneven terrain. Dunno what it is, but it's always quite satisfying seeing those "know it all"s falter :)
Same bloke fell in a canal pushing a "long boat" out ... we were all in the boat looking out the "port hole windows" and waving at him as he gradually got outstretched (hands on boat, feet on shore) ... so funny :D
Pedrosa
05-08-07, 05:39 PM
I have abseiled,however the location,time and names of those with me at the time strictly remain classified information. Roger and out.
Ceri JC
06-08-07, 10:58 AM
I've done it a few times. My favourite is probably abseiling down over the entrance to a cave and having to jump backwards and let loads out (so you swing into the cave, rather than smashing your face on the roof of it). I like freefalling and just snapping the brakes on about 10 foot above the ground. This was particularly amusing when someone I disliked was following me and tried to copy this move, but he wasn't strong enough to grip the rope as hard as required so he got rope burn and landed on his ar53. :D
diamond
06-08-07, 12:34 PM
. My favourite is probably abseiling down over the entrance to a cave and having to jump backwards and let loads out (so you swing into the cave, rather than smashing your face on the roof of it). :D
I've done that , it was a cave down on Portland in the side of the cliff very cool.:cool:
It seems we're all crazy nuts here! :)
No wonder we call this the mad house...
...nurse I missed my one o'clock dose...
Yep, I've done it in the Blue Mountains in Oz. We abseiled in the morning as a refresher, and then dropped into a canyon, swam, walk, and climbed out. Tiring but lovely day, some of the Ozzy's where moaning it was getting too cold to canyon, but it was at least 22c!
I forgot to say... I don't like heights, lol.
Jester666
06-08-07, 01:59 PM
I did it years ago on a school PGL trip to Wales.
We were at the top of the tower as the RAF decided to do their low flying exersises. The whole tower swayed as they went over!!
Very good fun.
Done quite a bit. Had a few moments. Years ago when I first went I managed to end up upside down (let the rope out to quick, but didnt move my feet) .... was very funny for my mates while I was screaming 'just hold on just hold on'. Things did improve a little after that.
I did a 200ft abseil down an old mine shaft a while ago, enjoyed it but it was very tight and very dark! Then I had to prisick back up .... which was bl88dy hard work. This is basically to use a couple of cords, tied onto the main rope, which you then kind of 'whinch' yourselve up on. The knots slide up the rope, but not down the rope, so your transfer your weight onto the foot cord and slide the hand cord up, pull up onto that and then slide the foot cord up until you reach the top..... if that makes any sense! 200ft was a long way for someone who had never done it before!
Tis all good to challenge yourself, and you always feel pleased with yourself for doing it, een if you decide you will never do it again!
Luckypants
06-08-07, 03:48 PM
I did a 200ft abseil down an old mine shaft a while ago, enjoyed it but it was very tight and very dark! Then I had to prisick back up .... which was bl88dy hard work. This is basically to use a couple of cords, tied onto the main rope, which you then kind of 'whinch' yourselve up on. The knots slide up the rope, but not down the rope, so your transfer your weight onto the foot cord and slide the hand cord up, pull up onto that and then slide the foot cord up until you reach the top..... if that makes any sense! 200ft was a long way for someone who had never done it before!
Prussiking is bloody hard work (and bloody hard full stop) although these new fangled gri-gri (?) things make life a little easier! glad my chosen sport only ever involved going down (except when having to climb out of gorges we didn't scout properly! [-o< )
Ceri JC
06-08-07, 04:13 PM
Prussiking is bloody hard work (and bloody hard full stop) although these new fangled gri-gri (?) things make life a little easier! glad my chosen sport only ever involved going down (except when having to climb out of gorges we didn't scout properly! [-o< )
Yes, I've only done that twice, and only for short distances and it was absolutely knackering. That was using very thin climbing rope "string" (same construction as modern ropes, but about the size/thickness of shoelaces for big boots).
philipMac
06-08-07, 04:25 PM
Prussiking is bloody hard work (and bloody hard full stop) although these new fangled gri-gri (?) things make life a little easier!
Right.
Prusiking is real last resort stuff in my book.
Two ascenders, one tight over your sternum, one loose, with a foot loop. All you have to do is stand into the foot loop, then get off, and the load gets put onto your chest ascender, and then onto your body harness.
http://www.planetfear.com/includes/images/uploaded/61200668102917ascenders.jpg
You really dont want to be messing about with prusik loops until you have to. I have only ever used them to hang off for a couple of minutes I think. Even then I was not thrilled to be doing that.
Luckypants
06-08-07, 04:48 PM
Right.
Prusiking is real last resort stuff in my book.
Two ascenders, one tight over your sternum, one loose, with a foot loop.
You really dont want to be messing about with prusik loops until you have to. I have only ever used them to hang off for a couple of minutes I think. Even then I was not thrilled to be doing that.
Generally agree with that. Those bits of hardware look like they are expensive, but sounds like they do the business. however, prusik loops are what I carry in my rescue kit in the kayak, use them as brakes / locks on haul systems for freeing trapped boats etc. So I use them to climb at a pinch. No room for all that gear - krabs and some swing cheek pulleys is it in terms of hardware.
Must admit I wouldnt rush to do it again myself .... but it was a technic worth learning. As you say it is usually a get out option. Prefer to be on wheels myself these days ;)
philipMac
06-08-07, 08:00 PM
Generally agree with that. Those bits of hardware look like they are expensive, but sounds like they do the business. however, prusik loops are what I carry in my rescue kit in the kayak, use them as brakes / locks on haul systems for freeing trapped boats etc. So I use them to climb at a pinch. No room for all that gear - krabs and some swing cheek pulleys is it in terms of hardware.
right. paddling and things, they do the job. Like, I will normally carry Prusik loops, just in case.
But, if you are going to be in a situation that you know you need to go up a rope, and you're not carrying proper ascenders... lets just say you are a tougher person than myself.
Luckypants
07-08-07, 07:47 AM
But, if you are going to be in a situation that you know you need to go up a rope, and you're not carrying proper ascenders... lets just say you are a tougher person than myself.
Well the plan is never to need to climb out. :( In two canyons we could not easily inspect what was below certain drops. We abb'ed down the falls and went round to inspect. There were hazards beyond what we were expecting so used the prusiks to climb back up.(hence at a pinch) I would bow to your superior knowledge on these things and will go check these things out if I were to ever get back into serious creeking.:notworthy:
I've done it out the side of a chinook. :cool: I've also parachuted out the back of a Hercules.
You,re obviously ex army Big Ape, in the Air Force we waited for the aircraft to land before disembarking ;)
rictus01
07-08-07, 11:27 AM
I've done it out the side of a chinook. :cool: I've also parachuted out the back of a Hercules.
yep, done that to :D .
Even followed a 105mm gun out the back.
Mr Toad
07-08-07, 12:53 PM
Don't let BigApe near Chinooks - that man will wheelie anything given half a chance . . .
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i247/Mr_Toad_650/Biggin_Hill_2006/Chinook.jpg
:lol:
Dang :!: That's the 2nd photo of me wheeling. And I thought the AR06 photo was the only one in existence. :lol:
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.