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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 12, 2005 - 01:52pm PT
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When I first arrived in Squamish in August, I heard stories of a killer nearby lake with a terrifying rope-
swing that could reduce manly macho-types to quivering girly-men at the mere sight of it.
I have always been a big fan of cliff-jumping and rope-swings over water, so I figured I'd make it
out there and see what all the fuss was about. I put this high on my list of things to do...
Brohm Lake is approx. 15 minutes North of Squamish, and is a rather scenic drive.
The rope-swing is a 5 minute hike along the shore. When I first saw the swing,
I just stood there, saying "Holy shit!" –– over and over...
Here Dave is about to launch from the lowest possible point –– note the cans of "liquid courage" laying about:
To get to where he is, you have to ascend a short, steep wall –– to which the locals
have fixed a line to pull yourself up on.
We heard of how you must be really careful to not hit your ass on the narrow rock-channel you must pass through,
and that many people have crashed and burned by hitting the rock. When I asked about going off the platform,
I was told that this was only done by a select few crazy folk, and that serious accidents had occurred there.
(I think you know where this is going, eh?)
In this shot you can see Dave standing below the rock-wall, pulling up the rope before ascending to the low jump point.
Here's a closer view, as seen from the platform. The platform was remarkably stable,
however when I stood on it I just kept repeating the Holy Shit! mantra. I figured maybe if
I saw someone do it, I might summon up the courage someday...
Another thing is that even if you swing out over the water successfully, the landing is knott always pretty.
Here's an example of what can go wrong. Dave goes in slightly sideways, and finds himself in a world of hurt.
Note that he went off the lowest possible point below the platform!...
325 KB Quicktime movie
http://www.oceandave.com/squamish/splat_short.mov
Although we went there a few times, we never saw anyone go off the platform.
Then one afternoon, as we walked toward the swing, we saw something like this:
slow-mo animated GIF; 180 KB
"Holy Shit! Oh my God!!! Did you see that?!??" ––I blurted out, simply awestruck.
The air-time was incredible; it seemed like it took forever to hit the water!
I talked to the guy, and he told me that he would jump up off the platform,
and aim his feet to hit the lower knot –– and therefore would clear the rocks with no problem.
Plus, the knot would take much weight off his arms, making it easier to hold on.
To thread through the rocks, you have to get on the very edge of the platform.
Here's a frame from one of the video clips at the moment of truth. Note that he's wearing shoes...
This seemed really sketchy, because the knots were so close together;
you really had to scrunch-up to do it. To miss could be devastating...
Here you can see how close he comes to the rock as he swings out:
This is from just before hitting the water, which gives an idea
of how far out he ends up from the launch-point:
Then another guy went off the platform, but he didn't put his feet on the lower knot.
Instead, he pulled himself up with the upper knot to his chest to clear the rocks.
When I asked him about his technique, he said he had had a really bad landing
once doing it the other way, and thought his method was safer.
Well, I finally decided to go for it. By now there was a crowd of at least 15 people,
including some cute local girls. There was no turning back now...
Someone handed up the rope to me, and I took a few deep breaths, then went.
I cleared the rocks, but as soon as I went over the water, I couldn't hold the rope,
and I got "stuffed" not far from the shore––before I reached the end of the swing-out.
Luckily, I entered the water nice and straight, but it scared the Shit! out of me.
I was shaking for several minutes. I thought I would shoot a bit of video till my nerves calmed down...
Note: the following clips are in MPEG-1 format, which will play on virtually any machine known to man,
including many Linux and Unix boxes. These were shot on my Canon G3 in AVI movie-mode.
The quality is quite good, and the sound is awesome. They are all less than 1 MB each,
and will download in 2 or 3 minutes––even on the slowest of dial-ups. (like mine)
Here's a clip shot from behind the platform as he jumps. You can clearly hear the rope-end smack the rock,
and the sound of the awe-struck crowd as he flies forever in the air after letting go. (I kid you knott)
Note how long he is under water! The clip ends just after he surfaces:
http://www.oceandave.com/squamish/huge.mpg
Here I went down to the lower-level to get some footage from the side.
(the source for the animated GIF above) You can clearly hear him
say something that rhymes with Duck as he lets go and spins around a couple times:
http://www.oceandave.com/squamish/sideswing.mpg
By now I was getting psyched to do it again. I went up to the platform.
I could feel the anticipation from the crowd––as they had probably never seen
such an old man (44) go off the swing, let alone from the platform!
I held the rope, and looked at the knots, wondering if I would be able to
get my feet into position before my weight came down onto it. I already knew
1st-hand what could happen if not. Still, I just couldn't bring myself to do it!
I discussed the beta with the guy––asking the same questions over and over,
stalling for time. Finally, I told the guy if I saw him do it just One More Time™,
I would go for it. He did, and I soon found myself back on the platform with rope in hand.
I was breathing like I was about to give birth, and I knew how Dan Osman must have
felt when he jumped off the Leaning Tower for the first time. The crowd was respectfully quiet,
with none of the usual drunken "Go for it!" you often hear in The States.
The guy holding my camera was ready. I told him to start recording as I counted "1",
because of the slight delay after pressing the shutter. I really felt like something bad might
happen, but I was past the point of no return. With my heart in my throat, scared shit!less,
I jumped up, carefully aiming a path though the rock-channel:
Here's the video of the action––the crowd noise is phenomenal!
They were wildly cheering-on this crazy old American guy who was obviously scared witless.
Also, you can hear what I yelled when I surfaced, and it's pretty funny...
http://www.oceandave.com/squamish/knott_scared.mpg
(Before any of you peanut galley clowns make any snide comments about my landing,
I should remind you that I was wearing shoes and deliberately landed flatfooted
to limit my depth under water––due to weak eardrum. So put a cork in it, eh?)
And now, a taste of the dark side....
There was large, heavy guy who had been drinking a bit who wanted to try it.
He had never been on the swing, and yet wanted to go right off the platform.
His female companion was telling him no, but you could tell he was determined.
I had sort of a bad premonition. After all, what are the most famous last-words of all time?
"Hey, hold my beer––watch this!"
I went up there with the guy and I said he should try from lower-down first.
He said no, he was going off the top. I told the guy what to do with his feet;
how important it was to get them onto the lower knot. I said:
"No matter what, don't let go. I mean it! Don't let go until you're over the water, OK?
Although I had my camera, I decided not to film, because I knew that I might be encouraging him,
and I didn't want to feel any responsibility if something went wrong. I told him he didn't have to do it,
that nobody would care if he backed down at this point. But he was ready...
He jumped, his left foot missed the lower knot, and he slammed into the left side of the rock-channel
and headed right for the tree, spinning like a helicopter. He barely missed the tree and hit the water
with a loud SPLAT! as he did a huge side-flop just 5 feet from shore.
I was ready to dive in to help him––sure that he was badly hurt––but he surfaced, and
non-chalantly waded ashore, and said:
"Damn, I fuçked up. I wanna try it again!!
(believe it or knott)
His lady friend told him she would leave without him if he went anywhere near the rope,
and that was that. (thank God)
I decided I didn't want to press my luck, and would come back another day.
Unfortunately, I never did get the chance. I can't wait to go back!
I hope you enjoyed my little presentation.
digital media ©2005 HK Productions. All wrongs reserved
To see a 2-part photo-report of nearby Squamish, including local scenery, check out:
http://supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=93999&f=70&b=0
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Eric Chisholm
Trad climber
Sebastopol, CA
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Sep 12, 2005 - 02:01pm PT
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Good stuff!
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Sep 12, 2005 - 02:03pm PT
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Fun vids, thanks for posting!
I have done rope swings that are as big, but never where you have to thread the needle through a rock channel! Yikes!
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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Sep 12, 2005 - 02:17pm PT
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someone should put a bolt up there snd make that move safe!
otherwise you have to have these to get on that thing:
(bob? baab? whadayagot?)
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WBraun
climber
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Sep 12, 2005 - 02:23pm PT
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Excellent, Hardman you always manage to make a super great post with these stoies. Everything comes alive with the short video presentations.
Whew, what a swing ....
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 12, 2005 - 02:31pm PT
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Thanks Werner, I really appreciate it. Nice pic, Matt.
BTW, I fixed a couple links above; the video-still shots are correct now.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Sep 12, 2005 - 02:58pm PT
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Who cares about technique! Totally awesome.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Sep 12, 2005 - 03:17pm PT
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You'd need French nails, beautiful hair, and a perfect smile?
I guess I'll never make it...
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Sep 12, 2005 - 03:46pm PT
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nice one dave - very entertaining! . . fo shizzle my nizzle!
does the girl grabbin the balls have a lorena bobbit look in her eyes - or is it just me?
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 12, 2005 - 04:00pm PT
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Is that why the beast doesn't have a woodie?
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DavisGunkie
Trad climber
Davis, CA
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Sep 12, 2005 - 04:45pm PT
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while down in Kauai, we went to this rope swing at Kipu falls, not nearly as big as that one, but once you got off the launch point you were essentially over water,.
so we show up watch soe people do it. then this local dude comes up ties somevines to the end of the hope and walks like another 10 feet up onto a branch form a nearby tree hops off and does two back flips in the air before crashing into the water.
later on this big due, at least 250 did a flip off the end of it as well. as well as dudes just jumping out of the tree that had the swing (like 50 feet up at least)
crazy sh#t.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 12, 2005 - 06:17pm PT
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Too rad for me....
One thing to watch for on rope swings, though, is the water level of the target. For a lake you should be OK. But a friend of mine went off a big rope swing in Russia, where the water level was a bit higher than expected (maybe a varying water level due to a dam? - I'm not sure), and her leg caught the water at high speed and ruptured her ACL.
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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Sep 12, 2005 - 06:34pm PT
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DG-
i've been to kipu falls. you can also climb way up into the tree w/ the rope tied in it and jump from up there, pretty fun.
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poop*ghost
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Sep 12, 2005 - 07:04pm PT
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Dave - perhaps you should get an 'extreme' show and give jack o. a run for his money?!
Seriously though, I would love to do a full on rope jump some day of a big'old bridge. 200 feet of rope out, jump as far as possible and then shart my pants.
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hamid
Trad climber
Berkeley, California
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Sep 12, 2005 - 11:56pm PT
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I've jumped off that thing (in Squamish). It's not as bad as it looks. I didn't jump off the platform though...
-Hamid
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Sep 13, 2005 - 09:44am PT
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Great stuff Hardman! Looks like you guys had a fun trip.
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addiroid
Big Wall climber
Long Beach, CA
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Sep 13, 2005 - 11:30pm PT
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awesome man, way to not break your hip (just kidding).
that was some cool stuff!!!
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CAMNOTCLIMB
Trad climber
novato ca
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Sep 14, 2005 - 12:05am PT
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Yo Dave, The swing is without a doubt big time scare factor. So do the beers, I hope that the proper alcohol % was present.
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Jan 19, 2008 - 09:55pm PT
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Damn! How far up are you when you let go of the rope?
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E.L. "One"
Big Wall climber
Lancaster, California
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Jan 19, 2008 - 10:10pm PT
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NICE !!!
Anyone who grew up in San Diego is sure to know about the big canyon swings off of trees in the Kensington/Mission Hills area
where a rope was secured to a tree at the top of the canyon, and launching off would throw you out a good 70 ft, with 200+ feet to the bottom of the canyon should you let go. Only did it once in high school, but it was more terifying than anything I have experienced in climbing !!
Cracko
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