Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Abseilers what are your opinions 21-Jul-2017 At 11:56:23 AM IdratherbeclimbingM9

Message

>advenchas

Hmm.

On 20/07/2017 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 20/07/2017 Par0043 wrote:
>>Was wondering what the wider community thought.
>
>I don't understand recreational abseiling.
>
>Do you set up an abseil and then chuck laps on it? Do you move the rope over and abseil a different line? How many abseils can you do in a day before it's just like "what's the point of all this?"
>
>I'm not even trying to be a dick, just never got how people can go abseiling more than about a dozen times without it getting old.

Par0043 sounds youngish (compared to an old fart like me), and we all start/ed somewhere in the many entry points to the climbing game.

I have a confession to make, and hope the Chockstone crowd can give me absolution!
I was once a recreational abseiler!
There, it's out, and I feel better for no longer being a closet dweller!
Heh, heh, heh.

ODH; believe it or not there's actually a certain amount of adventure to be found within recreational abseiling.

My first abseil was above ground near a cave entrance as learning prior to descending said cave. I was 11 or 12 years old at the time and was scared spitless after being hooked up, and looking over the drop and back at the rope which reminded me of the fact that my life thread seemed so thin... even with a second equally thin line attached to me as a belay!
I probably wouldn't have done it, except for the fact that a girl in the group went down the rope just before me, and my foolish pride wouldn't let me stay at the top and be embarrassed to death by that fact!!

Once having done it however I was hooked, probably by the adrenaline rush it gave me.

The abseiling in the cave was another new experience and I enjoyed the subtle differences.

Over time things progressed to increased technical difficulties which I further enjoyed. This included such things as; preparing and abseiling directly out of a squeeze tube into a significant drop; abseiling off protruding thin lip overhangs where there is no possibility of establishing ones feet on the wall beneath; bypassing knots on lengthy abseils; negotiating waterfalls while abseiling; being competent at the many methods of abseiling from classic through to mechanically assisted etc.

The group I was involved with did practice sessions above ground to get our systems dialed for the same maneuvers underground, and this led to discovering new outdoor places with good company. To keep the challenge up we looked for the biggest cliffs we could find so as to get longer length abseils, and I was committed to it enough to buy my first 200m rope to do it with. We then looked for the biggest overhangs, the biggest waterfalls, then the biggest overhanging waterfalls(!) etc. Darkness, rain, etc only added to the experience... along with Tyrolean activities, canyoning and such like.
Of course all this also often involved the prusiking (later jumaring) etc to get the full experience of Single Rope Technique, along with self rescue and assisted rescue techniques, within our bag of tricks.

This later paid dividends when I undertook serious caving activities in Papua New Guinea where joining 200 m ropes to descend into gaping dolines with multiple waterfalls cascading into them is not an unusual occurance.

So, yeah I can understand recreational abseiling, but you are right inasmuch as there comes a time about it that one could consider it an end point, and the variety offered by other activities like climbing becomes a greater attraction.

... and to give a response to the (I note now amended) original post;
>What are your opinions on people who go to crags such as the arch at the Grampians or falcons lookout and abseil for fun but do not climb.
>Do you find these people irritating? Are you ok with it? Do you think there are places where it is ok and places where it is not?
>As an abseiler I am interested in a climber point of veiw.

Back when I was a recreational abseiler we almost never saw climbers, and if we did, we used another part of the cliff to them. This is simple courtesy as no-one wants to be the wearer of anything dislodged by either activity.

These days I still expect that courtesy.
Any participants involved in either activity that have an ounce of adventure seeking within them would probably prefer a bit of seclusion to pursue it, rather than queuing up at a crowded venue, thus lessening their time to do it.
Most abseiling situations that have the potential for conflict with others are easily resolved with some communication with them beforehand.