Corona Arch Rope Swing

[ratagonia]

--->Not a climber.....


What do you guys think about what Petzl had to say on FB? Are they just covering their butts or is this a legitimate concern?

"We noticed this recent and very popular video. We would like to express our fear of accidents with this activity, if you look closely there is numerous points of friction of the ropes on the rock, which could lead to damage on the ropes and potential rupture. This is not a good example of a safe rigging and safe behavior."

Watch the first video (ie, the earlier one). They cut their rope half through. They got lucky.

T

[xxnitsuaxx]

Watch the first video (ie, the earlier one). They cut their rope half through. They got lucky.

T

Totally agree. I wasn't along on the first trip and wasn't part of the rope cutting through. My friends told me what they did and about the core-shot and a couple friends and I came up with a solution. We got a piece of hard rubber hose that was long enough to cover the rope everywhere that it touched sandstone. After we did that, the rope never touched rock once. We did that every time that I went. I agree with Petzl; without rope protection it's real dangerous for your rope (and your life). With rope protection, I'm not worried about that at all. I think Petzl is both covering their butts AND that they didn't get a good look at the setup.

[xxnitsuaxx]

No where near the longest swing. Dan Osman did a bunch of much much longer stuff, before one of his killed him...

Quality video. Kinda silly stunt, methinks. All fun and games until someone gets an eye poked out...ha ha...

You're probably right. Jumping the swing is a silly stunt to a lot of people. But all of our hobbies are silly stunts to someone. My sport friends think trad climbing is lame. My trad friends think bouldering is silly. My bouldering friends think ice climbing is stupid. My cooking friends think that stemming through canyons is silly. My canyon friends think that my GOP debate watching parties are silly. EVERYONE thinks that live-action role-playing games are silly. Point is, people do what they want because they want to. Far be it from me to tell them that they don't or shouldn't enjoy something.

[zzyzx]

...cool guys and vivo!
I saw this vivo a couple minutes ago in the news on german tv.

[Sombeech]

I saw this vivo a couple minutes ago in the news on german tv.

Nice

[BruteForce]

Crap! I sure wish I had seen this thread before we hiked to Corona Arch over the weekend. No raps or swinging when we were there, and we saw no evidence of rope damage (but weren't looking for it either). I'm actually surprised the USFS/BLM/Park Service allows climbing, etc on these natural arches (realizing this was not in a designated Park).

[Scott P]

I'm actually surprised the USFS/BLM/Park Service allows climbing, etc on
these natural arches (realizing this was not in a designated
Park).

Unless things have changed (which is possible), this is not on USFS/BLM/Park Service land. It believe it is on SITLA land (which is considered private land). And they generally do frown on this type of thing.

[BruteForce]

Unless things have changed (which is possible), this is not on USFS/BLM/Park Service land. It believe it is on SITLA land (which is considered private land). And they generally do frown on this type of thing.

I don't know who manages or owns that land, but we did see Park Rangers in the area..(Federal types)

[Iceaxe]

I believe Corona Arch is on school trust land (SITLA), The trailhead and trail to the arch is BLM. The route and arch are patroled by the BLM.

[Sun Dance]

Hmm. You know what happened last time we had an accident on SITLA land. Nutty Putty was a treasure sucked up by this agency not subject to the will of the people; hopefully such won't be the case with Corona Arch.

[Bo_Beck]

Hmm. You know what happened last time we had an accident on SITLA land. Nutty Putty was a treasure sucked up by this agency not subject to the will of the people; hopefully such won't be the case with Corona Arch.

Had quite a few inquiries here at The Rat the past few days about getting the right gear so that they can head over and set up for "The Swing"! Kinda scary?! Looks like Corona Arch should be getting set for the kind of popularity Blue John and other areas have seen? I'm not familiar with the locale of Corona Arch, but here in the SG area, Moes Valley became quite contentious for some time. Moes is adjacent to SG and obviously has substantial market value for SITLA. After a half dozen meetings it was tenatively agreed upon that the land mostly be traded and governed by the City of SG. Not too sure where it rests now, but the last plan of development (blueprint) I saw showed the majority of the land be set aside as permanent open space with the more developable land be sold off for homesites. The city had drafted up plans to make the permanent open space into a hiking/biking/bouldering/climbing/trailrunning recreation area. Seems prudent to me to tread lightly when messing around on SITLA terra. As the previous post suggested.....SITLA can and will do what they want with the land and there's nada you can do about it other than try to get other entities involved.

[spinesnaper]

Here is the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=4B36Lr0Unp4

As of this morning over 5.5 million views!

Ken

[jman]

It would be a sad irony if the thing they love (jumping from arches/rappelling from Corona) with the the video becoming viral - is the straw the breaks the camels back with STILTA and they ban rappelling from the arch (along with all the other arches in Utah with some new legislation).

On retrospect perhaps it would have been better to keep the vid private...

[spinesnaper]

It would be a sad irony if the thing they love (jumping from arches/rappelling from Corona) with the the video becoming viral - is the straw the breaks the camels back with STILTA and they ban rappelling from the arch (along with all the other arches in Utah with some new legislation).

On retrospect perhaps it would have been better to keep the vid private...

Wait, you're not suggesting...secret video for elites?

Does any one know how the income thing works on Youtube? I understand it is possible to make money on really popular original video. Does anyone know what kind of dollars a video this popular generates, if anything, for the poster?

Oh and regulatory backlash, yeah that would not be to surprising so every Tom, Dick, and Jane doesn't go out there with their water ski tow rope and attempt this.

Ken

[Bo_Beck]

It would be a sad irony if the thing they love (jumping from arches/rappelling from Corona) with the the video becoming viral - is the straw the breaks the camels back with STILTA and they ban rappelling from the arch (along with all the other arches in Utah with some new legislation).

On retrospect perhaps it would have been better to keep the vid private...

Ahhh, but it is so much easier for SITLA to not ban Arch Swinging....They just ban entry onto their land. period.

[Bo_Beck]

If in fact this is SITLA then:

PURPOSE
Purpose of School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration

The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration--an independent agency of state government--is established to manage lands that Congress granted to the state of Utah for the support of common schools and other beneficiary institutions, under the Utah Enabling Act.

The state of Utah expressly accepted this grant in the Utah Constitution, thereby creating a compact between the federal and state governments which imposes upon the state a perpetual trust obligation to which standard trust principles are applied.

Title to these trust lands is vested in the state as trustee to be administered for the financial support of the trust beneficiaries.

The trust principles impose fiduciary duties upon the state, including a duty of undivided loyalty to, and a strict requirement to administer the trust corpus for the exclusive benefit of, the trust beneficiaries.

As trustee, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration must manage the lands and revenues generated from the lands in the most prudent and profitable manner possible, and not for any purpose inconsistent with the best interest of the trust beneficiaries.

The trustee must be concerned with both income for the current beneficiaries and the preservation of the trust corpus for future beneficiaries, which requires a balancing of short and long-term interests so that long-term benefits are not lost in an effort to maximize short-term gains.

The beneficiaries do not include other governmental institutions or agencies, the public at large, or the general welfare of the state.

Paraphrased From: TITLE 53C-- SCHOOL AND INSTITUTIONAL TRUST LANDS MANAGEMENT ACT

If you are thinking of benefitting monetarily from YOUTUBE, you may consider what is stated above?

[trackrunner]

it's soon to be BLM land. US congress & Pres. Obama approved a bill (Utah Recreational Land Exchange Act of 2009) authorizing land swap of Corna Arch (and other SITLA lands) for mineral rights lands currently managed by the BLM. Only thing holding it up is bureaucratic red tape appraisals. Looks like congress did not allocate or authorize money for the BLM to legally spend money for its portion of the appraisal. oops!

also there was a question about the park service. I believe arches does have a ban on climbing on top of named arches.

[Bo_Beck]

it's soon to be BLM land. US congress & Pres. Obama approved a bill (Utah Recreational Land Exchange Act of 2009) authorizing land swap of Corna Arch (and other SITLA lands) for mineral rights lands currently managed by the BLM. Only thing holding it up is bureaucratic red tape appraisals. Looks like congress did not allocate or authorize money for the BLM to legally spend money for its portion of the appraisal. oops!

Not sure thats a good thing or bad thing for continued access and continued recreation of this type? I guess a lot is contingent on the areas BLM management perspective?

[trackrunner]

I wonder if a filming permit is needed from SITLA. I would imagine guided groups that rappel from the arch would need a permit from SITLA then BLM after the transfer.

[Brian in SLC]

On retrospect perhaps it would have been better to keep the vid private...

That was never the intent:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=1931...s_cid=queue-15

He essentially makes YouTube videos for a living, but says that’s not the real reason for posting the incredible videos. Once the videos become viral, they become a valuable tool for marketing his abilities. His videos get seen and that gets him work.

“I got Mountain Dew contacting me,” he said. “I got people in Iceland contacting me to fly over there. I just got back from New Zealand. I’m leaving for Africa.”