New Movie - Extreme Canyoneering

[Slipknot]

ATS just posted this on the FB page so I thought I would share. I personally like the helicopter drop into the canyon. I've been working on my Parkour jumps in the canyon but it looks like I have a long way to go.

[Bootboy]

Ghey.

Why is there such a market for all things
"Extreme", "Hardcore", "badass", etc.

Canyoneering is fast becoming a "bro" sport. Its marketed to the egocentric, "hardcore", weekend adrenaline junkie crowd. And videos like this only make it worse....

There is no emphasis on the sublime and beautiful. It seems like there is little respect for these places. Instead, it's a place for "hardcore" bad assess to get an adrenaline rush. Something to be subdued and conquered for the sake of ego and hubris. I fear that this mentality is spreading, the Pandora's box has been opened, and these special places will just in time, become the stages trod upon for the sake of a cheap thrill with little regard for the natural wonders that they are....


I'm gonna go take an "extreme" dump

[Iceaxe]

Intersting how something as simple as hiking, swimming and sliding down ropes can be edited to look like a Mtn Dew commercial.


Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Slot Machine]

There is no emphasis on the sublime and beautiful. ... in time, become the stages trod upon for the sake of a cheap thrill with little regard for the natural wonders that they are....

Hmmm, interesting take. But why care about what other people do when you aren't there?

If 5 Buddhist monks go through, or 5 Gopro equipped gymnast-party-girls go through, it doesn't matter. The canyon will still be the same tomorrow.

The only damage done in the video, IMO, is the bolt they placed. (Monks can place bolts just as easily as party girls, so this is not an argument against party girls doing thier partying.)

My Jedi canyon sense can't tell (and doesn't care) if people partied in a canyon the day before, or published a YouTube video about the canyon. As long as the canyon is damaged in no way, and nobody gets hurt, I see no problem with videos like this.

I agree that thier video is kinda Dew'd out with their over-use of the word 'extreme', but otherwise looks pretty cool. A double flip off a waterfall is badass, no matter the context. Same goes for jumping out of a helicopter into the watercourse. BB, don't pretend you wouldn't do that, if you had the opportunity.

[Bo_Beck]

I have somewhat the same opinion as "Bootboy". My opinion is; this will be the preface to an era of accidents. Looking at it from a fairly extensive background of SAR, I can only see this leading to more accidents in the canyons, and possible further regulation. I note that there is always chatter about an accident that occured and then speculation how to mitigate or prevent the same accident from happening again. I believe most will agree that the majority of accidents occur because of inexperience. Now couple ego's, adrenaline desire with inexperience and i think canyons will see some un-needed attention. It reminds me of an episode I witnessed a several years back. Bellvue Productions was filming "National Park Series" for The Travel Channel. I was asked to chaperone them for three days in Zion. We hiked up into Orderville Canyon a ways. As we were setting up the equipment, a group of adolescents arrived atop a boulder obstacle. The boys asked what we were doing and the cameraman explained. The boys suggested that they should film him jumping off the 10' high boulder into the pool below where we were setting up. I turned to the cameraman and told him not to do this as the park doesn't promote jumping in the backcountry. Just as I said this the boy jumped. Needless to say we witnessed him experience a painful open fracture to his leg because of a submerged rock. Ego, adrenaline, and lack of experience. What more do I need to say?

[Brian in SLC]

^^^Great story, Bo!

Kodachrome courage...too funny...

I guess I'm kinda mixed on it. Some of the high energy stuff gives me a bit of psyche. Amazing stunts in amazing scenery.

Good stuff to ponder....

[Sombeech]

But it's in 3D

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Slot Machine]

More footage, same guys. I gotta learn how to do a sliding frontflip. I would love an Adidas sponsorship.

[Byron]

To me, it's like those knuckleheads swinging from arches and doing faceplants in the sandstone...These guys will keep pushing it until someone beefs it permanently.

I really quite ambivalent about what they do...I was a professional skateboarder, so I've seen it all, including compound fractures, concussions, massive lacerations, busted out teeth. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Like Bootboy, every canyon I visit is approached first and foremost from a "nature appreciation" outlook. I've know ad junkies like these guys, they are so jacked up for the next thing that they can't remember what they did last month. I'm bored with this stuff...but they certainly have the right to do it...too bad though, that now I'm forced to pay for they're hospital bills if they're doing the dirtbag thing.

[Mojave Silence]

Did the guy at the end, 10:45-10:50, hit the bottom of the pool he jumped into ?

[JT Local]

Tick Tock... How long before the tragedy?

[pikan]

More footage, same guys. I gotta learn how to do a sliding frontflip. I would love an Adidas sponsorship.

...

For much of the video I was thinking to myself: "Why the heck are these guys even wearing harnesses?" and "Why did they bother bringing rope?" They didn't seem to use them much at all. More of sport high-diving than anything I think. With my limited French I was able to pick out a bit about what they were saying. Lots about the advancing the sport and appreciation for the canyons and beautiful locations and stuff, but I think that they have strayed far away from any of those things. Don't get me wrong those were some pretty AWESOME stunts (I wish I had the talent and the stones to do them myself...kind of). But at that point I don't think that the stunts have taken priority over the appreciation of the location, which to me is backwards.
And if this kind of propaganda leads to more accidents (directly and indirectly), which will almost assuredly lead to more regulation and/or enforcement, what then have they really contributed to the sport? Just a few cool videos...

[Bootboy]

For much of the video I was thinking to myself: "Why the heck are these guys even wearing harnesses?" and "Why did they bother bringing rope?" They didn't seem to use them much at all. More of sport high-diving than anything I think. With my limited French I was able to pick out a bit about what they were saying. Lots about the advancing the sport and appreciation for the canyons and beautiful locations and stuff, but I think that they have strayed far away from any of those things. Don't get me wrong those were some pretty AWESOME stunts (I wish I had the talent and the stones to do them myself...kind of). But at that point I don't think that the stunts have taken priority over the appreciation of the location, which to me is backwards.
And if this kind of propaganda leads to more accidents (directly and indirectly), which will almost assuredly lead to more regulation and/or enforcement, what then have they really contributed to the sport? Just a few cool videos...

Well spoken. I'm afraid the snowball has begun. More and more people getting more and more "EXTREME", I see this going nowhere good.

What the hell do they mean "advancing the sport"? What a load of horse shit. Like the sport needs to be advanced?

I'm gonna go take an EXTREME nap

[qedcook]

But it's in 3D

Hilarious! Who can fight with such flawless logic?!?!

[Slot Machine]

Did the guy at the end, 10:45-10:50, hit the bottom of the pool he jumped into ?

Sure looks like it.

Several years ago I did The Subway with this guy that would jump from a perch beside the final rappel, then land in one of the small 'hot tubs' below. A small target, perhaps waist deep. The drop is about 15 feet.

It was unbelievable. He would hit the water at an angle, so that his feet shot out in front of him as he broke the surface. Then his butt would bounce off the sand in the bottom of the pool. He climbed up a log, back up to the perch, and repeated the feat several times. Everyone in the group was amazed.

He is/was an animal. He did The Subway, barefoot, on a dare one time. He would also do backflips from ledges into The Narrows, into the shallow creek, may miles from rescue. How he didn't break his ankles is a mystery.

I think his name was Dan, and he is/was a respiratory therapist. Does any Bogleyite know this guy?

Anyway, landing in a shallow pool is a crazy skill, but some people are very good at it.

[Bo_Beck]

Sure looks like it.

Several years ago I did The Subway with this guy that would jump from a perch beside the final rappel, then land in one of the small 'hot tubs' below. A small target, perhaps waist deep. The drop is about 15 feet.

It was unbelievable. He would hit the water at an angle, so that his feet shot out in front of him as he broke the surface. Then his butt would bounce off the sand in the bottom of the pool. He climbed up a log, back up to the perch, and repeated the feat several times. Everyone in the group was amazed.

He is/was an animal. He did The Subway, barefoot, on a dare one time. He would also do backflips from ledges into The Narrows, into the shallow creek, may miles from rescue. How he didn't break his ankles is a mystery.

I think his name was Dan, and he is/was a respiratory therapist. Does any Bogleyite know this guy?

Anyway, landing in a shallow pool is a crazy skill, but some people are very good at it.

OK...so please don't take my comment as a personal attack on you "Slot Machine", rather just my observation of certain behavior and perceptions. I have highlighted portions of your quotes; the first being "everyone was amazed". For some reason I would think everyone should be shocked and somewhat repulsed? Here's an intelligent man (a respiratory therapist) miles and miles from any sort of help doing something extremely risky, putting everyone else's experience at risk? Go figure.

Second; "He would also do backflips from ledges into The Narrows, into the shallow creek, many miles from rescue." Once again putting everyone elses experience at risk, but what concerns me most is the comment about "many miles from rescue"! Really? Rescue!....Is it just assumed that this guy might think that rescue is the standard and part of the protocol for consequences of his irresponsible behavior? I think it's just too widely assumed that rescue is an expected action wherever you may be.

Lastly; "landing in a shallow pool is a crazy skill, but some people are very good at it".

I'm not certain I would call landing in a shallow pool completely a "skill", but rather a "gamble with inherent risk and luck is part of the equation".

[Brian in SLC]

I'm not certain I would call landing in a shallow pool completely a "skill", but rather a "gamble with inherent risk and luck is part of the equation".

Fully agree with the rest of your comments except the quoted one above. I think having a concept of how to jump into shallow water can really up your odds for not getting hurt. Sure, its a risk, but, having maybe practised the technique in deeper water may pay off downstream, so to speak...

In Italy last summer, downclimbing a ledge above a very shallow drop, my feet blew unexpectedly. I flaired out and back flopped into probably 3 feet of water from a 15 foot drop. Scared the crap out of the guy at the edge of the pool as he knew the water was super shallow. He was very surprised I wasn't hurt. Yeah, I hit bottom, but, I'd turned so hard to get more of my surface area onto the pool when I hit, that, it really slowed me down.

For better or worse, as kids, we jumped into shallow water all the time of bridges and outcrops. Probabaly one of those things that you're lucky to survive, but, the practise and knowledge from that really benefits how I approach some shallow jumps.

[Slot Machine]

OK...so please don't take my comment as a personal attack on you "Slot Machine", rather just my observation of certain behavior and perceptions. I have highlighted portions of your quotes; the first being "everyone was amazed". For some reason I would think everyone should be shocked and somewhat repulsed? Here's an intelligent man (a respiratory therapist) miles and miles from any sort of help doing something extremely risky, putting everyone else's experience at risk? Go figure.

Second; "He would also do backflips from ledges into The Narrows, into the shallow creek, many miles from rescue." Once again putting everyone elses experience at risk, but what concerns me most is the comment about "many miles from rescue"! Really? Rescue!....Is it just assumed that this guy might think that rescue is the standard and part of the protocol for consequences of his irresponsible behavior? I think it's just too widely assumed that rescue is an expected action wherever you may be.

Lastly; "landing in a shallow pool is a crazy skill, but some people are very good at it".

I'm not certain I would call landing in a shallow pool completely a "skill", but rather a "gamble with inherent risk and luck is part of the equation".

All excellent points. I see nothing that could be percieved as a personal attack.

We were amazed. His wife was along for both hikes, and she thought his 'performances' were ho-hum. They were stunts he had performed many times before. I asked her why she tolerated such dangerous behaviour. She said that "is how he's wired", he knew what he was doing, and he never got hurt.

Good point about the 'rescue' mentality. I was the person that assumed he would need rescue. I talked to him about his acrobatic moves, and it was clear that the thought of rescue never crossed his mind. He was a highly conditioned athlete, and very confident in his acrobatic ability. He wore old bald Teva's hiking, and stuck to sandstone like he had glue on his feet. An unusual guy, for sure. I've never met another person that could do stuff like that.

The only point I disagree with- his skill. And the diver's skill in the video. Landing in a small shallow pool from a significant height is a practiced move, something progressively dialed in over many repititions. Like watching the high-divers at the circus, nobody in our group considered imitating him.

How he could do backflips off ledges, then land in 6 inches of water flowing over mossy bowling balls, unscathed, is still beyond what I can understand. Where, why, how... does a person practice this??

To be clear, Mr. Bo, I would never advocate such behaviour. I'm just sharing a tale that I thought relevant to the thread. No matter his skill set, it was irresponsible behaviour. That we can both aree on.

[Bo_Beck]

Fully agree with the rest of your comments except the quoted one above. I think having a concept of how to jump into shallow water can really up your odds for not getting hurt. Sure, its a risk, but, having maybe practised the technique in deeper water may pay off downstream, so to speak...

Totally agree with you and "Slot Machine", but as I stated....Sure there is skill involved, but emphasize the risk and luck involved as well. I've heard about (not sure it's true?) about people falling great distances such as skydivers without a properly inflated chute hitting a very shallow pool of water and surviving! Now I would assume that the pool would have to be absolutely calm as to maximize surface tension? If the water below is very turbulent and airated then the surface tension is broken before the person enters the water. I would guess that this surface tension would be something on the mind of these stunt "jumpers"?

[Slot Machine]

Now I would assume that the pool would have to be absolutely calm as to maximize surface tension?

The skydiver should wish for minimal surface tension, very choppy water, to create maximum cushion, and slower deceleration.

Exception: if the puddle were VERY shallow, where collision with the bottom was unavoidable, THEN you would want maximum surface tension.

If the water below is very turbulent and airated then the surface tension is broken before the person enters the water. I would guess that this surface tension would be something on the mind of these stunt "jumpers"?

I'm pretty sure all high divers want choppy water waiting for them, for both visibility and cushion. When diving into shallow water, this would add significant risk, but would be preferable to hitting still water.

Bob