Vertical caves!

danny28 · 08-20-2011, 09:58 AM

I have to admit that I’m not very good at the vertical caves yet. I am trying but just have not gotten the hang of using the ropes to go up and down into the vertical shafts. You any good at this? How long did it take before you got the hang of it? I’m better when I have to climb on my stomach through some narrow passage instead of repelling down into a shaft!

oldsarge · 08-20-2011, 11:38 AM

We found a few out in the Mojave desert. We tied off to our trucks and rappelled in. There were several horizontal caves leading off this vertical one. We only dropped down around 60 feet or so then decided to leave due to us finding rather large pieces of scat in the horizontal caves. Don't know what could have left that behind. We used the "Prusik" technique to climb out.

rockytibby · 08-23-2011, 09:47 PM

Thats the next level I need to learn is rappelling. I haven't tried yet, but hope to soon.

oldsarge · 08-30-2011, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockytibby

Thats the next level I need to learn is rappelling. I haven't tried yet, but hope to soon.

It's really not that hard. The hardest part is relaxing as you go over the edge and assume the proper postion. Do you have a local climbing club around where you live or one of those places that has a rock wall? You could probably learn there. Of course you need to learn proper rope rigging and knots.