seeking some solitude on a sweltering Mt Nurma

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Bosterson
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Re: seeking some solitude on a sweltering Mt Nurma

Post by Bosterson » May 24th, 2017, 8:56 am

Webfoot wrote:I feel uneasy about you collecting these. Where exactly was this and how can you be absolutely certain that this gear was abandoned? Maybe some wobbly timid hiker needed the protection?
I know Chip's verbose TRs are hard to follow, but you should have another look at that terrain map: he was nowhere near the trail when he found the "anchor." Nurma may be covered in hordes, but the hordes generally don't leave the trail unless they get lost, and "timid hikers" generally don't bring a mess of slings and biners and rig bizarre rap anchors using multiple girth hitches.
Webfoot wrote:What if I anchor a single strand of rope, abseil it, and intend to return later in the day and jug back up my rope? Are you going to steal my rope and leave me stranded?
If you intended to rap the Nurma chimney on a single strand, leave the rope for some amount of time (??), and then jug back up it later in the day, I would say you have some other issues we need to discuss. :) But let's be clear that there's a difference between rope litter on a trail like Nurma and fixed lines in an established climbing area, like, say, Smith Rock. There's still a discussion to be had about the latter, but their existence at least makes sense and has precedent. If your "timid hikers" need a rap line on the Nurma chimney, it's quite easy to loop a < 30m rope around the tree up top (though to avoid damaging the bark, the most competent person in the group should remove the rope from above and then downclimb). But no one should be leaving permanent handlines out there any more than they should be bringing a shovel and carving steps into the trail, or rerouting new paths around any of the scrambly bits.
chip down wrote:Yeah, what's up with that everything-but-the-kitchen-sink setup?
So you have webbing tied to one tree and cord tied to another, and they're joined by a series of girth hitched slings (except for the one that has a random figure 8 tied in the middle?) and two lockers to make an anchor. Based on their orientation, it was clearly a rap anchor pointing down off the cliff? That's kinda nutty - I have no idea why someone would randomly want to go rap off that cliff (though I do know people who go "rappelling" for fun - I guess they call it "canyoneering" :D ), unless they were trying to throw a TR on it for climbing shenanigans, but that "cliff" is the infernal 800ft headwall that stops all upward progress from the N side of Nurma. You could climb it on TR... maybe... but it'd be all moss smears.

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And if you were going to do something like that, why not just get longer cord/webbing in advance and build a better anchor? But who knows why anyone does anything out there, though I'm slightly pleased to see that there are other nutty/nuttier people doing roped nonsense in the Gorge. Next time I'm up there I'll have to go investigate that viewpoint and peek over the cliff and see what it looks like.
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Webfoot
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Re: seeking some solitude on a sweltering Mt Nurma

Post by Webfoot » May 24th, 2017, 4:42 pm

pcg wrote:I hope not, and I would be very diligent about ensuring that it was, indeed, abandoned. If it is not obviously abandoned then it shouldn't be removed.
I am glad to hear that.
pcg wrote:Again, if someone wants to install a fixed line for their friends, that's great. Just don't take it upon yourself to set permanent climbing aids for the general public. That is the issue here.
It was not my issue in this case. Rather, I was only concerned about the removal of personal gear that conceivably might still be in use.
Bosterson wrote:I know Chip's verbose TRs are hard to follow, but you should have another look at that terrain map: he was nowhere near the trail when he found the "anchor." Nurma may be covered in hordes, but the hordes generally don't leave the trail unless they get lost, and "timid hikers" generally don't bring a mess of slings and biners and rig bizarre rap anchors using multiple girth hitches.
I wasn't envisioning this being near the chimney. I like to explore, and I can be quite timid, therefore I have used gear in odd places. Admittedly I can't see how this peculiar anchor would be used later, and it doesn't sound like taking it could strand someone. It does seem like a lot of gear to leave if it wasn't an emergency however.

By the way for my own use I don't mean anything "permanent" only something placed and removed on the same day. I'd still hate to come back to where my rope used to be and find it MIA.

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