Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

[Markh752]

The guy doing the rappelling was supposedly the expert they were going to rely on to get them through, I wonder if anyone thought it might not be a great idea that their 'expert' be taking the early risks.

my guess is the canyon is not as difficult as they made it to be.... after all that’s what film crews do, make it look overly incredible. I also am assuming the rest of the team has equal experience canyoneering that just cant be a one man show.

If plan A, B, C, etc doesn't plan out next summer for the boys and myself, this probably ranks around plan S. Stay tuned for our TR... some day... maybe!

[BurnsideBob]

From the USFS WO re Commercial Filming Fee Proposal:

The proposal does not apply to news coverage, gathering information for a news program or documentary. However, if a project falls outside of that scope and the filming is intended to be on wilderness land, additional criteria are applied to protect wilderness values. In that case, a permit must be applied for and granted before any photography is permitted.

Quote from: http://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/us-f ... commercial

So if OPB's Valhalla episode is considered a documentary they are OK?

Also not sure if the above referenced statement is the last official word on the subject.

[adamschneider]

So if OPB's Valhalla episode is considered a documentary they are OK?

I'm guessing that's exactly how they get around the fee/permit issue. OPB is officially a non-commercial educational station, and a registered nonprofit organization.

So IF they kept their helicopters above 2500' and their group size below 12, they may have been fully within the letter of the law.

[aiwetir]

my guess is the canyon is not as difficult as they made it to be.... after all that’s what film crews do, make it look overly incredible. I also am assuming the rest of the team has equal experience canyoneering that just cant be a one man show.

I'm fairly certain if I were taking a bunch of people, expensive camera equipment, rigging etc, into completely unknown territory, I'd have brought a drill and a bolt or two just in case it meant dying stranded in a canyon or not, a few extra long ropes that I could abandon there, a satellite phone, an epirb, some chewing gum and a shoelace or two. While sinking a bolt in a rock in a place where very few people have gone, if it were me, I think I'd prefer desecration to death.

Based on the choice to rap down the top waterfall though, I'm not sure everyone's head is screwed on right so...

[kepPNW]

That is true, but rappelling down the top waterfall for the hell if it wasn't necessary. There were people standing at the bottom filming the act, they got there by another route either hiked, scrambled, or rappelled and not down the stream of the top waterfall.

Well, what’s "necessary" is an opinion by who was there... and certainly not a bad idea if its well within ones expertise. My guess is the camera crew could have rappeled first or was lowered... I don’t see why the star of the show had to go first. But maybe your right there was an easier way in then filming the rappel would be more boasting than anything. I just don’t know though, I wasn’t there.

I think they as much as said it was a scramble down to the base, but the "star" was able to offer the dramatic entry for the show, so he did.

[Webfoot]

This aspect has been bothering me the most. Those idiots spoke with great awe and reverence of their experience, but acted like drunken frat boys in the canyon. And the waterfall thing was, yeah, just silly.

I just watched this program and I don't know what people are getting upset about. How exactly were they "acting like drunken frat boys?" Why are people saying it was silly or stupid for Jarred to rap the large falls before the canyoneering began? No one would have been relying on him at that point even if he were the only canyoneer, which it seemed clear he wasn't (e.g. SAR/WEMT Mike Williams and "expert climb rigger" Brian French), as the canyoneering hadn't started yet. If something had gone wrong they would have gone back up the way they came down.

[kepPNW]

Okay, I'll respond, since you quoted me...

This aspect has been bothering me the most. Those idiots spoke with great awe and reverence of their experience, but acted like drunken frat boys in the canyon. And the waterfall thing was, yeah, just silly.

I just watched this program and I don't know what people are getting upset about. How exactly were they "acting like drunken frat boys?"

A) I'm not upset, but won't speak for others. B) The whooping and hollering and "Vaaaallll-haaaaalllllll-aaaaa!!!!" is just the sort of thing a lot of folks are trying to get away from in the wilderness.

Why are people saying it was silly or stupid for Jarred to rap the large falls before the canyoneering began?

No idea. But it was just pure showmanship and entirely unnecessary other than for promotional purposes.

[retired jerry]

They succeeded in getting the episode to go viral. Reported all over the place.

I chuckle at names like Valhalla and rapelling over falls, but whatever...

No reason to get all negative about it, but that's what's to be expected on the internets

[kepPNW]

They succeeded in getting the episode to go viral. Reported all over the place.

I chuckle at names like Valhalla and rapelling over falls, but whatever...

No reason to get all negative about it, but that's what's to be expected on the internets

Absolutely.

[Webfoot]

B) The whooping and hollering and "Vaaaallll-haaaaalllllll-aaaaa!!!!" is just the sort of thing a lot of folks are trying to get away from in the wilderness.

And what of the ones who are glad to be in the wilderness where they can whoop, holler, or howl at the moon without anyone around to hear or care? Not every part of Wilderness Areas are crowded all the time.

But it was just pure showmanship and entirely unnecessary other than for promotional purposes.

Stepping foot into the wilderness, heck every darn hike, is "entirely unnecessary" from a starkly utilitarian perspective. He had fun doing it; most canyoneers probably have fun doing what they do or they wouldn't go. People shouldn't appear to be having fun when they are in a Wilderness Area?

Isn't Oregon Field Guide promotional by nature?

I thought someone might be complaining about the rocks and moss that were disturbed in the course of their passage, but not this.