RRC Archives

Just got back from grayson lake a few minutes ago, we've been soloing there this summer frequently. We've only seen the patrol boat once and they were attempting to bust people for drinking and jumping, everyone escaped to their cars. I figure if they roll up, I'll do my best to downclimb the route back into the water.

Right...

Amazing that they can do this. I can only imagine the added adrenaline you would get if you were climbing and the boat pulled up. You start getting elvis leg knowing that it could be a $5000 fall.

They do this stuff on the current river where we take a trip every year. They've also banned rope swings and cut them short so they can't be used. The best part of the river is that you can hear the rangers motorboats coming up the river and know when to stop. We've also started just bringing an old rappelling rope and using some webbing and a carabiner and taking our ropeswing with us to each new spot.

It just makes me mad that people ruin everyones good time because of a worry that some idiot will get hurt. This is why most public pools have had high dives removed. If someone gets hurt, it's their own fault, but don't let it ruin everyone elses fun. Also, with the rock facing rule, if you jump off a do a few controlled flips with twists or something, I think they'd have a pretty hard time charging you with attempted suicide.

milspecmark wrote:Amazing that they can do this.

Well, the ACOE just wanted to escape liability from cliff-diving deaths. From their viewpoint, this rule is an improvement, and their responsibility ends there.

But, if they faced large public outcry (e.g., a formal petition from 5,000 climbers worldwide, maybe?) it would become apparent that their "improvement" is not an improvement at all. Especially if it didn't actually reduce injuries/deaths. The latter point, however, probably needs data to back it up in order to be convincing. Otherwise, they'd just stick to their guns, assuming that this rule is a good thing (which is highly debatable).

Grayson was bad ass, I assume summersville even better.......I would hope the ACCESS FUND would get involved and make it happen. They have the contatcs in the right place. Could turn a big negative into what should be the best summer cragging in the east. Plus lots of $ dollars into each respective venue!

Spoonman wrote:Grayson was bad ass, I assume summersville even better.......I would hope the ACCESS FUND would get involved and make it happen. They have the contatcs in the right place. Could turn a big negative into what should be the best summer cragging in the east. Plus lots of $ dollars into each respective venue!

Exactly. I do think it's possible to convince the ACOE that the ban is a bad idea. It just depends on how stubborn they are.

I was last at Grayson in, uh, '08? Damn that was too long ago. Anyway, 2 of our party were pretty high up on a cliff when a patrol boat snuck up on us. The boat waited and watched while our climbers hung onto the cliff face for a very long time... When the boat finally left, they dropped off. It's not illegal to climb there, it is however illegal to "drop from the cliffs into the water from a height greater than your own" or some bullshit like that. I don't know why they would change that law when they can keep writing tickets and collect revenue, unless it could be shown that tourist revenue from DWS would trump that from the tickets they write. So that's exactly what would need to happen. I could swear I remember someone was on that task for Grayson, but I don't know what happened with it.