RRC Archives

I have been following the story - http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/0 ... ver01.html -about the latest fall/rescue since my nephew was in the Boy Scout troop that helped in the rescue. Then in a related story on Spuzo's WCPO website I read that the accident victim's parents are proposing emergency phones or a cell tower in the gorge for improved safety.

I guess it takes a drunk to get a tower built.

That's what the story reads - yeah, but I think it was just a suggestion in conversation during the interview that the parents brought it up. I don't know that they made an official proposal.
There is a Cingular tower across a ridge top from our place and we get great coverage up there...whoever aaron is with, he gets coverage all over the gorge...so the cell towers are coming whether we want them or not.

Not sure what I would think about emergency phones - can you imagine reaching the belay ledge on the third pitch of something and seeing a blue boxed emergency phone?

spuzo wrote:Not sure what I would think about emergency phones - can you imagine reaching the belay ledge on the third pitch of something and seeing a blue boxed emergency phone?

Yeah, it would suck to have the rock disfigured by some obnoxious color that doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. Oh, wait, nevermind, we already have CHALK.

I don't think it would be any more difficult to drop a cell tower in the 100-200' path the NFS has already allowed the power companies to cut through Daniel Boone Nat. Park to erect a direct line across it.

An aditional tower wouldn't be a problem if I could at least get an analog roaming signal, but there are places where my Sprint service doesn't even find a signal.

Two-way radios would work, too, if I knew the 2 mile range would reach the Ranger station for help.

why is it that people who are hiking, beer drinking, and rock shelter camping in non climbing route areas - claim that they were rock climbing when an accident happens? It makes people associate us with them.

When the FS finds out how much money there is in towers it might happen.
They lease space at different levels for big bucks.Sort of like an office tower.

Why not lets all be self sufficient?

(The following may offend sensitive people)

I've got two words for you:
NATURAL SELECTION

If you and your buddies can't take care of yourselves then maybe you shouldn't be playing alone outside.

Just my two cents.

I like your natural selection bit. A little Darwinian socio-econimic cleansing, right? The problem is that the people you are referring to breed often, and breed early. So in the end, even if they loose a few, they are still beating the rest of us in the Darwin game of passing your genes to the next generation.

So Captn, does your nephew know exactly what happen out there? Any idea where the acident happened? It is an interesting story for sure.

Rain Man wrote: I don't think it would be any more difficult to drop a cell tower in the 100-200' path the NFS has already allowed the power companies to cut through Daniel Boone Nat. Park to erect a direct line across it.

You'd think that, or somewhere within a power line swath. The FS already allows various agencies (police, etc) to put communication towers on ridges, I'm sure cell towers won't be too far behind.
(and by the way the Daniel Boone is a National Forest, not a National Park.)


The funniest thing about this whole ordeal is that there were a pack of lost boy scouts from Ohio to the rescue.

My nephew is now at Philmont so haven't talked to him yet. There are two possibilities @ Indian Staircase, either the main rock shelter or the OM cave shelter. Now that there is a path hacked to where the accident happened it should be easy to find.

The accident was first brought up to me by my in-laws. My mother-in-law thinks that climbing is the most dangerous thing on earth. This accident was supposed to be an example to me. I wanted to say to her, "Oh, another Darwin Award winner." but kept my mouth shut.