Good morning, all! After missing out on a few vertical caves during our recent vacation trip to KY and after reading Dennis' informative and thorough NSS Convention report, I was intrigued by his discussion of the various vertical systems available and discussed at the vertical workshop at the convention. I have been mulling the last several years over which vertical system to purchase and have read several articles in print and online, most notably, the info at the Gonzo Guano Gear site. I'd like to solicit y'all's opinions on the vertical systems you prefer, especially in the areas of: * Ease of Use, especially if used by kids 12 YO and up. * Price * Reliability * Ease of getting past knots,etc. * Pro's & Con's * Best used on which types of drops * Type of rope you use (static vs. dynamic. I have a static rope.) Plus, any other burning issue you can think of. Thanks and eagerly awaiting y'all's thoughts and opinions. Later, Mark Alman
Dennis & Sharon Welch <[email protected]> wrote: We both recently purchased these climbing systems and had yet to use them in a free climb. We found that they still needed some fine-tuning, but we made it out of the pit with only minor challenges at the lip. Neversink is famous for its astounding beauty. It did not disappoint! The Vertical Workshop was a basic practical familiarization course on some of the equipment and systems that are popular in various parts of the country. It was not intended to be a vertical skills training class. However, safety was emphasized and we picked up several useful tips. The workstations included basic knot-tying, rappelling on a rack, rappelling on a Petzl Stop, climbing and descending a cable ladder, climbing and down-climbing with three prusiks, climbing and down-climbing with a frogger, climbing and down-climbing with a Mitchell and climbing with a rope-walker. In addition, they made us one-year members of the N.S.S. Vertical Section and gave us a 12-page handout on knots, equipment and their recommended uses. Our favorite was the Mitchell due to its versatility. It would be great for down-climbing into Texas� numerous bad-air pits, ready to ascend instantly. It was only the cost of the system that discouraged me from buying one. The class was quite ru! shed, yet we are convinced they achieved their objective of exposing us to the various equipment choices. Even though the class was fun, I am not sure we will do it again. The class inspired Sharon to stop by I.M.O. afterwards for a length of rope to practice knot tying. I really, really like my ropewalker system and am very glad I got it. Becky Jones at Gonzo Guano Gear, Llano, Texas, where I bought most all of our gear, did an excellent job of helping Sharon and I get just what we needed. The tune-up I did before the vertical workshop made all the difference. A special thanks to Maureen Handler for helping Sharon adjust her system the initial time she put it on and to Becky for further tweaking it at the workshop. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
