scrambler Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Climbed at the Tietons several weeks ago, over at Royal Columns and the Oasis. The Oasis is sweet!! After the Oasis we headed over to Royal Columns. Took the pulley/cable contraption across the Tieton River. What's up with that thing? It's a pain in the ass to retrieve the pulley. Do you know what I'm talking about? Quote
chris_w Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 I only heard about it for the first time yesterday when I was out there. I have always parked at the bend (need permit) and walked to the Royal columns. About a 20 minute walk. We talked to some people that used the pulley and said it kinda sucked. Quote
klenke Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Explain this pulley contraption a little more. Do you attach yourself to it or just packs to keep them from getting wet? How bad is the crossing without the pulley? If it's just a case of having added security to cross a menacing river, what is the pulley for exactly? I'm just curious as to the process by which this pulley is used. Quote
leejams Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 scrambler said: It's a pain in the ass to retrieve the pulley. Do you know what I'm talking about? Â Better to bring your own. But those little orange glacier pulleys won't fit. Gotta go with next size bigger. Quote
Thinker Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Just walk across the creek a couple of hundred yards upstream from the cable. Unless you're dealing with snowmelt or recent rainfall, it's a whole lot quicker. I think it went up to my knees the last 2 times there. Quote
erik Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Thinker said: Just walk across the creek a couple of hundred yards upstream from the cable. Unless you're dealing with snowmelt or recent rainfall, it's a whole lot quicker. I think it went up to my knees the last 2 times there. Â they start releasing water from rimrock lake starting wensday or thursday. river volume will be way up. Â Â Quote
scrambler Posted September 8, 2003 Author Posted September 8, 2003 Explain this pulley contraption a little more. Do you attach yourself to it or just packs to keep them from getting wet? How bad is the crossing without the pulley? If it's just a case of having added security to cross a menacing river, what is the pulley for exactly? I'm just curious as to the process by which this pulley is used. Â Well, there's a steel cable, maybe 1/2 inch in diameter, with each end attached to a tree on each side of the river. Then there's a slender cord above this cable and this cord also extends across the river. The cable has a pulley contraption with an attachment point. You then climb up on boards nailed to the tree until you're about 10 feet above the ground. Then you clip your pack to the pulley contraption with a quickdraw. With a second quickdraw clipped to your belay loop on your harness, you attach yourself to the pulley contraption. Push off and you'll get about halfway across. Then it's hand over hand until you reach the other side. Step on the board nailed to the tree. Unclip your quickdraws. It's a common courtesy to send the pulley contraption back to the other side for your climbing buddies to use. This is where the cord comes in. The quickdraw on the pulley contraption is clipped to an attachment point on the cord. Then you pull the cord until the pulley contraption reaches the other side. The cord is a loop with a small pulley on each end. I think the cord is too slick and is slipping on the end pulleys or these pulleys are just crappy. Â I have a picture of this setup but it's not available right now. Rough leather gloves do help out a lot by making the cord easier to grip. You can cross the river but it sure makes it more memorable to do the cable crossing. Quote
JayB Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 I have always just used my own pulleys - much smoother ride across. The cheapo REI deals work just fine... Â Witness as Leejams demonstrates the proper technique... Quote
lummox Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 JayB said: I have always just used my own pulleys - much smoother ride across. The cheapo REI deals work just fine... Â Witness as Leejams demonstrates the proper technique... Quote
sobo Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 lummox said: JayB said: I have always just used my own pulleys - much smoother ride across. The cheapo REI deals work just fine... Â Witness as Leejams demonstrates the proper technique... Â Classic, lummox, classic! Â Seriously, erik is correct about the release. Flip-flop just started, so there won't be any river wadin' to Royal Columns until next summer. And those damn river rafter groups are scarfin' up campsites and parking spaces for the next several weeks. Quote
kurthicks Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 when i drove by last week it looked like some progress was happening on the new bridge...if the crane was any guide to progress. couldn't see the bridge in the parking lot, so who knows? kind of hard to tell what was happening at 70mph though. Quote
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