best of cc.com I made an amazing geologic discovery!

[genepires]

so a recap.

someone finds a slot canyon and sprays on about this new discovery, won't divulge any details, names it, gets a TV program to film it naming it his given name Valhalla.

 

Lets the cat out of the bag after said video is made.

 

We find out that it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here and could have informed about said previous naming well before video is shot.

 

Seems like bad research and keeping everything secret to claim some notoriety.

[Explorer]

so a recap.

someone finds a slot canyon and sprays on about this new discovery, won't divulge any details, names it, gets a TV program to film it naming it his given name Valhalla.

 

Lets the cat out of the bag after said video is made.

 

We find out that it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here and could have informed about said previous naming well before video is shot.

 

Seems like bad research and keeping everything secret to claim some notoriety.

 

Do you think that if I had first posted details, photos, and the location on an internet site, and then dozens of other people had gone there, photographed it, and posted it on more sites; that Oregon Field Guide would have invested the funds and effort to create a high quality documentary about the site?

 

If many people have been there before would there be no published photos or reports of it? Unless someone produces photos of the site taken prior to my photos, we may never know if anyone has been there before. Of course I know it is possible but if someone did find it the word didn't get out too far. And you have zero idea of the level of research that myself and others did on researching the site. Do you believe that OPB would have just taken my word that no one knew about it and left it at that with no additional vetting? If not for my decision to make it known, I doubt that YOU would have ever had the opportunity to someday visit it.

 

As for the name - Valhalla, in Norse mythology, was described as a deep, narrow hall where slain Viking warriors would spend eternity. It seemed like a fitting name for a deep, narrow slot canyon. I decided to call it something and that's what I came up with. It remains to be seen if the name will stick. Maybe you have been there before and if so we can rename it "Genepires Canyon."

[alpine et]

Unless someone produces photos of the site taken prior to my photos, we may never know if anyone has been there before.

 

I've been looking all afternoon for pictures of my closet on the internet. I have found none.

 

I am contacting national geographic at this moment to videotape the first time the closet door opens. Judging by my cat's insistence at sitting near the closet door, I'm guessing there are cat toys in there. Anything else is just a guess.... TUNE IN!!

 

[Water]

We find out that it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here and could have informed about said previous naming well before video is shot.

 

Seems like bad research and keeping everything secret to claim some notoriety.

 

When did we find out it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here? While sarcasm can be hard to see through the internet, dbernika's hyperbole canyon may have been a commentary in jest on the 'amazing' discovery. Maybe dbernika can clarify but I have my doubts, just my 2cents. Coming from someone who believed this was a troll (and it appears perhaps a touch over-stated in significance of magnificence) but it's still cool.

[Explorer]

We find out that it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here and could have informed about said previous naming well before video is shot.

 

Seems like bad research and keeping everything secret to claim some notoriety.

 

When did we find out it has been discovered by possibly many people before, some of which frequent here? While sarcasm can be hard to see through the internet, dbernika's hyperbole canyon may have been a commentary in jest on the 'amazing' discovery. Maybe dbernika can clarify but I have my doubts, just my 2cents. Coming from someone who believed this was a troll (and it appears perhaps a touch over-stated in significance of magnificence) but it's still cool.

 

I understood that dbernika's Hyperbole Canyon was sarcasm and took no offense (pretty good by the way, maybe I should have named it that!). So maybe Genepires took it literally that Valhalla and Hyperbole are one in the same and many people have been there before? Genepires, if you get a call from someone with a foreign accent saying that they are the IRS and you need to send them money or go to jail, just hang up, it's a hoax!

[Rad]

Goodness, folks seem a little uptight.

 

I think it's awesome you went exploring, found something really cool (I don't really care if others have been there or not), and have convinced someone to take beautiful video and photos so they can share the beauty with others who likely will never see it in person. In a way, this is what a lot of climbing videos and photos are all about. Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame.

 

What may be rubbing people the wrong way is your perceived sense of ownership over the "discovery" and the hyperbolic descriptions you laid on us without any details to back them up. So the snarky comments you're getting are a result of BOTH your own behavior AND the reactions you've elicited in the posters. This is the bed you've made for yourself.

 

[pcg]

...What may be rubbing people the wrong way is your perceived sense of ownership over the "discovery" and the hyperbolic descriptions you laid on us without any details to back them up. So the snarky comments you're getting are a result of BOTH your own behavior AND the reactions you've elicited in the posters. This is the bed you've made for yourself.

Goodness, folks seem a little uptight.

[pcg]

...What may be rubbing people the wrong way is your perceived sense of ownership over the "discovery" and the hyperbolic descriptions you laid on us without any details to back them up. So the snarky comments you're getting are a result of BOTH your own behavior AND the reactions you've elicited in the posters. This is the bed you've made for yourself.

Goodness, folks seem a little uptight.

I think I just posted my first spray. Does this count? Is this spray?

[Rad]

...I think I just posted my first spray. Does this count? Is this spray?

 

Not even close. You need a personal attack on one or more posters involving at least three of the following ingredients: random internet memes, animals, reference to body parts inserted into said animals, reference to female family members, uninformed political generalizations, or discussion of bolting. You did get the dripping sarcasm, so that's a start.

 

[Explorer]

What may be rubbing people the wrong way is your perceived sense of ownership over the "discovery" and the hyperbolic descriptions you laid on us without any details to back them up. So the snarky comments you're getting are a result of BOTH your own behavior AND the reactions you've elicited in the posters. This is the bed you've made for yourself.

 

Yea, I get the over the top hyperbolic description from my original post in 2014. I re-read that post recently and even I was surprised how many times I used the word "amazing." I made that post two or three days after setting foot in the slot canyon for the first time. After my first (failed) expedition I was really "stoked" (as you guys on this site say) when I finally made it all the way there. I should have chilled a little before writing that post.

 

As for my perceived ownership, probably guilty as charged there too. It goes back to being stoked and trying to figure out the best way to share a cool place with people. That, and I still feel some burden of responsibility because I realize that because of me, some people will find tragedy in Valhalla.

 

Some people on this site have inferred that I did this to get attention for myself. If a person finds something cool that other people will enjoy, and shares the news with the world, is it because he wants attention or is just enthused about the discovery? I am not aware of any great need for personal attention. Maybe if someone here is a psychiatrist they can analyze whether or not I let the story out the way I did is because I am a narcissist in need of attention. When I first met with the producers of Oregon Field Guide I told them all that I expected was maybe to someday be a footnote in a geology text book. But from that first meeting, it was their idea to include me in the story for human interest. Whether I needed or wanted attention or not, it's coming.

 

I am sure this won't be the last time my deplorable behavior will rub people the wrong way. I survived a year in Vietnam in the Marines, as well as many other experiences and adventures, and I can take (and give out) a little heat from the bed that I've made for myself on this internet forum! At any rate, I hope most people will enjoy Valhalla, whether by watching the documentary or by exploring it.

[astrov]

Prepare for the end!

 

 

 

... of high prices. I hope this thread was a guerilla marketing campaign for OPB, because Explorer accomplished nothing else in coming here.

[shapp]

Hey I found this amazingly deep gully filled 30' deep with the most amazingly dry sage brush in the most amazing part of SE Oregon. Could be the deepest gully ever filled with sage brush ever!. I haven't been able to find any information on the internet about this amazingly filled sage brush gully, and can't find it reported in any other book or find another soul that has ever seen or heard of it.

 

 

In all seriousness, I look forward to the program. Even though the likelihood that no-one has ever been there ever before is likely small.

 

There are a bunch of deep slot canyons all over in the upper North Fork Lewis River watershed in SW Washington that I have been either at the base or on-top off, that probably no one has been into as they are guarded by water falls on both ends. Could probably make about 15 more OPB shows on those. 15 new discoveries to be had!

 

This one is pretty much right by a road, bet you can't find any info of anyone ever going up into the canyon upstream of this falls.

 

 

Being in the line of work I am in, I can tell you I have seen many many many slot canyons all over Oregon and Washington that you can't find any info about through research. They don't show up on USGS topo maps. But are they undiscovered? I doubt it.

Edited January 28, 2016 by shapp

[obwan]

I was "stoked" as you guys say, and that contributed to a writing style that wasn't well received here. I am sorry for that as I never intended to piss off people.

 

As you found out, the first (unwritten) rule of cc.com that giving people a hard time is mandatory. The second is that it is you never apologize. The third is to never take yourself too seriously, otherwise you'll run headlong into rules one and two. We're a strange and cantankerous bunch.

 

Glad it all worked out and that you found the right audience. Maybe I'll go hurt myself there someday.

 

Man - here we go again!

 

JasonG and Olyclimber have well explained what HFC climbers are all about (that's 'hard f---ing core') - it really did sound like a troll to us, and we all await what appears to be a great documentary. I'm not usually a skeptic, but find it difficult that those cowboys missed this - measuring every inch of the earth with chains and ropes to make the TOPO's that we all live by. Now it's done with satellites - which will probably be my vantage point.

At this point good for you and thank god you made it out of Nam.

Bon Jour, Amigo.

[JasonG]

Or, in my particular case, HFC stands for "hardly found competent".

[genepires]

[

 

Do you think that if I had first posted details, photos, and the location on an internet site, and then dozens of other people had gone there, photographed it, and posted it on more sites; that Oregon Field Guide would have invested the funds and effort to create a high quality documentary about the site?

 

yes.

 

they do episodes on all kinds of things, known and unknown. there was a OFG on some new place called Strobach mtn. you know, the one in the ice climbing guidebook.

 

plus you mentioned about not wanting people to get in trouble with descending the slot so you kept it a secret. Yet here we are for all the world to see. here come the hordes.

 

Just saying you could have written a standard TR way back when, instead of that ridiculous secrecy thing. You could have gotten your OFG video anyways without all the secrecy.

I may have missed the sarcasm in Darin's comment. Sarcasm is hard for me. I do know that Darin and I have done some amazing first ascents that no one will do. He wrote a TR anyway to spread the stoke. He is not a dick.

 

BTW, those OFG guys are cool. Good bunch of guys.

 

 

[Sore_Feet]

Do you think that if I had first posted details, photos, and the location on an internet site, and then dozens of other people had gone there, photographed it, and posted it on more sites; that Oregon Field Guide would have invested the funds and effort to create a high quality documentary about the site?

 

Long time lurker here, but this thread drew me out so I'm chiming in late here, but yes, OPB would definitely have still had interest and no, disclosing the location would almost certainly NOT have resulted in droves of people visiting. When I first saw this thread several months back, I made an educated guess about where this mystery canyon was, and the trailer for the episode of Field Guide that OPB has released confirmed my suspicion (I will not be a dick about it though and will keep quiet for now). It's definitely remote and inaccessible enough that few people will ever try to get in there. But it's not nearly as unknown as you may have thought. I've been aware of a couple of the waterfalls on the river in that canyon for several years now, thanks to Google Earth. The scope of the canyon and the uniqueness of the geology certainly appears much better than expected, but yeah...definitely way more hyperbole than necessary.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Sore_Feet

[Explorer]

Do you think that if I had first posted details, photos, and the location on an internet site, and then dozens of other people had gone there, photographed it, and posted it on more sites; that Oregon Field Guide would have invested the funds and effort to create a high quality documentary about the site?

 

Long time lurker here, but this thread drew me out so I'm chiming in late here, but yes, OPB would definitely have still had interest and no, disclosing the location would almost certainly NOT have resulted in droves of people visiting. When I first saw this thread several months back, I made an educated guess about where this mystery canyon was, and the trailer for the episode of Field Guide that OPB has released confirmed my suspicion (I will not be a dick about it though and will keep quiet for now). It's definitely remote and inaccessible enough that few people will ever try to get in there. But it's not nearly as unknown as you may have thought. I've been aware of a couple of the waterfalls on the river in that canyon for several years now, thanks to Google Earth. The scope of the canyon and the uniqueness of the geology certainly appears much better than expected, but yeah...definitely way more hyperbole than necessary.

 

Yes, OPB does many shows on well known sites in the northwest (the Oregon coast and Mt. Hood to name a couple). During the initial meeting with them, after seeing my photos one of the first things the producer said was that they would be excited to be the first film crew in there. Would they still have filmed it had it been covered before? Maybe, but the prospect that it may be previously unknown certainly piqued their interest for taking on the project.

 

[Explorer]

Prepare for the end! ... of high prices. I hope this thread was a guerilla marketing campaign for OPB, because Explorer accomplished nothing else in coming here.

 

I bet you have deeper issues going on besides being upset about my bringing the story of Valhalla to Cascade Climbers. My best advice to you is that you NOT watch the Oregon Field Guide episode on it.

 

[Sore_Feet]

Yes, OPB does many shows on well known sites in the northwest (the Oregon coast and Mt. Hood to name a couple). During the initial meeting with them, after seeing my photos one of the first things the producer said was that they would be excited to be the first film crew in there. Would they still have filmed it had it been covered before? Maybe, but the prospect that it may be previously unknown certainly piqued their interest for taking on the project.

 

I have little doubt that you guys will have been the first to do extensive documentation in there (definitely looking forward to it myself). I hope you got to poke around in some of the side drainages too - I've been especially curious about one of the streams coming in from the southwest for a long, long time.

[ivan]

didya summit?

[JasonG]

I want to know the bolt count.

[olyclimber]

I recognize that spot! We use to call it Hyperbole Canyon. Been there a few times myself.

 

this is good stuff! LMAO

[layton]

AMAZING! THIS CLIMBER MADE AN UNBELIEVABLE DISCOVERY AND WHAT HE FOUND WILL SHOCK YOU!!!

 

LINK

 

 

[FloRida]

(I will not be a dick about it though and will keep quiet for now).

 

Not really

 

I am 100% positive this is the gorge along the South Fork North Fork Breitenbush River, north of Mount Jefferson. Location is here: 44.76501, -121.83194

Definitely not somewhere that anyone casual is going to get into.

 

[AlpineK]

Screw slot canyons let's talk amazing planetary discovery

 

Planet-9 is in our back yard

 

[img:center]http://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/293/195/STILLplanet9.jpg[/img]