Worlds largest rope swing?

fat cow wrote: Hilarious, showed a guy at work this video, he says "they look like a bunch of theater douchebags." This will be inflammatory, but did you really need to ask "How are we douchbags?" Well there's no way to say for sure, except for the obvious. dancing, kissing, close ups of laughing, group hugging, i mean come on kiddies. oh and nice track jacket, is that leather, classy. Nice vid otherwise, looks likely to end in disaster though either through policy or injury.

..Talking to himself... Look at them having fun.. What a bunch of douchebags; I wish I could have fun.. Look at his coat, I'm going to judge this guy because I totally do not agree with his style...Look at them laughing, kissing and dancing; who does such a thing...There is going to be a disaster, because they do not look like and act like me, and therefore they do not know how to rig properly....
....I wish I could do something besides play around on a boulder by myself...

The Larry wrote: Now THAT's the definition of crusty.

Get off my lawn, damned slackliners!

that retro jacket lost it for me. But the chick at 30 sec. regained my attention, then the whole dancing thing....i'd watch the first 30 sec. again.

PosiDave wrote:...and arcteryx rockin middle aged men. They are having a good time and obviously lived.

yeah, babay

definitely badass
but wtf is with the random shot of kissing
camwhores!

Shit, I wanna hug and kiss em' too. . . . I'm jealous as all hell of heaven!
Rat bastids proving that they're having a shit-ton more fun than me!

If ya'll need a 12th wheel sometime, yeah, um, maybe drop me a line?

SteveP wrote:definitely badass but wtf is with the random shot of kissing camwhores!

We just got engaged. Cut a brotha some slack!

Dont sweat it Austin, I'd be kissing and dancing a lot too if I was a virgin in my twenties.

^^^ Funniest. Post. Ever.

mobley wrote: Dont sweat it Austin, I'd be kissing and dancing a lot too if I was a virgin in my twenties.

30. I just look real young; I think it's my haircut.

This is both highly unethical and highly unsafe.

It's definitely a cool "feel good" video and I do appreciate that aspect, but this Arch is a beautiful landmark and formation which locals of this area, like myself, value and cherish deeply.

I liked this video the first time I saw it, but as I watched again I viewed the video more objectively. This is borderline reckless behavior and I find this to be insulting to both the Arch and nature itself.

Does anyone else feel similar?

It's also too bad that something like this gets so much attention and popularity.

Dean Potter practically got exiled from the Moab area for his free solo and photographing of Delicate Arch. His team at most left tiny, 1/2 inch rope scars on the arch itself. Why? Because it was in a national park.

Even though this Arch is on BLM land or "public land" and not a national park, ethics are still a huge issue (OBVIOUSLY), and my argument is the unethics of the entire set up and even more so the film. As I write this, now over 8 million people have seen the video, and how many of them are fired up about trying this themselves?? A good chance there is a damn fair amount of them. Maybe a few hundred people? A thousand perhaps?

And of course the BLM could make this illegal, but people may still try to poach it. My point is, this film could do more harm than good. Sorry, Devin, and the rest of the crew. I know it seemed cool, but there are larger issues at stake here and you could have done some serious damage. Honestly, think about it. (And I am speaking all these words as a local. Please hear me out. This arch and that wilderness mean something deeply to me. It's not your home is it?)

This is not only doing potentially much more damage to this arch than Dean may have done to Delicate, but it is reckless behavior which is spread to a MUCH wider audience than Dean's climb.

I know that all may sound harsh, but aside from the emotional "feel good" aspect of the video, there is fact, consequence, and logic of the rope swing which must not be ignored.

-Matt

Matt Hockman wrote:This viral video is frankly, embarrassing.

It's definitely cheesy. I'm sure the swing is fun as hell, but the db quotient is high. Like, the whole time I was looking for the Mountain Dew logo to make its appearance, or maybe the Will Smith-esque posi hip hop song morphs into the Juicy Fruit anthem.

I can't really understand the hate this video is getting from fellow climbers. Good song, good friends, great scenery, good-looking girls, and a little bit of funny dancing. And if we were there, I'll bet 99% of us would have said, "Hey guys, I've got my harness here, mind if I take a quick jump?" Furthermore, I imagine the magnitude of the rigging, combined with the risk if you do it wrong, will minimize repeat attempts and any cumulative damage to the arch.

Lighten up and have some fun, y'all!

PS - Congratulations, Austin!

... mighty big rope swing.

youtube.com/watch?v=n1cMMhN…

I don't really understand all the hate either, but I've pretty much come to expect that no matter what you do on climbing forums somebody isn't going to like it.

Great video, jealous I wasn't there, and congrats on the engagement.

Very well said Matt. I agree that this these publicity stunts do nothing more than hurt the outdoor community. These sort of activities may not have been on the BLM's radar before..but rest assured that it probably is now due to such massive attention. There are more people than you think out there who do not like this type of activity and would happily pressure the BLM to restrict access and activities like this.

So if something does come down the wire in the near future i hope that the makers of this video can be proud of themselves for ruining a good thing for many others.

I have been visiting and climbing in the Moab region for many years now. When I did first come, you could expect solitude just about everywhere you went to climb. Now the Moab region is so incredibly popular that it has become increasingly more important for us to tread lightly. The more attention we get...the more rules they make. Thats not a good thing for us as climbers and outdoor enthusiasts.

I fear it wont be long before the days of freedom on BLM land is gone or severely restricted.

I personally said nothing about the impacts of these activities on the environment, rock, danger level, etc. I do agree that all outdoor activities...rock climbing included leave impacts on the land. Anyone who participates in the outdoors leaves some sort of impact. Footprints, plant damage, rock damage, erosion, trash, bolts, and way way to much more to name.

I do think its extremely important for us all to minimize our impact as much as we can in order to preserve the environment...and our continued future access.

My opposition was not necessarily towards the activity of rope swinging....because I have done similar activities...but i do not go posting videos to youtube to draw attention to it.

My opposition is more towards the drawing attention to it. The BLM may not care that this takes place at the moment, but with more attention, accidents, and increased impacts, they may change their minds. Do your research around the nation and you will see that it has already happened in many other areas. Dean Potter and Arches as mentioned above for one. It only takes one person to make things more difficult for others.

Throwing something like this out there on the web to say "HEY...LOOK AT WHAT I DID!" Draws attention. Both positive and negative. Especially when it receives so much attention like this video did. The negative is where my concern is. It only takes a few negative opinions to cause problems.

Its fine and dandy to get out there and enjoy life. I absolutely agree. I enjoy the risk involved in climbing and the other outdoor activities i enjoy, and have accepted the fact that I likely may die doing it. Keeping a low profile and not broadcasting it to the world helps prevent your activity from causing problems for others. I do not want anything I do to cause someone else to loose their right or freedom to do it.

Corona Arch isn't on BLM land. Don't believe me? Here's their contact info, call 'em up and ask.

you are absolutely correct...It is Utah state land...but that still changes nothing. It does not change the fact that it still creates a negative image for the outdoor community, the Utah state lands administration and the BLM because they are receiving thousands of phone calls a day about it.

Even if its not on BLM land..its attention has been brought to the BLM in a negative light and Its attention has been brought to the Utah State lands in a negative light. Thats not good for us long term as rules and regulations will likely change now for both BLM and State lands.

So every outdoor company shouldn't publish images and no magazines should exist in fear that "the man" will take away the right to use this land. I am sure this 2:55 minute video gives less attention to these hobbies than Five.Ten, Prana, and climbing mag and lastly this website. Mountain Project has plenty of views per day and def. more than that video. So that statement is clearly based on the biased of interest and intent.