S-10CREWCAB.NET

It is not often you get to do things that really make you feel alive on a weekday , and at work. Today was one of those days for me

The last three years I have been training some employees of the Owyhee Irrigation District in high angle rope rescue , confined space rescue and rappelling. This is partly for self preservation. The Owyhee Dam is 45 minutes away from the nearest rescue team. Our team is available and ready on a moments notice. We cover a huge area.


Me on the far right.

I applied for and received a Safety and Security grant from our insurance carrier. This allowed me to purchase 4 mobile radios , two portable radios and two 600' ropes with bags. The radios are 128 channel programmable and compatible with local law enforcement and emergency services. This addition to our teams equipment greatly enhances our capabilities and range.
The long ropes and vital communications can be a great asset for our area.

Today I actually got to try out these bad boys!

There is a big blue tarp that blew up on the rocks on the south side of the dam. It has been there for over five years as best we can guess. In preparation for the 75th anniversary celebration this year, and as a good practice session, we made it a goal to remove it. This entailed a very treacherous area and a very long rappel.



I studied the line from below and decided to follow the "wash" down, then move over to the tarp. The line straight above the tarp did not look as good from the top or bottom. That circle is the tarp. It was about 20'x 20' and draped over a bush that had grown up through it too.



From below it looked like a pretty easy decent. Once on it that was obviously a gross mistake. It was really steep and lots of loose stuff. We found two places to stop and rest a little while untangling ropes below us.

The tarp was about 30' to the north of our line down. There was just not a better line from the one we took down. I climbed across a little above the tarp , but did not like the situation. Too risky.

I opted to go down parallel and work across the face to a position where I could reach it.



It is hard to see from the sun glare , but that is just after I got half the tarp cut loose. I am on the left and my partner , Mark is on the right.
It really was wedged tight and I could not get close enough to pull it loose. I ended up cutting it in half with my knife and tugging it loose a little at a time. I almost gave up a couple times. It took us nearly two hours to get this far. I really hated to leave it there.



I was able finally work loose the remaining half and kick it down as I rappelled down from that location. Mark was able to free my rope where it hung up and we proceeded to head on down to the power plant. The rappel took nearly three hours and was close to 500'. We took our time and stayed safe.

One of the guys used my camera and did not get enough photos, but I guess he was watching out for us and had never used a digital camera before.

That is the longest rappel I have done to date. Hopefully some day I will get to rappel the glory hole or at least the face , just for fun

A good day at work. Those don't come all that often. Enjoy them!

The sideways 30' to get to that tarp did give me pause. My partner was going to be the first to attempt it as he had more rock climbing experience and was lighter than I. He was not comfortable with the spongy feel of the long rope and hesitated. I am not one to push anyone. I did not want him doing anything he was not comfortable with.
I took the lead again.
I was aware that a slip would send me swinging across the rocks and smacking some 40' or more away. I kept the pressure in line with my rope and was fortunate to have a shelf in line for good footing. Once I got my leg over that and braced against it, I was much more comfortable with the situation. This also gave me a point to rappel straight down from there with my rope over that vertical out cropping.

The terrain was treacherous for sure. Not an easy rappel. That is one reason I took the lead on this one. In a pinch we did have ascenders and could have gone up in a dire situation. They work great for anchoring in place and did several times.

That much rope was a new experience. You had to feed it up for the first half of the rappel. The weight alone was nearly enough to hold you in place.
We are using NFPA rated two man ( 900lb ) rescue rope. CMC Lifeline ( New England Ropes ) 1/2" static kernmantle rope. Tensile strength is around 9500 lbf. It will stretch 4.8% over the length of the rope. That is nearly 30'. I didn't let my partner in on that little fact until afterward. He was nervous enough about the spongy feeling at the half way point. I can not imagine what his feeling would have been if he knew it could stretch that far I personally selected the equipment we use. It is all good equipment and is very well cared for. I told him , and silently to myself ...Trust the equipment. You must have faith. It will be just fine.

We had five men on top and three on the bottom. They easily pulled the rope up after we released the bags and knots at the bottom.
Two men on top tied off with harnesses to attend each rope, one in rappelling harness ready to come down if needed and two standing by. Three below. Two spotters and one standing by below. All first aid trained. Two of us EMTs.
We have a Skedco flexible stretcher , backboard and c-collar with us at all times. The combination can be used in many ways and is rated for hoisting to aircraft if needed.
This rappel had way too many unknowns, so I took way more than we need for an easy rappel.

I had a few moments of pause when my bag went down and no one could see it. I was not sure if we had enough rope to reach bottom. You know how it is when you plan it and are sure the rope is long enough, but the thought still plays on you with a new rope. No way was I coming back up after we passed the 100' mark. I could not tell if it was just the weight of the rope , or if my bag was hanging in mid air below somewhere. My spotter could not see it and neither could I. There were several anchor points left over from construction of the dam. We thought we could anchor in and use both ropes to get down from a lower anchor point if it came to that. I had lots of contingency plans. Worst case a helicopter or another rescue teams saves us. I am not proud. If it comes to that, I made an error. It will not cost a life.

Wow that is some seriously rugged terrain.

Was your adrenaline flowing the whole time?

How often do you get to do training like that?

Steve

The Owyhee Canyons are really rough broken basalt and other volcanic rock. Lots of shifting and fault lines. It can be beautiful, but it is rugged.

There was a little adrenaline rush. Not bad though. Not like bailing out the second floor with a 3/8" rope under your armpits tied to an axe stuck in the floor

This was the first long rappel. We rappel at least twice a year. During the siphon inspections last year we rappelled for three days during one week.
We do class room training a couple times a year too.

Awesome! And here I thought 100' out of a Blackhawk into a pot patch was a rush

should've just drove the crew up the rock and snagged the tarp on the way to the top!

no seriously, that looks like a crazy good time! you got some great pics too! nice work HJ

thats really cool brule. last year i made a promo video for a company that trians people in search and rescue over cliffs for all situations......

Terrifying. I'm not big on heights, unless I'm separated from the drop by a sturdy railing or something.

It had been several years in the works. Yesterday we did it.
I had hoped to be able to rappel the face of the Owyhee Dam, and we were able to do it yesterday.
I organized a multi-agency rappel and tour. The size was limited and by invitation only. Agencies represented were:
Owyhee Irrigation District rope rappel and rescue team
Oregon Hazmat Team #14
Linn-Benton Hazmat #5
Albany fire
Ontario Fire
Nyssa Fire
Vale ambulance
Malheur County Sheriffs Search and Rescue

We started the tour viewing various permit required confined spaces. Discussing emergency access and procedures. Then a short tour of the Owyhee Dam Museum.
Following a safety meeting, we assembled at the top of the dam and prepared for a 417 foot rappel to the lowest observation deck.
Fourteen of us rappelled down in about two hours.

After lunch with a movie on the history of the dam a tour of the tunnel #1 hydro project followed by the ring gate control where went through how we would extricate someone from this area.
The day was a huge success. A once in a lifetime experience.
We were the first to do it. We rappelled what was , when it was built, the largest dam in the world.

I am still compiling photos. We only rappelled for two hours, but I have over 1200 photos and videos to go through. I am uploading some as I type to a google photo album: The dam rappel and tour 2009

Totally awesome, Brule! I wonder if there is already a short cut for sharing such an adventure.

TYFS=Thank you for sharing?

I'm jealous.
Looks like fun in a very intense sort of way.

I'm glad someone is properly trained for when us flatlanders come to visit.

James

Awesome!

Found this online.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owyhee_Dam