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I was wondering, who all from this board will be there at the event? I will be there, on the catwalk all day long for the most part I suppose. Looks like 61* and sunny for the forcast on Saturday.

I'm not going but I can offer some historical advice. It looks like it will be 61 by about 1pm. But be prepared for the vastly changing weather. In the morning, it will likely be foggy, moist and chilly. By noon, the wind chill could drop the perceived temp by 15 degrees. Are you getting on rope or just hanging out on the catwalk?

Well, I am on the safety team, so I will be on station #3 all day long for the most part, but I may get the opportunity to drop the safety team rope once or twice. I was packing my under armour compression cold gear to wear during the day, since I will be under the bridge and in the shade all day long. Since I wont be in the sun at all, i am guessing it will be quite chilly under the bridge all day right? And since I will be mostily stationary, I should be prepared for that right?

Chads93GT wrote:Well, I am on the safety team, so I will be on station #3 all day long for the most part, but I may get the opportunity to drop the safety team rope once or twice. I was packing my under armour compression cold gear to wear during the day, since I will be under the bridge and in the shade all day long. Since I wont be in the sun at all, i am guessing it will be quite chilly under the bridge all day right? And since I will be mostily stationary, I should be prepared for that right?

You have it about right. You will be in the shade all day and it is usually windy up there. I always dress in layers and don't forget a good warm hat.
Friday will be rainy and in the upper 50's, so be ready for that also.
My group will be at rigging station #9. See you under the bridge.

Thanks for the advice. I defiantely dont want to freeze my butt off and be miserable. I appreciate the input.

Chads93GT wrote:Thanks for the advice. I defiantely dont want to freeze my butt off and be miserable. I appreciate the input.

Treat it like you're out on a mountain hike; It's ALWAYS colder on the catwalk. This will be my 4th consecutive year at Bridge Day. Weather looks a little on the cool side, with a high of ~60. I've included some photos below of Safety Officers from last year... which had similar weather as to what's been forecast. (Click for enlargement).


We're the High-Hangin' Hoosiers (slot #14)!












Hitting the road today! See you there!!


-Dean


p.s. Oh... I'll bring my Spark with me.

I've heard they don't allow J-frame racks for the bridge rappelling. Why is that and what would you use instead?

muddyface wrote:I've heard they don't allow J-frame racks for the bridge rappelling. Why is that and what would you use instead?

I think you've got it backwards; Don't you mean "U-frame"? The Bridge Day Rules stipulate you MUST use a rappel rack no less than 12 inches in length, and no U-racks.

The second question, a standard 16-inch rappel rack works just fine (and I like a little bit of spacer between the top and the #2 bar). In order to do El Capitan, I bought the BMS 24-inch rack... and that bad boy is a Cadillac. WAY smoother and easier to control.

http://bridgedayrappel.com/required-personal.htm


Hope this helps,

-Dean

I did the bridge many moons ago and I remember when the wind comes through the gorge that it puts a bend in the rope and seems to act as a bottom belay, it was very hard to get going on all 6 bars on a regular rack . Like Dean says, A long rack would be nice so you can have more room to spread bars without having to drop a bar. I also did Golandrinas and did not seem to notice because there was no wind , used the same standard rack there. I would recommend a long rack.

Cody JW wrote:I did the bridge many moons ago and I remember when the wind comes through the gorge that it puts a bend in the rope and seems to act as a bottom belay, it was very hard to get going on all 6 bars on a regular rack . Like Dean says, A long rack would be nice so you can have more room to spread bars without having to drop a bar. I also did Golandrinas and did not seem to notice because there was no wind , used the same standard rack there. I would recommend a long rack.

Just drop some bars. With no spacers on my 18" rack I start out on 4 bars at the top. I then add bars as needed.

junkman wrote:Just drop some bars. With no spacers on my 18" rack I start out on 4 bars at the top. I then add bars as needed.

I'm surprised at how many people I've encountered recently who absolutely REFUSE to drop bars. No way, no how.

I saw a guy almost end himself on Whiteside through exhaustion in cold windy & rainy conditions (had stowed his radio inside a pack, and couldn't reach it).

Utilizing a rack with fewer than the maximum number of bars is, for whatever reason, becoming less common.


-Dean

Dropping bars is easy to say but when you weigh 220 I do not get enough friction with 5 bars on a regular rack. 4 bars and I can name my beneficiary on the way down. For me and my comfort level on big stuff, I like 6 bars with a longer rack to have more room to slide the bottom bar for friction adjustment. I tried on smaller pits a mini rack with 4 bars and without using the hyper I had to have a bottom belay.With the hyper it is just fine for small stuff. When I did the bridge I used a regular SMC rack with 6 bars (steel), I had to force feed it for about 100 feet then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I have since figured out that on big stuff I just feel better with a longer frame rack. I like the size just above the regular 6 bar frame, maybe an 18 .That gives me extra room to move the bottom bar to get the friction adjustment that is right for me when I have lots of rope weight under me.

Yeah, Jeff... I'm a big'un like you. I'm guessing I'm somewhere around 240-245, so I'm more in your camp. But I'm talking folks who would make a wet towel look like 150 lbs.

185-200 lbs depending on the day of the week and my gear on. I routinely go from 5 to 6 bars, rope between the legs, rope over the hip. People who are too scared to drop a bar and wear themselves out by feeding the rope are only punishing themselves.

Maybe we could try this at Bridge Day next year.
http://www.jaccuzzi.ch/html/affichjacc_264_e.html
But I think the safety folks might have a problem with it.