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installing some fix ropes at High Wire

Original Post
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

I think it will be a wise idea to do so considering the potential for bad falls both in the river and on the highway from above the tunnel. Not to mention the number of climbers that climb in the area.

Yesterday, I saw a couple with 3 kids under 6 years one of them in a baby backpack.They made it up ok. Also, my partner mentioned that she knows a guy that broke his back in a fall on the approach, now he is dead.

I'm not going to mention that I managed to slipped of a huge foothold because some raspberry bush leaves. I did stop myself from falling head first for 40 ft by grabbing the the same bush. Not even a scratch but I almost knock off the ledge a small asian girl that I don't even know her name.

I would do it but Idon't have the bolting gearor the permit to install bolts in CCC

Parker Wrozek · · Denver, CO · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 86

Really not needed. It is an easy scramble up and down. Don't take the right route (on the way up, which everyone does) as it puts you over the highway. Fixed ropes are not going to make the approach any safer. If you don't like how you get to the area then go climb somewhere else.

curt86iroc · · Lakewood, CO · Joined Dec 2014 · Points: 274

May want to run this by the Jeffco rangers first.

IMO, also not needed.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
Parker Wrozek wrote:Really not needed. It is an easy scramble up and down. Don't take the right route (on the way up, which everyone does) as it puts you over the highway. Fixed ropes are not going to make the approach any safer. If you don't like how you get to the area then go climb somewhere else.
Everyone goes right because it is the way to go, if you go straight it is loose dirt.

Anyway I don't usually climb at high wire and the scramble is easy, but a fall can be really bad. Hopefully no one else will break their back
Kyler R · · SLC · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

Don't know the area at all, but I've done some heinous approaches on scree and bushwhacking. Sometimes that is what it takes to keep an area peaceful and not overrun like so many areas are.

Also, in today's age, fixing ropes and then not maintaining them is your liability and ultimately they end up as trash and we have enough trash in our forests.

Parker Wrozek · · Denver, CO · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 86

Julian, going the not right route is on rock. it is more of a class 4 climb instead of the hike around to the right by the road. It is in the Mabe guidebook (which also says don't go to the right), not sure about the new book.

Kyler R wrote:Don't know the area at all, but I've done some heinous approaches on scree and bushwhacking. Sometimes that is what it takes to keep an area peaceful and not overrun like so many areas are. Also, in today's age, fixing ropes and then not maintaining them is your liability and ultimately they end up as trash and we have enough trash in our forests.
It is probably in the top 3 most visited crags in clear creek canyon.
Abram Herman · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2009 · Points: 20

Please tell me you're joking.

ErikaNW · · Golden, CO · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 410

^^^^^^ This.

Fixed lines definitely not needed there. If people are unable to make that approach, not sure how having a fixed line would make it any safer for them - give an illusion of safety maybe?

People might consider that if they are bringing 3 kids under the age of 6 with one in a baby backpack, this might not be the best crag to visit that day if they aren't comfortable with the approach. There are other crags with similar grades that don't require any scrambling in the canyon.

But you are correct, there is the potential for a bad fall if you really mess up, just as there is in lots of other climbing areas, so be aware of yourself and your surroundings, and be safe.

J. Thompson · · denver, co · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,425

This was done before. The bolt was chopped.

-Josh

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
Kyler R wrote:Don't know the area at all, but I've done some heinous approaches on scree and bushwhacking. Sometimes that is what it takes to keep an area peaceful and not overrun like so many areas are. Also, in today's age, fixing ropes and then not maintaining them is your liability and ultimately they end up as trash and we have enough trash in our forests.
Maybe the approach needs to be marked better.
This will give you an idea of the prestige wilderness I'm talking about :-) (the people are crossing the bridge)

The New Wall that has a fix rope across a slab because 5.14 sport climbers don't know how to deal with a little slab. There is also a fixed rope on in a gully straight up from the approach to The Highlander. It is not even close to the approach trail. Anybody knows why it is there?
high wire
SteveZ · · Excelsior, MN · Joined Sep 2007 · Points: 431

Agreed with all the replies so far. Very much not needed. Would get removed undoubtedly.

The rope up the gully (on the approach to highlander as you say) is a fixed line to "High Wire Right" (the route power play and everything to the right of it). It's probably not necessary either but with that crag if you get stuck in the rain up there, down climbing the slab is pretty sketchy.

Trevor stuart · · Denver · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 105

I think we should install an elevator

Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974

JeffCo needs to fix the air conditioning.
I mean every single crag is just too hot, even the shady ones.
Much less an oven like Highwire.

matt c. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 155
Parker Wrozek wrote:Really not needed. It is an easy scramble up and down. Don't take the right route (on the way up, which everyone does) as it puts you over the highway. Fixed ropes are not going to make the approach any safer. If you don't like how you get to the area then go climb somewhere else.
Well if you're not going to install a rope, at least tape the route! Please use blue, I am color blind to red so that would be inconvenient for me.
Wiled Horse · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2002 · Points: 3,669

Good one

Matt Pierce · · Poncha Springs, CO · Joined May 2010 · Points: 312
Parker Wrozek wrote:Really not needed. It is an easy scramble up and down. Don't take the right route (on the way up, which everyone does) as it puts you over the highway. Fixed ropes are not going to make the approach any safer. If you don't like how you get to the area then go climb somewhere else.
^this^
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
J. Thompson wrote:This was done before. The bolt was chopped. -Josh
So it is ok to chop bolts if I think the climbing is easy? :-) or

If I can't make it to the crux of the climb I shouldn't be on the climb. Actually, the last one is not that bad rule of thumb.
highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35
JulianG wrote: So it is ok to chop bolts if I think the climbing is easy? :-) or If I can't make it to the crux of the climb I shouldn't be on the climb. Actually, the last one is not that bad rule of thumb.
If the walk in is too hard for you, uhhh, yep.
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote: If the walk in is too hard for you, uhhh, yep.
I bruised my left heel earlier this year, it takes for ever to heal. Walking has been a pain with every step.
reboot · · . · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125

It's no skin off my back, but seriously, what's it to you if there's a fixed rope on the approach? It's going to ruin your wilderness experience? Nobody is asking you to do anything; the OP said he'd do it himself.

As far as the approach, if you aren't hobbling, it's pretty easy in good weather, a little less so after some rain/snow/ice. But then again, just because you are having trouble walking doesn't mean you can't lap all the routes there w/ ease.

Emil Briggs · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 125

Looking at that picture of the approach with the red line it appears as if dropping stuff into the road is a potential problem. Is all the rock on the right side solid?

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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