JoCoSAR Rope Team video session

Yesterday most of the rope rescue team was able to assemble on short notice to allow Bryan Hawkins a chance to capture some rope training film with a clear blue sky.  We worked in Hellgate Canyon at a spot we have named Poison Oak Point for the obvious reason.

Bryan admits to not liking heights or tricky trails, but, being as committed to getting the best footage possible, he allowed us to lure him out of his comfort zone so he could get some better shots of us working over the edge.  We took good care of him and tried our best to get him some good shots.  We kept him on rope when near an edge and carried gear for him on the steep and nasty trail to where we set up our gear.  He even trusted us to  take his big camera and tripod down over the cliff while on rope so we could shoot from the bottom up for him.  (Those shots may not come out.)

The day couldn't have been better.  The fog cleared by the time we were ready to shoot, the sky was cerulean blue which really set those orange shirts off and it wasn't too hot or too cold.  Hope we were able to give him what he had envisioned.  When I wasn't busy doing rope things, I took still shots to share the experience with you.

[Watch in the "expand mode" or at YouTube so the vertical photos aren't cut off.]

 

Comments

[Bryan Hawkins]

I would like to publicly thank the Rope Rescue Team for working so hard to help me get great footage of their work. I cannot thank them enough for their patience and helpfulness and kindness, for keeping me safe, for contributing excellent ideas for various scenes,and for working very hard for many hours in a dangerous environment so that I could get video for the SAR project. I've previewed the tape and I'm excited and anxious to start editing it into the project. As we all know, Kate is a excellent photographer. After a very brief orientation on my camera gear, off she went rappelling down a perfectly good cliff to capture some excellent footage of Joe rappelling down to the bottom. Never in a million years could I have gotten that perspective unless someone had tossed me over the cliff with my gear (ha ha ). Thanks Kate for the great footage! This footage combined with the great footage I was able to get at Sam Brown ( thanks to all who made it awesome footage!) will greatly enhance the project. Thanks to all!