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So we are looking to get a rope for our gym to use for rope vaulting. We are having some major issues because of the way the rafters are set up in our gym.

Here's the question. How long does the rope need to be from the attachment at the ceiling to the ground?

How high should we be jumping off scaffolding?

How far should the landing area be from the scaffolding?

thanks

Well from the few times ive been rope vaulting, there are a few key things ive learned.

You will need a landing area EVERYWHERE from the scaffolding you are swinging off of to the farthest possible place you can land.

The rope needs to be long enough to go from the ceiling to the edge of the scaffold you are jumping from.

Think of it in terms of triangles, and let the distance from the attachment of the ceiling to the ground be A. The distance from the ground to the scaffolding be B, and the distance from the edge of the scaffolding be C. You can draw a diagram to scale and figure out the angles you want or need for there to be a good swing in the rope but not too much. Once you have the angles, you already have how high it has to be (A) and you can figure out all other variables using that hieght.

This sounds like a really cool problem, and im sure a math teacher could help you better than i could!! But really the scaffold hieght will depend on the hieght of the cieling. The one i jumped off of was about 9-11 feet. Good luck, and i would leave to hear how the end result is!

The other vaulter on the team is an Engineering major. He is currently doing a co-op and is actually working for the university. He was able to pull up the blue prints of the gym, so we have so good numbers.


We were thinking like 9 feet for the scaffold. This is one of the variables we are not sure about.

Zach, would it be in the same area? Or are you guys looking to put the rope in a more open area in the gym?

Somewhere in the middle....but I don't know if it will work....Nick is doing the math.

Here's a picture of what we rigged up in our fieldhouse one bored saturday....



and yes, I started on top of the ladder. we had to, otherwise you'd hit the floor during the swing. the mats were about 80 feet away from the balcony and we had the bungee up at 20'.



it was awesome. and yes there were crashpads everywhere. we (somewhat) planned this out before we did it....

That lookes like it was a blast

for real! get some videos!

sorry, that was 8 years ago....

LOL thats a pretty hardcore rope vaulting idea. Plus, if you have any over-cocky pole vaulters, have them try it without the ladder and watch them hit the ground .

Other than being alot of fun, and because of this kids will do it over and over again. Gaining some strength benefits. I have never been a proponant for this activity. The support of the rope and the actual support of the pole are 2 different things. Time better spent working on core strength or just learning how to pole vault.

Rick Baggett
WSTC LLC

Here is the problem i see with NOT rope vaulting....alot of vaulter, myself included, have issues with inverting all the way....taking 10 vaults in practice will yield 7 good ones if you are lucky.......rope vaulting seems like a way to get more reps in before the legs give out.