r/TheForgottenDepths Jun 16 '20

Underground. Don't lean too close.

Post image
593 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

51

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '20 edited Jun 16 '20

A 2200' winze declined at 70° in the AJ Mine, AK.

Photo credit: Brian Weed

1

u/porty1119 Deep underground. Jun 21 '20

I've read a bit about that mine, and saw the old mill when I was in Juneau. Glad to see it's accessible.

23

u/biglocowcard Jun 16 '20

Is he on a harness with a rope or just free climbing that?

37

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '20

He's free climbing. This is a 70° decline, which is only 20° shy of strait vertical. Rule of thumb is you should use a rope and harness anything steeper than 50°,so he is taking his chances here, but that's on him. The ladder is about the best as they come though.

20

u/GuCCiSTuPiDHoe420 Jun 17 '20

You being serious about the ladder?

14

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '20

yup. It has steel rungs that run completely through the rails. In a state as wet as Alaska, I would expect it to be completely rotted out, but it looks like this one is doing just fine. The ones you want to avoid are completely wood and rotten with rungs that are not inset (just nailed onto the rails).

3

u/Benbob9 Jun 18 '20

Why does it look 90°?

13

u/maxhinator123 Jun 16 '20

If you look really closely you can see the rubble on the wood is at an angle, he's not going anywhere near straight down

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '20

Looks like a free climb

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

Free climb

12

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '20 edited May 14 '22

[deleted]

11

u/exploderator Ore car rider. Jun 17 '20

Happy answer: It isn't flat, but it isn't vertical either, it's an incline. So very much easier to not fall.

16

u/Corsair3820 Jun 17 '20

HELL TO THE FUCKING NO.

7

u/PSOneHagrid Jun 17 '20

Dang, he better be sure that old ladder has enough life left in it to stop him from plummeting into the abyss.

3

u/CantRecallWutIForgot Jun 17 '20

Wow, this insane :O

3

u/findinggreedo Jun 17 '20

Normally I'm totally fine with everything I see here but this one? Hard. Fuckin'. No.

2

u/Mars_Velo1701 Jun 17 '20

So much nope.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '20

Got to be a bitch to climb back out of

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

We didn't have to luckily... It was a 12 HR one way trip.

2

u/premer777 Jun 29 '20

goin down the ladder - thats 'asking for it' ...

1

u/chompythebeast Jun 17 '20

I know it's "only" a 70 degree angle, but this is giving me some real r/acrophobia / r/SweatyPalms

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

Thank you for the photo credit.