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redpiton
Apr 8, 2003, 8:32 PM
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Does anyone know how deep the water is in the "swimming hole" beneath the "waterfall" on the trail coming into the climbs at Summersville Lake in Summersville WV? I've never been there in winter to see the water down, and I've seen people fly of the 80 footer while the water was up; they lived....I'm just curious as to how deep the water is there. Thanks. :mrgreen:
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arrettinator
Apr 8, 2003, 9:19 PM
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Really, really deep when the water's up.
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redpiton
Apr 8, 2003, 9:25 PM
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Really really deep as 30 feet? something close to that? Again, i'm a summer guy, I have no idea.....
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tim
Apr 8, 2003, 9:29 PM
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you need to track down David aka 'slcliffdiver' there are plenty of places at Summersville where the water is > 30feet deep. The important part is to avoid the ones that aren't :-)
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leaverbiner
Apr 8, 2003, 9:44 PM
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Repiton your description of the "waterfall" or "swimming hole" is a bit cryptic . . . if you are referring to Pirate's Cove the water depth is one thing, if you are referring to the waterfall next to the Army Corp. of Engineers' ladder then it's another. Under Pirate's Cove, in the middle of the summer, the water level gets pretty high, thus the rusted bolts and inaccesiblity of that trail and the climbs . . . I wouldn't want to jump off the cliff there (80-100 feet) but the water depth probably isn't a problem, likely at least 20 to 30 feet at the base and much deeper the further you go out. As for the waterfall by the ladder . . . you'd be nuts. As stated above, there are plenty of places to climb out of the water and find great ledges of all heights to jump from . . . a good deal of the cliff line from the Colisium to Pirate's Cove can be climbed and has sufficient water beneath to jump. FYI - most spinal and other injuries occuring from dives into water are not caused by hitting the ground under the water, they are caused by the impact with the water surface . . . this holds true for both foot-first and head-first descents! Diver beware!!
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redpiton
Apr 8, 2003, 9:54 PM
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Refering to the "Waterfall"...there is a trickle of a stream that usually runs over the ledge into the lake itself...i can't precisely remember exactly where it is but if you are looking at the lake it is to the left of Pirates Cove and to the right of the Orange Oswald wall. I can't remember where it is in relation to the DC memorial Boulder... Its apparently the "hole" I was just curious of the depth. :roll:
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krillen
Apr 8, 2003, 10:33 PM
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why is this in the photography forum?
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jman
Apr 8, 2003, 10:56 PM
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Last fall at NRG, I ran into a person who broke their back a few years ago cliff jumping at Summersville Lake. Said they jumped from above the priates cove area, about 80 feet up or so, and hit the water wrong. Jump at your own risk man.
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redpiton
Apr 8, 2003, 11:54 PM
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I will not jump off of anything over 40 feet...granted probably 10 feet could mess you up, but after a hot afternoon of climbing its a fun thing to do. I wouldn't throw my body off of an 80 foot cliff to begin with! The place that we did it before is about 35 to 40 feet off the water and other people had gone before me, so I figured what the hell. It is an experience. I won't jump of anything that darin' thats for sure. There is still climbing to be done. I saw some pictures of the pirates cove area on this website and the water level line on the rocks looked rather low! Just being sure so I can contunie to swim in a safe manner. the point of my question was for saftey.
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ouflyboy9
Apr 9, 2003, 12:26 AM
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I've been there when the water is down and it looks like it is really deep..but then again I have never been there when the water is up...but judging by the water lines you should have no problem....
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whichwayisup
Apr 9, 2003, 5:54 PM
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I grew up near Summersville and didn't start climbing until I moved away-go figure. Any way the water there is at least 30 feet deep. I had a friend who is scared of heights and won't climb, jump off of it last summer. His fat a** is fine but I wouldn't do it. Jump at your own risk.
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redpiton
Apr 9, 2003, 7:32 PM
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Thanks!
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slcliffdiver
Apr 14, 2003, 12:09 AM
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Hey just got back from there. First all depths are estimates use at you're own risk. Also the topography isn't perfectly level and it's hard to remember much less describe all the bumps and protrusions. Given that in general I think this is my best estimations to date because I was there at between 21 and 19 ft below summer pool (plus I knew what the water level was) this time so it was easier to get a berring than years before. Beware all the below is assuming summer pool depth (1652 ft http://www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil/wc/summary.html) which isn't always true in the summer drought, releases who knows. Pirates Cove waterfall: There is a hole and channel out from under the waterfall at Pirates Cove. If you hit the hole right your looking at anything from 20 feet to maybe a very narrow 30 feet deep in an compressed area. If you miss the hole and jump out far enough you're looking at around 15-17? feet. As you move to the right facing the waterfall from the water it gets shallower until its dry land it's ablsolutly imperitive you are close enough to the water fall when you jump. Also out from the hole there is a big rock you might be able to find if you managed to jump really far out from the waterfall :cry: First scout this out yourself the water is generally clear enough. There is one more factor that you should consider, debrie. Surface and movable submerged. The tree trunks in the river go slowly from floating to sinking with one end going down first so you end up with one end on the bottom and one pointing up at various angles. sometimes with the tip at the surface sometimes submerged. So don't count on any place you dive exept for some of the truely deep stuff the other side of the bridge to be unobstructed just because it was last time. Some of the floating debrie can be really hard to see from above especially with the sun dancing off of the waves, it's probably a good idea to have somone in the water looking out for that stuff. Just after a rain is especially fun there are thorn branches that wash down into pirates cove. The regular higher cliff jumping area at pirates cove (around 50 some feet at summer pool) gets gradually deeper as you go from left to right facing it from the water. In general I'd say about 15-18 feet there is a tree stump towards the left and out a bit plus it's shallower there. Also to the left of the big corner there are some rocks and ledges to watch out for if you happen to be doing the worderful bouldering traverse. For the place people regularly jump between Pirates Cove and the bridge you're on your own there are several cliffs and I've never remembered to figured out which is which during low water there is one that's about 20 feet one that's about 10-15 and one more than 30 feet deep if I remember correctly. Personal note and warning: The water isn't as deep as it looks at least to me in general it was about 5 feet shallower than what I had remembered/guessed. Also be careful and know what you are doing if you do decide to jump the higher cliff at Pirates Cove. Last summer I had dove a bit earlier during the year but didn't do much or any feet first and went of it at the end of our pontoon boat trip (another tip do it at the end of the trip in case you screw up read on). Anyway I started to rotate towards my back (it seems like forever) so I pulled my feet up and did a cannon ball at the last minute to save my back. Besides ending up with an enema including some of the lining of my trunks my butt was black and blue for weeks. For a while I thought I might have broken a bit of my tailbone and sitting was painful to uncomfortable for at least a week. When driving home later that evening I tried to spend most of the time pushing my back against the seatback so I wouldn't have to sit. One the bright side it could've been much much worse if I hadn't tucked, I didn't have any problem staying away on the drive home and it was about the least distance I've ever had to swim towards the surface after jumping or diving :wink: Have a blast but be careful out there. I'll try and get some pics up of the area with the water level about 20 feet below summer pool and one of me doing an unitentional cannonball along with Mike and Mark landing a lot better from the cliff when I can but it might be a while. I have no scanner now and I have to get the cliff jumping pics from someone else. Peace David
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