Country Style Mountain Climbing

Country Style Mountain Climbing AG WORLD Ag World 5-1-20 An old concrete stave silo on a farm near Peck, Kan., is serving as a "mountain" for some boy scouts. Members of Troop 509, of Witchite, wanted to practice mountain climbing but didn't have a handy mountain in flat south central Kansas. So, they came up with the idea of doing their practice climbing on an abandoned silo on the Nixon farm. located about half an hour from Witchita. "It works real well," Scout Mark Bolar told FARM SHOW. "It's good practice, especially for rappeling (descending by means of a double rope) because it's a good, even surface and you can come down fast. It takes us about 2 min. to climb up." Bolar, had climbed large, steep mountains in Colorado and other places before suggesting the silo idea. The old silo is not used to store feed anymore. It's 25 ft. in dia. and about 45 ft. high. Practice climbing doesn't do any damage to the silo, but you have to practice with an empty silo because climbing gear has to be tied to the top. "Climbing a silo can be more difficult than actual mountain climbing because there are no natural hand holds," explains Bolar. Mountain climbing gear needed includes a good climbing rope, a mountaineering harness, some carabiners, a rappeling device and a couple of slings. Bolar and his fellow scouts signed forms releasing the owner of the silo from liability should an accident happen. Otherwise, insurance would be wise on the part of the silo owner, Bolar points out. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Bolar, 24 Norfolk St., Wichita, Kan. 67208 (ph 316 685-4559).

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