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Hidden
dangers of area quarries do not dissuade summertime
thrill-seekers craving an alternative to the lackluster
scenery of an ordinary pool.
By
Neha Sharma
Bloomington
101
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Photo
by Neha Sharma
Rooftop
quarry, among local favorites, boasts a 65 foot
jump.
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of Page
Don't
wear nice shoes if you want to jump the ‘Rooftop because
when jumping this quarry, shoes stay on. If your bare feet
hit the water after free-falling 65 feet, the impact will
hurt.... bad.
Michael
Reschke's nerves weren't settled any by this information
when the 16-year-old first stepped up to the thick limestone
overhang.
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Photo by Neha Sharma
Quarry
walls are jagged and densely wooded. Debris under
the surface of the water presents dangers to divers,
too. |
‘Rooftop’ is located off of Empire Mill Road (map), near Smithville, Ind. Many quarries are located in the Smithville area, about a 20 minute drive south of Bloomington.
The quarry is a large oval enclosure with flat manmade
walls that rise to meet the natural rocky cliffs. Contained within the walls is deep, dark, murky green water. On one end is a mountainous pile of large limestone blocks swimmers use to climb out of the water.
The embankment on top of the quarry is jagged and densely wooded. The highest ledge in the quarry is the 'Rooftop.' It hangs off the edge of the land like a diving board.
Reschke didn't have any intention of jumping that day two years ago; he just came to hang out with friends. But when his pride was tested, his afternoon plans changed.
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"I
saw these two girls both climb up and jump. After
that, I knew I didn't have a choice."
Michael Reschke.
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Reschke had lived in Bloomington since kindergarten, but this was his first time to the infamous 'Rooftop' jump.
The memories flow back to Michael, now 19 and a freshman at Ivy Tech, as he reminisces about that summer day before his junior year of high school.
The
urge to visit the quarry hit Reschke after watching the
movie Breaking Away. Scenes in the movie show the
main characters jumping the 'Rooftop.'
Released
in 1979, Breaking Away is a drama/coming
of age genre film. The movie won Best Original Screenplay
for writer Steve Tesich (films,
bio)
at the 1979 Academy Awards. The film also won Tesich
Best Screenplay, 1979 New York Film Critics Circle.
The entire movie was shot on location in Bloomington.
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Unlike the tension between townies and students portrayed in the movie, Reschke says he's never really witnessed any territorial hostility between local natives and students, who both participate in the pastime.
Shortly after viewing the movie, the tall, dark haired, football player went with some friends to the local landmark. The day was warm and sunny. There were over a dozen people lounging around the water. Somebody had brought a radio. Music blared and echoed off the cavernous walls.
Photo by Neha Sharma
Majority
of quarry swimmers and jumpers are college-aged
or younger. This population is especially prone
to risk-taking, according to psychologist Peter
Finn.
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Although Reschke wasn't injured or cited for trespass that day three years ago, he was fully aware of all the eyes on him as he summoned his courage. He faced a plunge into the cold, deep water below. All the people watching increased the pressure. He couldn't chicken out after girls had done it.
Although this was Reschke's first time at 'Rooftop,' he had swum in numerous quarries before. His best friend, Jake Bartlett, lives on farmland owned by his family. Several quarries are in a wooded area adjacent to the farmland.
Bartlett prefers swimming in a smaller quarry near his house. "It's more secluded, not many people know about it and it's not as high of a jump as 'Rooftop,'" he said.
After making the decision to jump, Reschke stripped off his shirt and began the climb to the peak. Along with keeping shoes on, there's a certain position a diver should be in when hitting the water, says Reschke.
"You have to go into the water like a pencil so you only break the surface with your feet and don’t hurt the rest of yourself. A couple years ago, a man belly flopped it and died," said Reschke.
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Risky
behavior linked to age
Impulsivity
is linked with age, according to psychologist and
Indiana University professor Peter Finn. As people
get older, they become less impulsive. Over time they
learn to control themselves.
Part
of this is simple biology, which could explain why
teens and young adults are risk-takers.
"The
frontal part of the brain is still developing through
early adulthood, so that is why they may not fully
mature until later, " said Finn, who has studied
biology and behavior and research disinhibition personality.
But
risk taking isn't just a product of age. Other
factors are at work too.
"Behavior
is influenced by any number of factors, including
alcohol and peer pressure," he explained. "But
research shows there are personality characteristics
that lead toward certain types of behavior."
Once
impulsive people are focused on what they want,
they have a hard time inhibiting their behavior.
Harm
avoidance, which is a measure that determines how
much people are inhibited by dangerous outcomes, is
a factor.
"High
harm-avoidance termed people are high strung, very
cautious and nervous about consequences. Low harm-avoidance
termed people aren't as physiologically aroused by
risk," said Finn.
That
means these people appear not to pay as much attention
to threatening cues.
"They
might neglect looking at aversive things. They over-value
all of the good and forget the bad," said Finn.
In
the case of quarry jumping, most people might look
at it as an exhilarating experience, something fun
to do with their friends. However, if they are impulsive
people, they may not look at the negative aspects
very clearly, like the danger of getting hurt, Finn
explained.
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Quarries are potentially dangerous to swimmers.
As a kid, Brad Swain loved swimming in local quarries near Arlington Road. Swain's mother wasn't a fan of her son taking risks in the unsupervised quarry areas on Bloomington's north side.
However, young Swain discredited his mother's warnings about the dangers of quarries, and continued swimming.
Since then, Swain has become a detective with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and now has a different perspective on the pastime.
The water is dangerous because of "lots of debris and construction material as well as old mining machinery and railroad ties which aren't visible to a jumper," Swain explained.
While it's true that a man did die in 1995 doing just this, there hasn't been a death at the quarry in the last 10 years. But there is always a lurking risk of drowning or hitting some of the debris Swain described.
"It
looks like a cartoon. You dive in and...splat," said
Swain.
He warns that the architecture of the quarries adds to the danger. Quarries are often jagged, and have jutting cliffs and deep water-filled cores. These elements combine the threat of drowning with being smashed onto rocks.
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Southern Indiana quarries are privately owned. Nonetheless, warning signs and the possibility of arrest are not enough to keep some people from trespassing onto private property, enticed by the cooling waters and remote, natural surroundings of the quarries.
The property owners usually tip off the police about trespassers in the summer months when the water has warmed enough to swim, said Swain.
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Photo by Neha Sharma
Signs are one deterrent to illegal trespassing. |
In order to dissuade swimmers, no trespassing signs are posted and parking has been limited in the area. Illegally parked cars are ticketed and towed. While the police sometimes gate up the entrances to the quarries, Swain says "there’s too much area to fence the entire location."
If enthusiasts ignore all this and swim anyway, they face potential legal consequences.
Swain often has had to deal with the problem of regulating quarry jumping and swimming. But don’t expect him to be soft on regulation. He says he doesn’t think of himself as a hypocrite. He's just doing his job.
"If caught, it's a misdemeanor trespassing, which is a jail-able offense if convicted," said Swain. "If you don't show up to court, then a warrant is out for your arrest and you become a fugitive," he continued.
Sometimes if police find a lot of people swimming, they will refer a summons to court for the whole gang, said Swain. And first-timers shouldn't count on getting off easy.
"If you're caught for the first time, you won't get a warning, you'll get cited. They'll [police] draw media attention to it and that will be the 'warning' to the next swimmer. You might see a newspaper article stating x-number of people were cited at so-in-so quarry," said Swain.
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Alcohol, which Swain says is the No.1 factor in quarry accidents, contributes to bad judgment. Since most swimmers are of high school and college age, drinking is often a variable in their lives. Being intoxicated and trying to show off to friends is a bad combination, according to Swain.
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Photo by Neha Sharma
Debris and spraypaint mar the natural beauty at a local quarry. The rocks partially hidden beneath the surface of the water can create a significant danger to swimmers and jumpers who are not aware of the location of the rocks.
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A phenomenon known as shallow water
blackout is another factor in drowning. It is a sudden loss of consciousness that occurs when a person descends quickly into water. A Divers' oxygen-hungry lungs literally suck oxygen from their blood. "Once you lose consciousness, you are likely to swallow water and drown," said Swain.
Further exacerbating the dangers are the remote locations of quarries. Most are situated in isolated, wooded areas, said Swain, making quarries possible spots for assault. Although cited reports of sexual assaults do not occur on record, the remote location creates a risk.
Problems with the pastime, other than physical dangers, also exist. The quarries do not have parking lots. People who go swimming often park in undesignated areas. The isolated location of the quarries creates a risk of theft. Items have been stolen from burglarized cars parked while the owners were visiting the quarries.
There's also the problem of littering and vandalism. Rocks spray painted with words and phrases can be found here and there.
"You can tell there are trespassers by all the beer and soda cans on the ground. In the summer, you can find an empty bottle of pretty much any alcoholic beverage lying around," said Bartlett.
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Unlike the quarry near his house, Jake Bartlett thinks the 'Rooftop' isn't worth the risk- "it’s just too high," he said simply. "Plus, it's more crowded, on any given warm day you're likely to find a bunch of people there."
When Reschke stood at the edge of the cliff three years ago, injury, fines and pollution were the last things on his mind. Finally, he just counted to three and leapt into the air.
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Photo by Neha Sharma
The actual 'Rooftop' ledge glistens in the sunlight. Limestone from Indiana is well known due to its use in many famous buildings.
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"It's not like a high dive where you jump off the board and you're up in the air for a second and then you hit the water. When you jump the 'Rooftop,' you expect to feel the water after a few seconds and you don't and then it hits you that you're still falling. You look down and see all the rocks and you're like oh shit!" said Reschke.
Bartlett was impressed his friend took the plunge back when they were in high school. It takes guts, he said.
Like Bartlett, Reschke's friend Carrie Ritchie has never jumped the 'Rooftop,' or any other quarry. "It’s just not my idea of fun," she said.
"Anyone who does that [jump] is a little bit out of their mind," said Ritchie of her friend of four years. "But I wasn't surprised Michael did it. He's a very crazy person."
After emerging from the water, he was out of breath and, hours later, the under-parts of his forearms were bruised.
"After you jump, people clap as you come out [of the water]. It's cool," said Reschke.
Reschke hasn't climbed the 'Rooftop' since that first jump. He and Bartlett enjoy the smaller quarries because they're a more relaxed atmosphere where they can just hang out.
Reschke said he has no inclination to take on the quarry again, but he doesn't regret his jump. "I like being able to say I did that. I jumped the 'Rooftop' like in the movie."
Click here for limestone links.
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- Indiana Limestone Heritage Parks
The Indiana Department of Commerce and the Indiana Limestone Heritage Parks Project have teamed up to provide some big news regarding local quarries.
Bloomington101 reporters have the details of this exciting new project - click here.
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- Your opinion counts to us!
People in states other than Indiana also swim in quarries, even though many of these quarries are located on private property. While the only laws currently enforced in Indiana are laws of trespass, the state of Rhode Island has a specific law against swimming in quarries, making it impossible for the state to create park-like public swimming areas at quarry sites without complex legislature.
Take a moment to express your opinion about swimming in quarries by answering the following questions. Feel free to add your own comments as well.
1. Do you think Indiana lawmakers should create a law against swimming in quarries?
2. If public swimming areas were created at quarry sites, would you swim at those sites, legally?
Post
your comments to the Sound Off!
forum, or send them via e-mail to: eulasher@indiana.edu.
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For
more information about the film Breaking Away, visit
some of these other Internet sites:
A ChucksConnection Film Review
http://www.chucksconnection.com/breaking.html
IMDb - Earth's Biggest Movie Database - Breaking Away/Main
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/
IMDb - Earth's Biggest Movie Database - Breaking Away/Trivia
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/trivia
www.rottentomatoes.com - Breaking Away/Synopsis
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breaking_away/about.php
New York Times movie trailers - Breaking Away
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/trailer.html?v_id=7009
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