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HISTORY OF THE VORTEX
by Reed Thorne
The ARIZONA VORTEX (or AZV) is so named from its devel-
opment in the rugged highlands of Northern Arizona's Oak
Creek Canyon through the rigging and rescue school, Ropes
That Rescue. Reed Thorne, the school's senior instructor
developed the current Version 2 AZV with the help of Rock
Thompson at Rock Exotica after initial research and devel-
opment had taken place years before. The AZV was created
from years of trial and error and of having worked with crude
but functional lashed wood frames at RTR.
The very first heavy steel prototype of an "easel-style A frame"
was fabricated from plate and square tubing by a Phelps
Dodge Morenci (Now Freeport MacMoran) copper mine
fabrication shop from crude plans scribbled out by Thorne on
a Morenci, AZ pizza restaurant table napkin during a work-
shop for the miners in the mid 90's. Although very heavy and
cumbersome, it provided the test bed to prove and refine the
design. The next step in the evolution was the construction
of an aluminum model based on more formal plans drawn
by Thorne. This lightweight prototype was tested in four of
the 7-day RTR rigging seminars before a third prototype was
made. This prototype refined the adjusting system of the legs
and introduced the "Raptor" foot design. Three years of use
in rope rescue workshops and rope access worldwide by RTR,
Thorne developed further refinements of the concept with
the help and exquisite craftsmanship of Rock Thompson. In-
corporating input from other users, the next evolution of the
Arizona Vortex began to take shape. The first testing of the
new Version 2 AZV was done by Reed at Mt. Arapiles, Victoria
(Australia) during Dec. 2003 and in Sydney, Australia during
an Industrial Rescue Workshop in March 2004.
RTR is a comprehensive rope rigging school and a rope ac-
cess consulting firm with training programs throughout the
United States along with other open programs in Australia,
New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and UK. The firm teaches roped
techniques to emergency rescue teams in industry, mines,
wilderness search & rescue, emergency medical and fire
services.
Reed Thorne comes from a background of mountaineering
and climbing along with working in the power delivery
industry in the early 1970's. Some of America's largest power
utilities use Reed to train their linemen rope access on elec-
trical transmission structures. Reed is also a former evaluator
for The Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians in the
US. He, along with his wife, Jayne, had accomplished many
large rope access jobs including Hoover Dam (USBR) and The
New Navajo Bridge construction with Arizona DOT.
To many within the rope access discipline and emergency
response agencies (fire & EMS) the understanding of how the
Vortex can be used to alleviate edge-induced forces can be
elusive, and with more complicated frames relying on guying
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systems or other advanced setups, even daunting. RTR offers
basic to advanced-level train-the-trainer instruction on the
use of the AZV in workshops all over the world. These pro-
grams are for entry level technicians interested in acquiring
useable, easy to understand, concepts on how to safely erect
tripods, bipods and monopods in difficult terrain and indus-
trial locations. The AZV is ideally used to perform rescues,
position workers, lower and raise equipment or materials
and a multitude of other tasks within the vertical realm. With
forces being largely invisible to many using these devices in
the field, the program comes at a time when unexpected and
catastrophic frame collapses are at an all time high due to a
lack of understanding. Referred by Reed as "barn floor" easy
to understand physics lessons as it relates to the Vortex, are
covered in extensive lectures with an accompanying student
manual. Reed is renowned for his teaching of practical rig-
ging principles with understanding and simplicity. (For those
wishing a more advanced mathematical approach to Vortex
rigging, RTR offers an annual "Beyond the Barn Floor" rigging
seminar including basic trigonometry and calculus.)
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
The Vortex User Manual was written and edited by Rob
Stringer, in collaboration with Rock Exotica who provided the
product specifications and illustrations.
Rob Stringer is the Founder / Director of Highpoint Access &
Rescue in Rockhampton, Queensland Australia. Highpoint
Access & Rescue was established in 2003, primarily to service
the rope access, work at heights and confined space safety
needs of Queensland's electricity generating industry. Over
its operational period, Highpoint has grown to provide rope
access and professional asset maintenance services to every
thermal power station in Queensland, as well as servicing
many other industries both on and off shore.
Rob is an active level 3 Rope Access Technician and has been
a rope access Assessor with the Australian Rope Access Asso-
ciation since 2006.
His first contact with the Arizona Vortex was in 2005 while
attending a training program with Reed Thorne of Ropes that
Rescue. Rob quickly saw the benefits that the Vortex could
offer Highpoint's operation and the industrial rope access
community.
Through extensive use, exhaustive testing (both destructive
and non destructive), and discussions with Reed and other
industry leaders, Rob has been able to develop a unique pro-
cess for the basic Vortex setup. This process and the related
"Rules of Thumb" are described in this user manual. Rob has
also developed methods to approximate and calculate forces
associated with the more complex Vortex rigging, however
this information is not covered in the basic user manual.
ARIZONA VORTEX
USER'S GUIDE
VORTEX USER MANUAL – 3
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