It says it was filmed in Moab. It's quite a hike from the road to the arch. They could probably see any ranger and be long gone before the ranger could get up to them to make a arrest. :)

I also question the intelligence of posting video of yourself committing a possible federal offense on the internet....

This reminds me of the skaters who destroy public places skating on it. we use to sneak into pools and do stupid stuff too. I am not sure if the ropes do any damage to the arch? I suppose not. 8-9 years ago, I would say let do it. Now with my little kids, no thanks.

They did put anchors into the top of the arch (I'm assuming that's where the rope hung) according to the behind the scenes video: Behind The Scenes - World's Largest Rope Swing - YouTube

The problem is not this video, or doing this just once..
But if more people like the idea, and they go there to do the exact same thing
then you will get increased erosion of the rock and potentially at some point one of em will go splat through some mistake.


now, one thing i wonder though, is rock climbing allowed there?
Because if it is, i would suppose that this should be viewed by the same standards. eg rock climbing also causes some damage to the rock, and if that's allowed, then so should the rope swing..

That's Corona Arch, not in Arches NP, but just ouside Moab so no big deal :)

Didn't we already see this?

The Big Swing - YouTube

This a great demonstration of the other end of the spectrum, when you have poorly trained morons performing stunts. Would of been nice to have them catch it on a nice GOPro camera so we could witness their pain in agony in HD.

Yes. It's on BLM land. There are already established routes to the top and many ways down. You can do pretty much what ever you want on BLM land.