|
|
|
Highline 2000
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
Saturday, Aug 2-7, 2000 The cast of characters: Jo-jo Poole, Wayne and Nadine Foster, Rob Mazuch, Rob deLange, Al Vandervelde, Neil Rimek, Matt Mudie Through Ray Talson of SARBC, the IRC was invited to participate in Highline 2000, an exercise where they string a rope across a valley, then strap you to a pulley, and fire you down the rope at speeds approaching 80 mph!. This year's Highline was being held in the Cameron Valley, not far from Mt. Arrowsmith. To get there, we headed up-island to Parksville, then west on Highway 4 towards Port Alberni. Near the summit of 'The Big Hill', we followed directions towards the Mt. Arrowsmith ski area, and then kept our eyes peeled for the signs leading us to the Highline basecamp. Once we arrived at the camp, we picked a suitable camping spot right near a beautiful creek that flows out of Labour Day Lake. The Basecamp contained the communication center, the communal campfire, and even an ingenious hot-water shower to wash the dust off at the end of the day. Our job for the weekend was to ferry rope riders from the bottom end of the rope back to the top. Though it took less than a minute and a half to fly the approx. 6500 feet from the top to the bottom, driving back up the hill took about 13-15 minutes over an interesting trail that included washouts, boulders, and an incredible view from the top. We got to know this trail fairly well after each of us ripped up and down it more than five times each day. Part of the payoff to the drivers was a free trip down the rope, for which it took some of us the better part of the weekend to work up the courage to try.
Well, let me tell you - it was totally worth it. What a gas! Gravity really does suck, and suck hard! The thrill provided by the rope singing in the crosswind, the air whistling by your face, and the sinking feeling in your gut as you accelerate down the world-record length of tyrolian traverse rope is unmatched. Even skydiving doesn't give you as long to appreciate the sensation of acceleration as this rope ride does. To ride the highline, you're outfitted with a rock-climbing harness and a helmet. After you've been secured to the highline with a pulley and a backup carabiner, you're let go from the upper anchor point. For the first few hundred feet, you must concentrate on keeping your feet up high enough to avoid any poky treetops. Even though the rope is under about 1100 pounds of tension, your added weight is still enough to cause it to deflect downwards by a few feet. By now, the force of the air and your aerodynamics cause you to face backwards as you whip downwards towards the valley floor. After about thirty seconds, you've reached your terminal velocity, close to 80 mph. Oh, did I mention that it helps to keep breathing too? Believe it or not, it's hard to remember that when you're being pulled to what your brain tells you is certain doom. Trees and rivers and logging roads are passing underneath you at an amazing rate. It is important to maintain your aerodynamic shape as the angle of the rope decreases and eventually begins heading uphill again towards the lower anchor point. Failure to make a clean flight could leave you out in the middle of the valley, and having to pull yourself to the end hand-over-hand. Once your momentum runs out, hopefully you're close enough to the end for the 'bottom crew' to send a helper out to get you. The rest of the crew pulls on a rope attached to the helper and drags you up the last few feet, and finally back onto terra firma. Whew, you made it. All right, I didn't crap my drawers. OK, I guess that was fun. Actually, I am stoked! Now let's do it again!
All weekend we saw the reactions of the riders - mostly they were pumped and raring to go for another thrill. We've already been invited to participate in next year's exercise. Thanks Highliners, and we'll be there for sure!
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
Island Rock Crawlers Home Page
