Get Down

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday January 18, 2008

Michelle Berkowitz

MICHELLE BERKOWITZ conquers her primal fears while abseiling off beautiful

cliffs in Katoomba.

"FLOAT like a butterfly, float like a butterfly." If I say it enough it has to come true. I take a deep breath, lean back in my harness and, with great trepidation, take my first step over the cliff's edge. And I soar. I soar through the air like a graceful butterfly. OK, so not exactly like a butterfly, but I feel invincible. The title of beginner abseiler is officially mine.

Abseiling is not exactly an activity you can do in your backyard, so on a Saturday I catch the 6.45am train to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (and for me, getting up at 6 shows true adrenaline-seeking enthusiasm).

Once in Katoomba I make my way to the Blue Mountains Adventure Company to meet my two instructors, Mic Rofe and Charles Keene, and my other abseiling partners. There are seven of us newbies in the group and none of us knows quite what we are in for.

After signing away our lives on the liability forms, we board a minivan and drive to our base camp at Mount Boyce.

Rofe explains the basics of abseiling. The term comes from the German word abseilen, meaning rope down. Abseiling involves descending on a fixed rope down a vertical cliff or wall. The abseiler is strapped into a harness and then hooked up to ropes that are secured at the top of the cliff. Not exactly an activity for my grandma.

Once mastered at a basic level it can be used with other outdoor activities such as rock climbing, canyoning and even outdoor rescue operations. The Blue Mountains is one of the premier abseiling spots in the world.

Upon arrival we are outfitted with helmets. Any activity requiring a signed liability form and a helmet that we're told is "never to be taken off unless instructed to do so" has to be a little risky.

Rofe and Keene then teach us the ABCs of abseiling safety: A is for anchor fast and true, B is for buckles doubled back through, C is for carabiner done up tight, D is for device threaded through right, and so on.

Singing the song calms my nerves. I practise on boulders and small cliffs, ranging in height from four to 22 metres, to "get used to" the feeling of hanging from a rope with my body parallel to the ground. Maybe it's just me but I don't get used to it.

By one o'clock hunger sets in. I excitedly watch Keene set up a picnic lunch and quickly take off my gear. Helmet-head is in full effect. Let's just say my chance of being chosen by a modelling scout as the new face of Australian abseiling is slim to none.

As I eat my tuna salad roll I send a text message to a friend. It reads: "This is awesome. I'm being so brave!" Little did I know what was to come.

After lunch, although most of us feel like curling up for a rest under a shady tree, we gear up and head off to the site of our final challenge - the 55-metre-high abseil. Being from America has its advantages as 55 metres means nothing to me. Rofe knows his conversions.

"Fifty-five metres is about 180 feet, Michelle," he says, making my heart sink.

As we walk over to the starting point of the 55-metre drop, the beauty of the expansive view is breathtaking. The reality of the view is crippling. "Views like this are supposed to be enjoyed, not abseiled down!" says a woman in the group. What in the world was I doing?

I stupidly volunteer to go second and so a brave youngster in the group goes down first. But as soon as Keene hooks me up to the rope I panic. The primal instinct within me kicks in, screaming, "Humans are not meant to dangle off a 55-metre-high cliff secured only by a rope!"

"I can't do this," I say to him. "Let someone else go. I have to think about it some more." But Keene is having none of it. He has heard it all before. "You came here to do this, Michelle," he says.

He is right. Rofe suggests I picture myself as a butterfly, gracefully fluttering down to the ground. I'm desperate. I repeat the line in my mind: "Float like a butterfly, float like a butterfly."

I look much more like a crazed bird flailing through the air but I make it down in one piece with the biggest smile ever plastered across my face. My legs shake from the adrenaline rush but I did it!

After gaining stability and composure I begin the long trek back to the top ... to do it all over again.

You try it

Blue Mountains Adventure Company, 84a Bathurst Road, Katoomba. Abseiling tours run any day on demand for three people or more. Full-day courses cost $135 including equipment, expert guides and lunch. For more information see www.bmac.com.au or phone 4782 1271.