Most local climbers will tell you the best part of rappelling is the adrenaline.
The feeling they get is a combination of satisfaction from being on top of a summit and the decision to turn their backs to the view and begin a descent down a cliff. The first moment – the feeling of weightlessness when they push their bodies over the cliff and hang by one single rope – that’s what it’s all about Imagine how that feeling magnifies when the cliff is no longer a cliff but an 18-story building and the view is the entire Scenic City from Chickamauga Lake to Lookout Mountain. Despite strong muscles and an even stronger sense of adventure, there will probably be several shaky legs as rappellers hang over the city – then scale their way down safely to the asphalt below.
From 240 feet up you begin to feel a touch of vertigo, even if you’re not scared of heights. You get that little pit in your stomach, but that’s why you’re there.You won’t have to imagine how it feels if you’re one of the 75 local participants who get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bounce down all 240 feet of the SunTrust building as part of RiverRocks kick-off event, a rappelling fundraiser called Over the Edge held Oct. 5.
“The most exciting, thrilling and nerve-racking part of the entire experience will be the moment when you go from being parallel to the building to perpendicular,” says event co-coordinator and Boy Scouts of America Cherokee Area Council Assistant Scout Executive Adrian Hackett “That first few steps leaving off are going to be the best, but the views will be completely breathtaking from start to finish.”
Over the Edge will be presented by a special events company that has been providing similar adventures across North America for the last nine years, according to RiverRocks co-founder Mike McGauley. Before descending the SunTrust building, Hackett says all participants will be fitted with a helmet and a harness, given an orientation on the equipment they will be using and provided with an opportunity to do a one-story practice rappel on top of the building.