What it really feels like to rappel from a skyscraper


Want to go?

WHAT: Over the Edge VIP Drop Party

WHERE: Courthouse Square, downtown Dayton, in conjunction with Downtown Adventure Night.

WHEN: 5-9 p.m. today

ADMISSION: $10, which includes exclusive snacks and dessert, and live music. There's also a cash bar.

INFO: www.bbbsgmv.org or 937-220-6850.

For the third time, I went Over The Edge.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters fundraiser takes place Friday, Aug. 5, on Courthouse Square, where 90 rappelers will descend from the top of KeyBank Tower, a 384-foot skyscraper.

The rappelers hope to raise $150,000 to support the organization that provides mentoring to at-risk kids in local communities.

Rappeling from tall heights is a heart-pounding experience. You have to fight your basic survival instinct, which does NOT want you hanging off the building!

It’s difficult, but you have to shut out your fears and not let your mind imagine a thousand ways you might fall to your death. You have to focus on reality, trust the loader above you and the belayer on the ground, and take it one step at a time down 27 floors.

You definitely feel vulnerable all by yourself on the outside of a tall building, but that’s the point of the fundraiser. The at-risk children that BBBS supports know what it’s like to feel vulnerable. Their mentors are like the people on both ends of the rope, building their confidence so they can grow up to stand on their own two feet, and then continue the cycle of helping others.

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