Abseiling down Table Mountain

So you thought abseiling was for pansies? No? well I did, until today (20/12). Now I definitely put Abseiling in the extreme sports category. Granted, it may not be as fast as jumping off a bridge attached to a bungie or out of a plane attached to a parachute, or as soaking wet as white water rafting (it can be if you include water falls in the picture), but it is definitely safe to say that Abseiling is not for pansies.

After a few years of my friend Max an Abseil Africa employee trying to get me to go down Table Mountain I eventually agreed. The only reason for my change in answer is that after a while of living in one of the biggest cities in the world I crave a bit of nature, a bit of sun, and now it seems the extreme.

So after a rather gruelling walk up Table Mountain (see me panting like a tired dog and max sprinting up the rocks) we got to the top, in fairly good time I’m told too. What was nice though is that even though my clear lack of fitness was shining as bright as the evening star we weren’t overtaken by other climbers once, instead we overtook everyone we came across.

So after reaching the top I start thinking that maybe this abseiling business isn’t as easy as I thought, but there’s no way I’m backing out now. So after a short lunch break we made our way to the east facing mountain side, before I even look over the side my harness is on, safety rope attached and I’m getting closer. We get to the ‘jump’ point and I’m feeling nearly as comfortable as I did 10 minutes ago. It’s a long way down and there is no one else other than me controlling that rope, suddenly it doesn’t look so sturdy, so I get a very short briefing, ‘hold this piece here, arch your back, keep your legs fairly wide apart, and feed the rope with your right hand’ that’s it, hmmm right, still not sure about this.

So I start, rope in hand other one clutching the clasp like a beggar clutching a 1 dollar bill, damn I’m scared, yip I’m definitely scared, and no I’m not a pansy.

It was awesome, but what max failed to tell me is that halfway down, as can be seen from the photos, the cliff face suddenly disappears and there’s a massive gaping hole! Oh #$%^@$, what now?! Freefall.

It was sweet, and I’d definitely do it again… in 4 days time to be exact.