An Aussie Adventure With Troop #541

An Aussie Adventure With Troop #541

by Heather Korbar

Publication Date: June 1997

After a long, strenuous week of work, my boyfriend and I decided to take a relaxing trip to the Red River Gorge in Slade, Kentucky. We planned on leaving first thing Saturday morning. I was really looking forward to this getaway even if it was just for a couple of days. We didn't want to take much, so I called my dad to see if he would let us borrow his smaller tent. He informed me that American Outdoor Adventures (A.O.A.) had planned a repelling expedition for Sunday and would like us to take pictures for Extremz.

We woke up early Saturday and found that the weather was not the greatest for an outdoor weekend, but decided to drive to the "Gorge" anyway. As I said, I was looking forward to a getaway. We hit the road around 11:30 a.m. The entire trip it rained and looked as if it was never going to stop. However, as we exited the parkway around 2:30 p.m., the sun was making its way out of the clouds. Shortly after, it stopped raining.

We started our venture into the Gorge, not sure exactly where to start. We stopped in the first pull off after Nada Tunnel and ate a quick lunch. There was a hiking path on the right directly before the pull off, so we decided to go ahead and hike there. At the beginning of the path, a bulletin board posted information on what lay ahead on the trail. We found there was a climbing wall called Military Wall and followed the pink flags that directed the way to the wall. It was a muddy, uphill hike that offered an awesome sight when we reached the top. The giant walls seemed to go on forever. Having only climbed indoor walls, this was a miraculous sight.

We walked around a bit before settling down to watch a group of people that were climbing the wall. We spoke with one of the girls in the group and found that she and her friend were on a yearlong vacation from Australia. They had been staying in the Gorge for the past six weeks climbing and taking in the sights. We spoke a little of the local climbing gyms in the Louisville and Lexington areas and snapped a couple of pictures. As I was eager to hike the Grays Arch trail, one of my favorites when I was younger, we headed back down the trail.

Later in the day, we picked a spot off Tunnel Ridge Road to camp, ate a few hotdogs, and settled in for the night, as we were to meet Ralph Coulter of AOA and the Boy Scouts the next morning. Sunday morning we woke up early and raced over to Koomer Ridge Campground to meet the Scouts at the rappelling site. To my surprise, we found a group of fifteen Boy Scouts, between 10 to 13-years-old. A few of the boys had rappelled before, but the majority had never even seen a cliff as tall as they were getting ready to rappel. We scurried to the bottom of the cliff to snap a few pictures as the boys came down. I looked up and realized that these guys were rappelling from a cliff that was over 150 feet tall, however, they were coming over the edge one after another. I climbed the muddy path to the area where they were rappelling from and watched the expressions on the boy's faces as they were strapped in and sent over the edge of the cliff. I saw some of the most scared looks I had ever seen.

The next thing I knew, Ralph asked if I would like to go over the edge. I took a deep breath and squealed, "Sure why not?" I hadn't had anything to eat yet, and it was a good thing. I was so excited, and a little nervous, that I almost got sick. I strapped into a harness, geared up and was informed it was my turn to go over the edge. By this time the butterflies in my stomach turned into birds. I'm not afraid of heights, but that first step going backwards off the cliff was pretty hard. I looked down, and then back up, and realized I was safe. I then relaxed and started on my journey down. I made it to the bottom, quickly released the safety rope, and climbed back up to see if I could go again. It was the biggest rush I had ever experienced in my life.

When I returned to the top, Ralph was helping one of the Scouts, who wasn't too sure that jumping from a cliff was such a good idea. Ralph asked the boy to trust him as he would not let him rappel if he didn't think it was safe. The boy was still reluctant.

All day a few of the experienced rappellers talked about going down "Aussie," which means going down the cliff face first. I thought about trying it myself, and made up my mind to give it a try when one of the Scouts came down and made it look as if there was nothing to it. I climbed back up the path and asked if I could try rappelling "Aussie," as there was no better time than the present. I wasn't sure if those were really the words I wanted to say, but my adrenaline took over. Before I knew it, I was strapped in and leaning over the cliff. I had taken the ultimate plunge. I wanted to stop at the ledge and take a break, but one of the men in the group zipped by me and said come on. I pulled up the rope and went over the edge face first. The last part of the rappel was a 50 foot free-fall, but I made it to the bottom in one piece. I couldn't stop yelling...I was so excited. I thought that going down backwards was the biggest rush, but I was wrong. Aussie is the way for me. I can't wait to try it like on the commercials where the guys take up a bunch of slack, run over the edge, and free-fall. Well, I take that back...I don't think I'm quite ready for that.

I was tired then, as rappelling takes more arm strength than I thought. Not to mention the "butt kicking" climb back up to the top. I finally did make it back up and asked the boy that had made it look so easy, how he made it down without any problems. He replied that he had done it before. I felt like a big dope, but remembered how big of a rush it was, and that if it hadn't been for him, I might not have tried it.

Finally, all the boys had rappelled a couple of times, except for the one that was still reluctant to take the dive. After a little more coaching from the instructor and his fellow Scout members, he made up his mind to go over the edge. We finally saw him tramping back up through the woods and gave everyone high fives. At this time, we were all instructed to take off our equipment and put it into its proper place. Ohhh, sighed the group and myself. No one wanted the day to end. We all pitched in, packed up the gear, and headed to the top of the hill for debriefing. I was really glad we got the opportunity to rappel and will go anytime I can.

Thank you Boy Scouts of Troop #541 for letting us take part in your adventure.