Why not start day 1 of vacation rappelling into an underground wonderland? Let’s go!
To say I was excited for my Banff & Glacier national park adventure was an understatement. Eight years in the making, I had a very aggressive plan on paper and ready for 10 days of running on pure adrenaline and curiosity.
After getting very nervous on my late arriving 1st leg from Orlando to Denver (and of course being in the 3rd to last row), I broke into a dead on run to just barely squeak onto my connection as the doors shut to Calgary. Crisis #1 averted.
With an hour drive to the small town of Canmore, I quickly laid my head down for a few hours in the cheap, historic Canmore Hostel. Then it was an early rise to attack my first adventure of rappelling straight off the cliff deep into the Canmore Caves. Typical type 2 activity for me!
Our warmup was a moderate 40min hike just outside town & then we suited up in our helmets and harnesses. Our small group of 3 made us more nimble to navigate all the dark passageways, so we dove right in to a 16 story deep rappel. The crevices kept getting smaller & my normally calm anxiety started to rise.
It all came to a head when we had to shimmy down the “laundry chute”, which at first glance was virtually impossible to squeeze through. You had to position your body sideways, hold your helmet at a specific angle & suck everything in while lowering yourself straight down into the unknown for ~30ft without being able to see anything. It was a true test in faith & mind over matter, then when your feet hit the uneven bottom, you had to sit in a “L” shape & continue to scooch at an angle downwards again without having any visibility. Very trippy & I seriously doubted I would be able to finish it!
The endless tunnels were mind boggling & a fascinating labyrinth to play around in. I’m super proud of myself for powering through, but also super thankful this was a solo excursion……. as I’m fairly certain I would have lost a few friends this day!
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