(panting)
Whoa.
-Okay. -Good job, Kels.
Oh, God.
Oh, my gosh, Colin, this is the coolest view
-in the whole world. -Unbelievable.
This is amazing.
♪
REI Coop Presents
-Let's do this. -Let's do this.
Ready to rip some canyon?
You know, baby, I've been born to rip the canyon.
Colin has been telling me,
basically since he went top rope climbing,
that he's like almost basically in an expert level.
I don't know if you know this,
but I have some top rope experience.
This is literally the worst day of my life.
How far of a drop are we expecting?
A little over a hundred feet.
Is anybody feeling maybe, like, a tightness in their chest?
-Here we are. -We're going down this.
(gasps)
No...no.
I'm, like, afraid to even look down.
Trailheads Episode 15
Hey, guys, my name's Jake.
My name's Kai.
We're gonna take you guys canyoneering today.
-It should be fun. -Yeah.
So what is canyoneering?
So, canyoneering's actually rappelling
down through technical slot canyons.
You usually are just descending,
climbing over rocks, going through water.
There's canyons anywhere from little Vs with small rappels
to big, tall, gorgeous fluted walls
with, you know, anywhere up to 300-foot plus rappels.
We just have a few things to go over
before we get you out on our practice rappel today.
And then in just a little bit here
we're gonna head out to our canyon.
I can't even see the rest of that wall.
This is half the height of the canyon.
I think the number one rule is not looking over the edge.
-Don't look down. -Which we just did.
Which I've been doing now for the last 45 seconds.
What is helping me get down this canyon besides, uh,
these just legal pythons that are gonna get me there?
We'll set up the rappel,
we hook you guys in using a figure-eight device,
a rappel device into our harness.
As the rope passes through, works off of friction
to kind of slow your descent down.
We're gonna have Kai down at the bottom
doing a fireman belay.
So if anybody were to let go of their brake hand,
all she has to do is pull down on that rappel line
and it stops you completely, so,
if you ever feel out of control...
You better start pulling right now.
So the last thing that we do for our safety purposes
is we call down to Kai, "On belay,"
just like climbing.
-On belay? -Belay on.
Awesome, that just means she's paying attention,
-she's looking up at you. -Mm-hm.
Open up our gate here, you ready?
-Yeah. -Awesome, we got it, Colin.
So, when you're rappelling,
what sort of body position should you be in
and what is the technique to getting down?
So our rule number one would be
not to let go of our rappel hand.
Other important things to remember
are the flat feet and wide stance,
just trying to keep our rappel controlled.
Oh--whoa!
Are you enjoying the view of my wedgie?
You're doing great.
I mean, maybe not as graceful as me,
but, like, still really great.
So right about there Kai's gonna show you the fireman belay.
She's just gonna pull down and stop you,
let you know we got you the whole time.
If you ever want to slow down,
you just squeeze that rope.
Perfect.
Nice job.
-Yep. -Ah.
Aha!
-Nice job. -We did it.
-Thanks. -How was it?
I'm terrified.
So what are some of the obstacles
that you might encounter while canyoneering?
Sometimes there will be water that you didn't expect.
Sometimes you'll run into wildlife in the canyon.
What kind of wildlife?
Sometimes you'll see, like, snakes and you just have to
-go around them or-- -Oh, my gosh!
You know, we do have rattlesnakes out this way,
-so... -Of course.
Yeah, no, of course you do.
I'm gonna grow my first chest hair today.
(laughter)
-Yeah! -Awesome.
-Nice job. -Oh, my God.
Nice job!
Good job, you did great too.
You did awesome.
Yay, Colin!
We're doing it, Kels.
We did the baby wall!
(laughter)
How's the best way to say this?
Why--why would anybody ever do this
ever in the history of the world?
I think, uh, just the sense of,
I don't know, you just feel so small in there,
-you feel... -I feel small right now.
Yeah.
Say no more, my friend.
I think, for me at least,
you can be, you know,
out here and there's nobody out here.
You get this whole beautiful canyon to yourself,
like complete solitude,
and it's just, like, an exhilarating feeling.
All right, guys, ready to go hit this canyon?
-Yeah! -Let's do it!
-Ow! -Ooh!
♪
-How you feelin'? -I'm good, I'm good.
Feeling good, you ready?
Yeah, I'm just taking deep breaths
just to get that fresh air.
This is intense.
Jake, do you have any last words of encouragement?
Uh, enjoy the ride.
Look around.
Take a minute to take in where you're at, you know?
♪
-On belay. -Belay on.
You're just gonna kind of back up into that edge.
Then you're gonna kind of start
kicking back into it a little more,
just sitting back just like we did at the barn
during our practice rappel.
Colin, you look awesome, man.
Just little baby steps.
Once you get your feet flat,
you're gonna be feeling so much better.
The hardest part is over with now.
You got it, Colin, it's okay.
-You did it, Colin. -That was awesome.
Yay, good job, Colin.
Keeping a good stance there.
Just keep those feet as flat as you can.
Okay, I can do this, I can do this.
How does it look in there, Colin?
It looks like the inside of my eyelids mostly.
(laughter)
♪
This is so scary,
and I am so far out of my comfort zone,
but I cannot believe
this is what we get to do.
(panting)
So does this remind you of top roping?
All that top roping talk
may have been a little preemptive.
Doing great, Colin.
(panting)
Okay, I got...
Sit down in it.
Colin, you're doing great.
Am I ripping the canyon?
-You guys? -You're ripping the canyon!
Am I--am I ripping it?
Yeah!
Awesome.
I'm so proud of you.
For real.
(panting)
Just one step in front of the other.
♪
Yay, almost there, Colin.
♪
Baby steps, baby steps.
Okay.
Yay!
Ah!
(cheering)
Good job, Colin!
Nice job, Colin.
That's where we came from.
Oh!
I don't know you.
Bring it in.
You did awesome.
I can't believe I just did that.
Ah!
Oh, man.
Yeah, this is gonna be awesome.
♪
This is crazy.
You're doing good, Kelsi.
-This part's kinda awkward. -Whoa-oa.
Whoa-oa!
-You're okay. -Whew!
Good thing I wore a helmet.
♪
My right arm muscle's gonna be so freaking buff tomorrow.
I'm gonna audition to be Spiderwoman.
Good work.
Oh, my gosh, this is just so cool.
Wow.
♪
(cheering)
Yay!
-You did it! -We did it!
(laughter)
♪
We did it!
♪
Here's two tips:
Spider jump, and then,
halfway down, my tip is have a good cry.
(laughs)
And just flush it out.
That was insane.
This is a humbling experience.
-So humbling. -Yeah.
So humbling.
-Okay. -Oh, my gosh,
this is so awesome.
Check that off on our bucket list.
(laughter)
Do you want to get a pitcher of beer
-to go with dinner? -Yes.
Okay, that sounds so good right now.
♪