Abseiling
at Willyabrup Cliffs
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The Willyabrup Cliffs are
a series of cliffs
overlooking the Indian Ocean near Yallingup. They are a
haven for
climber and abseilers (rappelling for those of us from the
Western
hemisphere). The climbing area consists of three points of
descent, a 7
meter rock face, a 15 meter rock face and a 35 meter rock
face. We took
instruction for technique and safety issues from the
Adventure Out team
on the 7 meter rock face and progressed to the higher rock
faces as we
gained confidence.
Abseiling
involves both a great deal of equipment and a great deal
of
concentration.
The photo to the left shows the Adventure Out team with
some of our
climbing paraphernalia-- harnesses, helmets, climbing
ropes, and
carabineers. Naturally it
takes time to learn how to don the equipment and to run
safety checks.
Part of
this process involves checking one another and learning to
rely on
others, a
good lesson to learn in any setting. After putting on the
harnesses
(and then
realizing we needed to use the bathroom) we trudged to the
edge of the
7 meter
rock face to learn the rudiments of abseiling.
Finally, we
tackled the 7
meter rock face under the watchful eyes of the Adventure
Out team.
While the ascent itself is fun, it takes a bit of courage
to rely on
that one piece of rope and to simply "walk" off the
edge of a cliff with a sheer drop. It proved to be
addictive however,
as once most of the group successfully reached the bottom
the first
time they were pumped to do it again. The photo to the
right shows the
Adventure Out team carefully monitoring our descents,
while in the
picture to the right, Justin begin his descent down the
rock face. The
video below, taken by another group long after our trip,
faithfully
captures the experience first hand. There were no Go-Pros
when we went
to Willyabrup!
The
whole day was soooooo awesome! . . I'm really
glad I did all of it
because I don’t know when I'll ever get the
chance to abseil down the
seaside cliffs again. For me, this was a once
in a lifetime experience.
I loved it!
The second challenge of the
day
was the 15
meter rock face. The
difficulty was not merely the height, but also the
conditions. The wind
at the top of the rock was gusting somewhat in excess of
25 knots,
which made just walking up to the edge and clipping in a
rather
harrowing experience. Unfortunately, the second rock face
offered no
vantage point from which to observe a descent --people
clipped into the
gear and just disappeared over the edge of the mountain.
Finally, we tackled
the 35
meter rock face, and it was by far the highlight of the
day. The longer
descent allowed us to enjoy the experience of abseiling to
its fullest
and, as the picture to the left attests, the backdrop of
the Indian
Ocean was spectacular. In the photo, Pearl shows us her
abseiling form.
The addition attraction of this rock face (it is also
pictured in the
first photo on this page) was that it was possible to
climb back
up the rock face after abseiling, giving us an additional
opportunity
to test our climbing skills. Some of the group really took
to
climbing/abseiling. In the photo to the left Murphy
abseils down the
rock face facing forward, literally walking down the face
of the cliff. The video
below, shot by a group
visiting the spot
years later, gives a first-hand view of the experience.
Unfortunatley,
there were no Go-Pros to record our experiences!
Abseiling
at Willyabrup CliffsThe Willyabrup Cliffs are a series of cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean near Yallingup. They are a haven for climber and abseilers (rappelling for those of us from the Western hemisphere). The climbing area consists of three points of descent, a 7 meter rock face, a 15 meter rock face and a 35 meter rock face. We took instruction for technique and safety issues from the Adventure Out team on the 7 meter rock face and progressed to the higher rock faces as we gained confidence.
Abseiling involves both a great deal of equipment and a great deal of concentration. The photo to the left shows the Adventure Out team with some of our climbing paraphernalia-- harnesses, helmets, climbing ropes, and carabineers. Naturally it takes time to learn how to don the equipment and to run safety checks. Part of this process involves checking one another and learning to rely on others, a good lesson to learn in any setting. After putting on the harnesses (and then realizing we needed to use the bathroom) we trudged to the edge of the 7 meter rock face to learn the rudiments of abseiling.
Finally, we tackled the 7 meter rock face under the watchful eyes of the Adventure Out team. While the ascent itself is fun, it takes a bit of courage to rely on that one piece of rope and to simply "walk" off the edge of a cliff with a sheer drop. It proved to be addictive however, as once most of the group successfully reached the bottom the first time they were pumped to do it again. The photo to the right shows the Adventure Out team carefully monitoring our descents, while in the picture to the right, Justin begin his descent down the rock face. The video below, taken by another group long after our trip, faithfully captures the experience first hand. There were no Go-Pros when we went to Willyabrup!
Finally, we tackled the 35 meter rock face, and it was by far the highlight of the day. The longer descent allowed us to enjoy the experience of abseiling to its fullest and, as the picture to the left attests, the backdrop of the Indian Ocean was spectacular. In the photo, Pearl shows us her abseiling form. The addition attraction of this rock face (it is also pictured in the first photo on this page) was that it was possible to climb back up the rock face after abseiling, giving us an additional opportunity to test our climbing skills. Some of the group really took to climbing/abseiling. In the photo to the left Murphy abseils down the rock face facing forward, literally walking down the face of the cliff. The video below, shot by a group visiting the spot years later, gives a first-hand view of the experience. Unfortunatley, there were no Go-Pros to record our experiences!
