Cliff Hanger

CLIFFNICKING IN ESTES PARK

- Lynne Dickinson

Most of us have watched Cliff Hanger, my husband had not. So, the night before our departure to Colorado to go cliff camping, he decided to watch it – bad move. For those of you who also haven’t seen the movie, or simply have forgotten, it starts with the iconic scene of Sylvester Stallone climbing with his best friends’ girlfriend when she comes unclipped from her harness. Despite Sylvester’s incredible physique he is unable to hold onto her and she plummets 1000 feet to her death.

Fast forward a few days and we’re in Estes Park, on the outskirts of Rocky Mountain National Park, being clipped into our very own harnesses, Steve was undoubtably a little nervous.

To make matters worse, the day before we had been driving through the Rockies over the highest sealed road in the US stopping numerous times to take photos and enjoy the incredible scenery. Later that evening Steve began to feel a little under the weather; headaches, nausea, loss of appetite and went to bed early. The following morning, still feeling pretty dodgy we decided to check in with the local pharmacist to see what maybe ailing him. Seemed he had a dose of altitude sickness and was prescribed some travel sickness pills for the nausea, ibuprofen for the headaches, a portable oxygen cannister for his breathing along with a box of ‘concrete pills’ and told to go enjoy the day.

So, we checked into KMAC, (Kent Mountain Adventure Center) and met our guide for the day. Kalley (pronounced Cali, as in California) was the quintessential rock climber, who despite growing up in Wisconsin (not renowned for its peaks) had fallen in love with climbing and the mountains. She was passionate about the outdoors and had made a life for herself doing the thing she really loved, climbing.

We were there to experience both the Via Ferrata and Cliffnicking… I’ll explain….