Drop Zone experience is exhilarating

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/05/2018 (2790 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Tues., Aug. 28, 100 brave individuals will rappel from the top of the Manitoba Hydro building in the Easter Seals Drop Zone, a heart-pounding fundraising adventure in support of the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities.

Since 2005, ordinary people all across Canada have become superheroes for a day and collectively raised over $16 million to support people with disabilities. Over the past 13 years all the money raised in Manitoba has stayed in Manitoba to support the more than 47,000 children, youth and adults with disabilities in this province.

If you’d like to become a superhero and take part in the Easter Seals Drop Zone – Winnipeg event in August, the time to register is now. There are only 100 spots available, so act quickly.

Lindsey Bauer and lifelong friend Nicole Levesque rappelled down the side of the  Hydro building in 2016, an experience Bauer recalled with enthusiasm.

“(Nicole) called me up and said ‘Do you want to do something wild?’ and I said ‘Uh-oh,’ because she’s always doing something like skydiving or zip-lining,” Bauer said.

“She has a good friend, Kevin Boulette, who is in a wheelchair and sometimes uses a cane, and she wanted to do something to help raise money for people in his situation.

“I looked into it and realized that if people in wheelchairs can do it and be so relaxed and confident, then I should be able to do it, too.”

Bauer said that when she and Levesque, who grew up together in St. Boniface, went for training at Vertical Adventures a couple of weeks in advance of the event, any fears they had were allayed by the safety measures and guidance provided by Tacten, the specialist rope-access company used by Drop Zone.

“There was definitely a sense of fear about it but the training was comprehensive and calm and measured,” she said. “Once I realized how many safety factors are in place, I was impressed.”

That said, the 33-year-old equity analyst for Great-West Life admitted she was anxious on the eve of the Drop Zone.

“It was very nerve-wracking the night before, and going up to the top in the elevator.

“But once we got up on the roof, a real calm came over us. Everybody was very calm and taking such care and it was a beautiful morning — we went early, at 7:48 a.m. — and  I felt ‘I can do this,’ she said.

“The freakiest part is, once you’re over the edge, you have to lean back and shift your weight. Once I did that, it didn’t matter if I was 10 feet up or 200 feet up, I was OK.”

Drop Zone participants get to choose their  descent music, and Bauer selected Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song because it’s her mother’s favourite tune.

“Once I reached the bottom I was just exhilarated. I was so pumped I would have done it again, easily.”

Visit thedropzone.ca/Winnipeg  for more information and to register as an individual, as part of team or as part of a corporate challenge. Conquer your fears and change lives!