Rappelling the Calgary Tower with Calgary’s own Armed Forces

There will be a strong military presence around the Calgary Tower this weekend, all in the name of training and providing young Canadians new experiences.

Members of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) and the 41 Canadian Brigade Group (41 CBG) are rappelling off the top of the tower as part of a training exercise for the southern Alberta Army Reserve Units.

A mass exercise is planned for Saturday but in hopes of having a little fun and getting a little publicity, the army invited the media to join them in the exercise Friday.

When you’re first asked “do you want to rappel Calgary Tower”, you’re never sure of the answer. Much to my surprise, I didn’t hesitate.

I’ve done this kind of thing before. I was part of an embed with the Canadian Militarized Brigade Group during a training exercise to Kugaaruk Nunavut, where slept outside in -50C degree weather. I figured how hard could this be? Turns out, it’s not for the faint of heart at all!

I arrived at the Calgary Tower early, after a thunderstorm warning in the city earlier in the day, and fearing the whole thing might be cancelled, I thought it might be best to get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

Never the less due to circumstances out of their control however, we had to wait for a little bit but I didn’t mind.

I figured this would be a good opportunity to watch the others make the long trip down, and maybe it would make me feel a little more at ease.

We took the time to interview some of the reservists taking part, including the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ross Wickware.

“The object of the training today is to bring challenge, adrenaline and a fear factor to our training so the soldiers can grasp what it really means to have your body tell you, you really don’t want to do it,” he told reporters. “At 41 Brigade our motto is fortune favours the bold and as a result of that, we believe being bold and creating these challenges for young Canadians gives them a better leg up, not only in their reserve duties defending our country abroad and in Canada but also it prepares them for their workforce and enhances their leadership capabilities.”

When asked why invite the media, Wickware replied they like to think both soldiers and the media are part of the “Canadian Team” so they’ll work together to accomplish the end-goal.

“That and I had a $5 bet that none of you would rappel,” he joked.

In terms of last minute advice Wickware said it would be a good idea to keep our wits about us after a strong wind gust carried a pair of soldiers 40 to 50 metres straight sideways.

One of those was Corporal Raymond Mah who tells me going down was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, although the wind ride was cool too.

“I think that was us but it’s not like we’d know while we were dangling,” he smiled. “My partner swung a bit more because he was slightly lighter than me, so we just stayed calm, followed our procedure and carried on.”

He calls it a learning experience.

“I learned that the Calgary Tower is pretty high,” he laughs. “And it’s really fun.”

Alpine Guide with Peak Stratagem in Canmore Alberta, Brent Peters helped organize the event.

“I’m actually a member of King’s Own Regiment, it’s really fun working with soldiers because when you tell them to do something, they generally do,” he said.

According to Peters, many of these men and women had a chance to train at the Calgary Fire Department’s Training Centre beforehand.

“It really is just stepping over the edge, once you’re in the rappel, you’re in the bubble and controlling the rope, you just sit back in the harness and you deal with it. The difference here between 4 stories and 528 feet is that it takes 10-15 times as long. So this rappel if you have no hang-ups will take 3 minutes.”

Fifty-six people are attempting the exercise, it’s the longest rappel that any of them have ever attempted, with more than 15 kilometres of rope deployed and about a 175 metre drop

One-by-one, brave men and women, most from our Canadian Armed Forces, hooked up their equipment and slowly began their descent to 9th Avenue Southwest below.

Still I didn’t get nervous.

I watched colleagues from other news agencies make their drop, one I was told made it down in three minutes, I figured ‘no problem.’

It wasn’t until they fitted me with a helmet and then I had to step into the harness that I started to think ‘problem.’

I tried to maintain as brave a face as possible as the media officer Captain Brad Young relayed instructions to me, he left and I thought to myself ‘wait, what did he just say?’

And then it was show-time, I was escorted to the top of the Calgary Tower.

For anyone, who hasn’t been to the very top, it’s a small door at the top of the white roof and you’re expected to rappel down to the “Observation Deck” where you’ll be strapped in.

My knees immediately went weak, they started to knock and I thought “wow” I’m not even to the tough part yet.

As soon as I made it down to the deck, I immediately started to breathe again.

Lt. Col. Wickware instructed two soldiers to make the descent so I could watch up close as they were fitted with the proper riggings.

I was the last member of the media to rappel, I had seen a colleague go down at a fairly quick pace, a photographer friend made it to the ground even quicker.

It gave me some hope.

I was told I would be rappelling with Master-Corporal Nathaniel Blackmore or “Nate’ who certainly earned his “media” badge in working with me.

He was very nice, friendly and tried to crack jokes but all I could manage was a nervous smile and a fake laugh, as I looked over the edge thinking “oh right, I did volunteer for this.”

And then it was “show-time”, I was strapped in and given instructions on how the contraption lowering me to the bottom 528 feet away, would work.

It’s hard to explain and it has what I can only describe as sort of a trigger brake, pull it one way for slow, the other way for fast.

I was eased over the edge and given last minute instructions.

All I can remember after a brief moment of panic, was one instructor telling me “it’s okay to let go” and me thinking “sure” in probably some sarcastic tone.

Nate was a “rock”, and trying to probably distract me from the fact I was forgetting to breathe.

We let go and began our slow descent, that was not Nate’s fault. With my hand on the trigger, I think he quickly realized I was not going to be one of those “3 minute” rappellers.

He continued to chat with me, keeping me distracted while encouraging me at the same time.

We stopped briefly half-way down for a quick break to take in the scenery. We looked at the trees, the city and we remarked at the view, the view of anything but straight down and 9th Avenue below.

We carried on and I have to admit I was having a difficult time. The secondary brake kept kicking in because I likely couldn’t find a happy medium between slow and steady or “super-fast” so my trusty “tandem” guide had to entangle me more than once.

At one of the last stages (where I got stuck again), Nate once again encouraged me to push on, it was then I realized we were only 3, maybe 4 stories from the ground.

I was lowered to 9th Avenue after getting stuck for a final time with only 10 feet left to go, the inner-city street never looked so good.

An amazing experience from start to finish and while I was hesitant, it’s given me a better understanding of some of the eventualities our soldiers try to prepare for.
I was by far not the easiest member of the media to get down the Tower (there were only 3), so Nate has my respect, my thanks and my friendship (after all he got me down that Tower).

And it looks like Lt. Col Wickware lost $5.

Check out the men and women of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment and the 41 Canadian Brigade Group over the weekend as they continue their training opportunity.

Here’s the video of the jump, shot by photographer Edward Dawson.

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