- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,613
- 荣誉分数
- 77
- 声望点数
- 228
Twenty storeys above Slater Street, it wasn’t the height that had my knees shaking, it was the wind.
It was 12 C and a cold wind was gusting down the Ottawa River and swirling across the rooftop of the Morguard Building, where a group of adrenalin-seeking fundraisers were gathered Monday morning for the 2014 Easter Seals Drop Zone challenge.
I felt sorry for the fairies.
There were four of them — The Merry Mutants, they called themselves — who would soon follow us over the side and down the stone-and-glass wall to the street. The fairies’ thin tights offered as little protection from the cold as their wings did from the gravity.
Like all the fundraisers, The Merry Mutants had committed to raising $1,500 each for Easter Seals for a chance to be part of the Drop Zone. The ringleader, Parminder Dhami, has rappelled all five years the Drop Zone has been held in Ottawa. It would be the first time for her friend and teammate, Kalpana Phansalker. It was also Phansalker’s 40th birthday.
Participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals
“I was scared, just getting over the edge,” Phansalker said. “But I just kept looking over at Parminder and knew it was OK. And it was awesome to hear the cheering.”
The Drop Zone is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Easter Seals in Ottawa. Spokeswoman Kirsti Manuel said 55 fundraising “superheroes” — many with accompanying costumes — signed up for Monday’s rappel. There was grey-bearded Bob Ireland as the Green Lantern (“The Green Lantern’s father,” he corrected) and Lindsay “Bat Girl” Hebert, who was on her third rappel and had convinced big brother Joe Hebert (Buzz Lightyear) to come along for his first.
“I get a little bit nervous each time, right at the edge,” Lindsay said. “You just have to remember to breathe.”
Members of the Ottawa police and Ottawa fire department sent their tactical teams along. Easter Seal ambassador Kyle Humpfrey planned to rappel in his wheelchair.
The moment of truth: The Citizen’s Blair Crawford leans back to begin a 20-storey rappel with the Easter Seal Drop Zone fundraiser.
Final fundraising figures aren’t in, but the Drop Zone has brought in more than $425,000 in Ottawa since it began. This year, Drop Zones will be held in 14 cities across the country.
Easter Seals uses the money to help physically disabled children and their families with the cost of special equipment for communication, transportation or accessibilty needs — things such as wheelchairs and ramps, lifts, braces and crutches. The charity also operates two children’s camps, including Camp Merrywood near Perth. Easter Seals allowed the Citizen along for a firsthand experience of a Drop Zone rappel.
Dhami, who climbs regularly at the Coyote Rock Gym, got involved because she was looking for a cause to support and knew how Easter Seals had helped a friend whose daughter had become disabled.
“I saw how hard it was for her to manage and how much it meant for her to get support from Easter Seals,” Dhami said. “Easter Seals does some amazing things.”
Dhami and her Merry Mutants alone raised more than $7,000 for Monday’s challenge.
Back on the rooftop, we are tied in to our climbing ropes. One rope is threaded through a mechanical “descender” that controls the speed and locks up automatically if we start to go too fast. A second rope serves as a safety line. Each rope alone can support more than a tonne of weight.
I put my heels over the edge and lean back in what I hope won’t be the world’s most disastrous trust exercise.
And down I go, tentative steps at first, then a few courageous “bounds” away from the building, action-hero style. I don’t feel much sensation of height at all — although the cars and people in the street below do seem awfully small. Halfway down I pass a window and am surprised to see office workers staring back at me from the inside.
The rope spins a bit near the bottom, leading to a few graceless whacks against the wall. In minutes, it’s over.
In the adrenalin rush, the cold is forgotten. I am helped out of my gear, then step back and look up. The fairies are coming.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
It was 12 C and a cold wind was gusting down the Ottawa River and swirling across the rooftop of the Morguard Building, where a group of adrenalin-seeking fundraisers were gathered Monday morning for the 2014 Easter Seals Drop Zone challenge.
I felt sorry for the fairies.
There were four of them — The Merry Mutants, they called themselves — who would soon follow us over the side and down the stone-and-glass wall to the street. The fairies’ thin tights offered as little protection from the cold as their wings did from the gravity.
Like all the fundraisers, The Merry Mutants had committed to raising $1,500 each for Easter Seals for a chance to be part of the Drop Zone. The ringleader, Parminder Dhami, has rappelled all five years the Drop Zone has been held in Ottawa. It would be the first time for her friend and teammate, Kalpana Phansalker. It was also Phansalker’s 40th birthday.
-
Mike Kilmartin hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen 
Kevin Ozga hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Firefighters look over the edge as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
The moment of truth: Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford leans back to begin a 20-storey rappel with the Easter Seal Drop Zone fundraiser.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
A woman looks up as Ottawa Citizen editor Blair Crawford hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Joe Hebert hangs off the rope as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Julia Polnareva, Carla Zylstra, and Brianna Barry watch from the ground as as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kathy Dawson steps over the edgeas participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kalpana Phansalker is all harnessed up as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kalpana Phansalker steps over the edge as participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kalpana Phansalker is all giddy as she and her friends dressed as fairy princesses prepare to rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals. September 22, 2014.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Participants rappel from the top of the Morguard Building at 280 Slater Street in the 5th annual Drop Zone Ottawa event which raises money for Easter Seals
“I was scared, just getting over the edge,” Phansalker said. “But I just kept looking over at Parminder and knew it was OK. And it was awesome to hear the cheering.”
The Drop Zone is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Easter Seals in Ottawa. Spokeswoman Kirsti Manuel said 55 fundraising “superheroes” — many with accompanying costumes — signed up for Monday’s rappel. There was grey-bearded Bob Ireland as the Green Lantern (“The Green Lantern’s father,” he corrected) and Lindsay “Bat Girl” Hebert, who was on her third rappel and had convinced big brother Joe Hebert (Buzz Lightyear) to come along for his first.
“I get a little bit nervous each time, right at the edge,” Lindsay said. “You just have to remember to breathe.”
Members of the Ottawa police and Ottawa fire department sent their tactical teams along. Easter Seal ambassador Kyle Humpfrey planned to rappel in his wheelchair.
The moment of truth: The Citizen’s Blair Crawford leans back to begin a 20-storey rappel with the Easter Seal Drop Zone fundraiser.
Final fundraising figures aren’t in, but the Drop Zone has brought in more than $425,000 in Ottawa since it began. This year, Drop Zones will be held in 14 cities across the country.
Easter Seals uses the money to help physically disabled children and their families with the cost of special equipment for communication, transportation or accessibilty needs — things such as wheelchairs and ramps, lifts, braces and crutches. The charity also operates two children’s camps, including Camp Merrywood near Perth. Easter Seals allowed the Citizen along for a firsthand experience of a Drop Zone rappel.
Dhami, who climbs regularly at the Coyote Rock Gym, got involved because she was looking for a cause to support and knew how Easter Seals had helped a friend whose daughter had become disabled.
“I saw how hard it was for her to manage and how much it meant for her to get support from Easter Seals,” Dhami said. “Easter Seals does some amazing things.”
Dhami and her Merry Mutants alone raised more than $7,000 for Monday’s challenge.
Back on the rooftop, we are tied in to our climbing ropes. One rope is threaded through a mechanical “descender” that controls the speed and locks up automatically if we start to go too fast. A second rope serves as a safety line. Each rope alone can support more than a tonne of weight.
I put my heels over the edge and lean back in what I hope won’t be the world’s most disastrous trust exercise.
And down I go, tentative steps at first, then a few courageous “bounds” away from the building, action-hero style. I don’t feel much sensation of height at all — although the cars and people in the street below do seem awfully small. Halfway down I pass a window and am surprised to see office workers staring back at me from the inside.
The rope spins a bit near the bottom, leading to a few graceless whacks against the wall. In minutes, it’s over.
In the adrenalin rush, the cold is forgotten. I am helped out of my gear, then step back and look up. The fairies are coming.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...