Wed, Aug 6 2008 - Mid-Week Adrenaline Rush - Trapeze (View Original Event Details)
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This is my kind of event - NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED!!!
Everyone found the place alright and were on time and well prepared. These were the usual fearless TOCer's who attend many of my events (or I theirs!) and only Dawn and I had done this once before. Abdul was facing his fear of heights without too much trouble, and Shannon, Kwan, Emily, and Amy just like trying out this kind of stuff! Mike, it turns out, was a gymnast for 8 years (but not trapeze) and he looked it - both in physique and form. Made me rethink my ritual, after-event beer...momentarily...
Play by play: Snugged ! into your harness, you climb the shaky ladder. (Shaky, wobbly, slippery, has a life-of-it's-own, ladder!) Once on the platform, Tiffany hooks you into two safety lines on either side of your belt. With your feet spread apart on the edge of the platform, she pulls the bar toward you and you reeeeeeach out and grab it with your right hand while you hold on to the platform with your left. Sometime around here, Tiffany tucks her hand into the back of your belt and tells you to put your left hand onto the bar, (many people, I believe, at this point, think: "reeeally?!") which only comes within hand reach - leaving you hanging out and away from the platform.
(and yes, reeeally!)
I love learning new terminology, especially if it's a specialized vernacular like circus arts...
Leaning straaaaight out, holding the bar, Tiffany calls "Hep" and off you go. She won't let go if you try to gingerly step off the platform - and she's WAY strong! - you have to jump with both feet. From there, Bobby takes over. He calls out your moves and works the safety lines from the ground. Together he tells you "Legs up", which means hang from your knees and "hands off", which is another occasion for, "reeeeally"?!, etc.
He had us doing backflips and hanging from our ankles and then flying off the bar - toward an imaginary catcher - and landing in the net. Mike got a chance to do "The Plank", his legs straight up in the air before casting off. It was...picture perfect, and I'm sorry, but it WAS beautiful, in a very masculine sort of way. I stand by that!
Everyone had a great time and felt pumped afterwards. All of us want to try it again and work on something specific the next time. We went to Bar Wellington to discuss it and other possible events. Shannon noticed the school also has a trampoline class...
Hep yep...yep, I'm hep...(oh nevermind)...thanks everyone!
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.