Rappelling

Those were big rocks waiting below Point Dume's western cliffs. They lay below a nonchalant Les Gulliver as he dangled from a rope, rappelling down in short, free-falling bursts. It is always the same whenever he jumps from this 85-foot-high rock overlooking Malibu and the Pacific. As usual, Gulliver seemed to know what he was doing, smiling beneath a khaki fedora, and dancing a crazy jig along the rugged sandstone wall. This is, after all, the way he spends his weekends.

Talk about room at the top. The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego will make like the Matterhorn on Saturday as participants in a charity fundraiser called Over the Edge step out onto a deck on the 33rd floor, marvel at the high-altitude view and rappel down the side of the hotel’s tower. It’s a 357-foot rush in 10 minutes that ends at a Landing Party for fans and spectators at the hotel’s pool deck with music, food and entertainment. (OK, supposedly it’s for charity, but this sounds like a ticket to thrill-ville to us)

His name is Fred Koegler, but out here he's known as the Lord of the Rock. He's the way you hope to look at 57--lean and strong. During the winter he's a track and cross-country coach at Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga. Summers he spends as a law enforcement ranger at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Sorry, you don't get to be called Lord of the Rock working an office job.

The National Transportation Safety Board is helping to investigate the cause of a U.S. Forest Service firefighter's fatal 200-foot fall from a helicopter near Willow Creek, Calif. Authorities said Thomas Marovich, 20, of Hayward, Calif., fell Tuesday morning while training in Humboldt County to rappel from the helicopter. The Forest Service says Marovich was a second-year apprentice in a helicopter crew fighting a 6,300-acre wildfire in the Trinity Alps.

For those a little more tame than Hugo Martin ("Off the Strip Outrageous," Oct. 14), Red Rock Canyon also offers interesting and easy walks. I saw wild bighorn sheep and purchased some beautiful Native American baskets in the shop of the administration building. Gloria Jaguden Los Angeles -- Along with Red Rock Canyon and the mountain-bike fun of Blue Diamond, there are the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and the numerous trail heads for high-elevation hiking at Mt.

Talk about room at the top. The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego will make like the Matterhorn on Saturday as participants in a charity fundraiser called Over the Edge step out onto a deck on the 33rd floor, marvel at the high-altitude view and rappel down the side of the hotel’s tower. It’s a 357-foot rush in 10 minutes that ends at a Landing Party for fans and spectators at the hotel’s pool deck with music, food and entertainment. (OK, supposedly it’s for charity, but this sounds like a ticket to thrill-ville to us)

A 17-year-old high school student was in critical condition Monday after being shocked by 220,000 volts while trying to rappel off a tower carrying Southern California Edison power lines near the Conejo Grade of the Ventura Freeway. Michael Halsell received second- and third-degree burns over 70% to 80% of his body while standing on a narrow beam on the 175-foot-high tower.

Florida police have captured a man who allegedly robbed a Chicago jewelry store earlier this month with Michael Douglas Taylor, the mastermind of one of Orange County's largest jailbreaks. Taylor, 35, led five Orange County Jail inmates on an escape Nov. 20 by rappelling from the top of the four-story building in downtown Santa Ana. Four of the inmates were captured or turned themselves in; Taylor is still a fugitive.

SPRINGDALE, Utah - There comes a moment when you step backward off a cliff, clinging to a rope the width of your pinkie, and ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" It's inevitable. Fear of heights (and its close cousin, fear of falling) is as deeply ingrained in most of us as fear of sharks or snakes. Sometimes, though, confronting these fears is the first step to discovering a new world - a coral reef, the Amazon rainforest or the convoluted landscape of southern Utah, near Zion National Park, revealed through the fast-growing sport of canyoneering.

Police officers grabbed a 21-year-old man as he tried to kill himself by jumping off Hansen Dam, and held the struggling jumper until firefighters rappelled down the floodgates to rescue him, police said Monday. Police were called to the dam by the groundskeeper of a golf course who sighted Antonio Andrews of Arlete perched on a small pillar in the restricted area of the dam, said Police Sgt. Joseph Satow.

Deep under the wooded hills of Calaveras County -- in the belly of one of the state's largest caves -- I worm my way through a rocky slot that our cavern tour guide calls the "pancake." It's a rectangular gap, 3 feet wide by about 18 inches tall. Imagine the space under a Volkswagen Beetle. To squeeze through, I lie on my back, raise my arms over my head and push through with my legs. My headlamp shoots a beam into a darkness so heavy I can almost feel it wrap around me. The air smells of mud.

For those a little more tame than Hugo Martin ("Off the Strip Outrageous," Oct. 14), Red Rock Canyon also offers interesting and easy walks. I saw wild bighorn sheep and purchased some beautiful Native American baskets in the shop of the administration building. Gloria Jaguden Los Angeles -- Along with Red Rock Canyon and the mountain-bike fun of Blue Diamond, there are the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and the numerous trail heads for high-elevation hiking at Mt.

It was a bridge like this that killed Karin Sako's boyfriend. Seven months after his death, Sako stands on the wrong side of the railing separating pedestrians from a 486-foot drop and leans into empty air, her neon backpack stark against the gray canyon walls. The arch bridge shakes as trucks rumble into Twin Falls, Idaho. Sako glances right, where her friend Jeb Corliss is perched -- also on the wrong side. Corliss was with Sako's boyfriend when he died.

Yosemite park rangers staged a daring rescue of an injured rock climber Monday, plucking him from his perch with the help of a helicopter after he spent the night clinging to a sheer granite wall. John Kurth, 33, set out early Sunday for a one-day climb with a partner up a testy route known as Direct North Buttress on Middle Cathedral Rock, but was hit in the arm by a falling rock. Scott Gediman, a spokesman for the national park, said Kurth, an experienced climber from Durango, Colo.

His name is Fred Koegler, but out here he's known as the Lord of the Rock. He's the way you hope to look at 57--lean and strong. During the winter he's a track and cross-country coach at Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga. Summers he spends as a law enforcement ranger at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Sorry, you don't get to be called Lord of the Rock working an office job.

A 17-year-old high school student was in critical condition Monday after being shocked by 220,000 volts while trying to rappel off a tower carrying Southern California Edison power lines near the Conejo Grade of the Ventura Freeway. Michael Halsell received second- and third-degree burns over 70% to 80% of his body while standing on a narrow beam on the 175-foot-high tower.

Deep under the wooded hills of Calaveras County -- in the belly of one of the state's largest caves -- I worm my way through a rocky slot that our cavern tour guide calls the "pancake." It's a rectangular gap, 3 feet wide by about 18 inches tall. Imagine the space under a Volkswagen Beetle. To squeeze through, I lie on my back, raise my arms over my head and push through with my legs. My headlamp shoots a beam into a darkness so heavy I can almost feel it wrap around me. The air smells of mud.

A 17-year-old Newbury Park High School senior was in very critical condition Monday night after being electrocuted by 220,000 volts while trying to rappel off a tower carrying Southern California Edison power lines near the Conejo Grade of the Ventura Freeway. Michael Halsell received third-degree burns over at least 80% of his body while standing on a narrow beam on the 175-foot-high tower.

A 17-year-old Newbury Park High School senior was in very critical condition Monday night after being electrocuted by 220,000 volts while trying to rappel off a tower carrying Southern California Edison power lines near the Conejo Grade of the Ventura Freeway. Michael Halsell received third-degree burns over at least 80% of his body while standing on a narrow beam on the 175-foot-high tower.

Police officers grabbed a 21-year-old man as he tried to kill himself by jumping off Hansen Dam, and held the struggling jumper until firefighters rappelled down the floodgates to rescue him, police said Monday. Police were called to the dam by the groundskeeper of a golf course who sighted Antonio Andrews of Arlete perched on a small pillar in the restricted area of the dam, said Police Sgt. Joseph Satow.