First of all, don't do this unless you're experienced or confident in your abilities. It isn't for the faint-hearted, and it isn't something you should do on a whim.
When I was in the UK, I had the pleasure of being invited to a housewarming party in Canning Town, in north-east London. What I didn't know was that their apartment was on the top floor, basically a penthouse apartment, and contained a rather unique top floor outdoor entertainment area.
To add to my surprise, it wasn't until I went out there, explored a little... and saw something I'd never seen before.
I've known of top-floor apartments that had a rooftop terrace for entertainment but this was the first time in my life I'd ever seen one with a ladder that went to the upper roof of the structure... You know, like the area that was usually reserved for maintenance, electrical, communications and the like.
Growing up, I was a real cautious person, so I was always thinking about the consequences of risks and calculating whether or not a given thing was worth it. If you were like me and had an active imagination, that meant plenty of things that could go wrong. Heights had always spooked me out as a kid, and so I'd generally gone out of my way to avoid situations where these nerves would get to me. Unfortunately, humans are irrational creatures, so this very rational fear became an irrational obsession, not so much for the heights themselves, but for the feeling of facing up to the fear at such an intimate closeness.
So when handed an opportunity to actually practice what I'd been watching for all this time, I was both simultaneously eager and apprehensive.
The ladder climb was about 3 stories high. It doesn't look that high from the picture, but when you're standing right at the foot of that ladder looking up, it suddenly grows a few meters. This ladder, however, was particularly nerve-wracking, because directly to your right is the edge of the building.... and a 13-storey drop directly to the ground. That meant, as I was climbing, DO NOT LOOK TO THE RIGHT. I focused only on the ladder and looking up towards my destination. As long as I kept three points of contact with the ladder at all times, theoretically I would be fine.
When I was climbing the ladder, there was the unmistakable fear welling up deep within. I knew it would be unavoidable - after all, I was in a situation where one bad move could seriously injure or kill me. I wasn't having any of it, though, so I steeled my resolve and kept going. I don't have time to be afraid, and if I die, I die.
Needless to say, the view from the top was exhilarating. Knowing that you were in a place most could only dream of going instils a feeling of accomplishment, and I had gone from being one of those dreamers to being a doer.
We were afforded a really commanding view of London, including the city center in the distance to the east, including the lone Shard, a part of Canary Wharf (mostly blocked by buildings in the foreground), a prominent view of the O2 Arena and the Emirates Air Line.
Then came the fun part. Inching closer to the edge.
I had to take it in stages, first by getting low and moving forward a bit at a time, or by lying on my stomach and peering over the edge. It wasn't the first time I'd done stuff like this - I did a handstand in the glass box of the Willis Tower when I was in Chicago:
... So I wasn't a complete heights noob.
I finally mustered up the courage to stand right at the edge, but I didn't look directly down towards the ground. It's much easier to avoid vertigo by looking out rather than straight down. I wasn't about to risk falling by getting dizzy and being blown over by a gust of wind.
The irritating thing about rooftopping is that it gets cold, dark and boring before long, so after only about half an hour up there, we all climbed down (just as harrowing, perhaps even moreso than climbing up), but I simply used the same method I used to climb up and before I knew it, I was back on safe ground.
Now that I've had some time to think about the experience sans the adrenaline rush, I am definitely glad I did it, and I definitely want to do it again. I don't think it gets any less scary, but part of the thrill is experiencing that fear and continuing on in spite of it. I like to think that one day I'll become like Ontheroofs and start climbing skyscrapers and capturing those dizzying heights with cameras on monopods and GoPros but for now, I want to take it slowly and one roof at a time.
That's all for my first actual post, Steempunks! Would it be alright if I called you Steempunks? I wanted a collective name to call the readers, and I noticed alot of people starting out their posts with things like "Dear Steemit Friends" and other similar openers.
Please leave a comment below if you have something you'd like to say, and thank you for reading!
Z