Just when you think the ultimate adrenaline hit has been achieved, someone comes up with something more hair-raising.
Rappelling is face-forward abseiling, with the potential of more speed, as you can literally run down the side of the building. It combines the thrill of bungee with the control of abseiling and is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
The only city building in Australia where you can experience rappelling is the Holiday Inn in Brisbane's CBD and you can do it without previous rock sports experience. The 22-storey building is around 65m high. You are given a full safety and equipment briefing leading up to your jump. The view is across the CBD, parklands and Brisbane River, but first-time rappellers probably have things on their mind apart from the beauty of Brisbane!
Before the climb you will be given tips on posture. The trick is to keep your feet flat, because if you are too much on your toes you could fall on your face – and conversely, if you use your heels too much, you could land on your rear end. Flat meet means you can maintain a horizontal position.
You can go at your own speed and control your descent, but there is someone at the top who can also control your journey down. If you go slowly it takes around three minutes to reach terra firma, but if you go fast it takes under one minute.
The Holiday Inn is not completely flat and there are a few overhangs. There is one section where you have no contact with the wall at all and free-fall for around five metres.
Weather controls whether or not rappelling down the Holiday Inn happens. If you don't hear from the operators, just turn up!
