Antony Sharp, IB Higher Level math teacher, used to do rock climbing. One of his most memorable experiences rock climbing was on the island of Portland, on the south coast of England.
Climbing all morning and into the afternoon, Sharp was attempting one of the most strenuous climbs he had ever done.
“I get to the top and I tie in,” Sharp said. “I’m feeling great, best thing ever. The sun is shining and I’m just hanging on the rope and my belayer starts to lower me down and I’m just spinning, looking out at the ocean, I’ve got this warm glow from the sweat, I’m feeling great.”
Suddenly, the rope stopped and the belayer called out to Sharp that there was no more rope left. Still 40 feet up, Sharp decided to untie the rope and climb down the rest of the way.
“So I’m holding on and untying,” Sharp said. “The rope goes. Now I’m stuck. I hadn’t realized that all the way up, I’d pumped my forearms out and I’d got no finger strength left. I’m holding onto little crimps of the cliff and my fingers were literally going to give away any second.”
Sharp noticed a small shelf of rock below him and decided to jump down to it.
“I jumped for it,” Sharp said. “But I completely missed, I didn’t even notice it go by. I start tumbling and I can see the sky, and the rocks, the sky, and the rocks. And I’m coming down, I hit and bounce the edge a couple times, but in my head I’m completely calm. It’s the weirdest thing. I know I’m probably going to die, but I’ve kind of come to terms with that. I’m either going to be in a wheelchair or I’m going to be dead, but I’m completely calm.”
Finally, Sharp landed in a puddle near his belayer. Instead of bouncing off the ground and tumbling down the rest of the cliff into the rocks and ocean, Sharp sank into the puddle.
After a moment, he realized he was he not dead and began to move around a little, testing his limbs. Then he stood up, unharmed.
“After that I was wearing this big, stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day because I cheated death,” Sharp said. “I was just bouncing around, I was so high. This is the best high you are ever going to get. Drugs? Don’t do drugs. Cheat death, that is the biggest rush you are ever going to get.”
Sharp learned later that he had sprained his wrist. He also discovered that it had been his fault that the rope ran out.
“It was my fault because I looked in the guide book and it wrote, ‘by the way you need a 60-meter rope to do this’ and I had a 50-meter rope,” Sharp said.
