Crane Climb and Dangle

Today I scared the crap out of myself.

My first shot for "Work It" was an audacious climb up a crane, and an even more audacious climb down. The crane was behind fencing, at First and Santa Fe. I saw the move in my head, but I wasn't quite prepared for the reality of it. Up the crane, no problem, down to the top of the red pulleys, no problem. Going below that was a bit more of a mental game, because from up above, I was no longer quite sure how I was going to get down.

I hit a fear block on the red pulley. The drop below wasn't quite what I imagined. From the ground, the twin cable loops appeared to dangle over an 8' drop to earth. But from above, I realized, I was further back, over a 15' pit, invisible to camera. And the metal plate that edged the pit suggested that I wasn't gonna get close to the shallow side, even swinging with all my might. I wasn't directly over rebar or other sharp items, just the dirt slope of the pit, but right next to a massive girder, which I was afraid of falling on.

I had planned to dangle from the bottom of the looped cables, and swing myself to the safety of the shorter drop, but once I was hanging, I realized I wasn't going to get enough swing in them, to clear the metal divider. I could just imagine falling 8' onto a crotch-full of metal plate, and there wasn't enough arc to get past it. I wish I could say I figured it all out, and executed accordingly, but truthfully, I let go, because I didn't have anything left. I was stressed out, terrified, and utterly uncertain as to the outcome, but trusting that plan b (into the pit) couldn't be worse than what plan A was turning out to be (a trip to the emergency room, with a busted crotch).

I dropped hard, but the landing was soft, a slope of loose dirt. Nonetheless, I sat in place for awhile, feeling my system work the shock through it. There had been a lot of fear, a lot of stress, and my body was shutting down. But I was home safe.