Apprehensive About Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Should I even attempt to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge? What if I froze and couldn’t keep going? Would I ruin the tour for everyone else?

It was Art’s niece, Emily who put us onto the BridgeClimb. She had gone to Australia a few years earlier and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a group of her friends. Emily said it was great fun and that she knew we would love it too.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that Emily knew that I have a fear of heights.

Flashback to Chichen Itza

It wasn’t until we went to Chichen Itza that I even realized that I had a problem.

At this time of my life, I was in good condition. I was a certified aerobics dance instructor and worked out regularly. It was pretty hot the day we climbed to the top of the pyramid called El Castillio. I remember being surprised at how my heart was pounding as we neared the top. It wasn’t until I turned around stood facing out to the vast nothingness in front of me that I realized what was happening. I was afraid of heights.

Really, I’m Afraid of Heights?

Honestly, I don’t mind heights too much if I feel secure. For instance, flying is no problem for me. And I had no issues when we went on a hot air balloon ride in Egypt. Even going to the viewing platform on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, I was fine .

Going Down the Pyramid

But here, there were no guardrails and one could easily fall head over heels down the side of this pyramid. I quickly stepped back and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. I managed to calm myself enough to take a few photos. Then, I somehow had to get back down from the top of this pyramid.

I edged myself back to the steps. The was a chain anchored along the steps of the pyramid, but no handrail.

Not Good with Stairs Either

I’ve never felt comfortable on stairs. Whenever I go up or down stairs, I must hold onto a handrail. If I need to go up or down stairs with something in my hands, I take it two feet per step, like a little kid.

Those stairs with open treads (you know,the kind you can see through) really freak me out. I can manage going up a couple of rungs on a ladder, but that’s about it. Even standing on a step stool makes me feel uncomfortable.

I Had to Get Down

I knew I had to have something to hang onto to get myself back down those steps. So, I sat down and grabbed the chain. I lowered my behind down the steps, one  at a time, while clinging onto that chain; all the way to the bottom. Art’s youngest son was about 7 or 8 at the time, and he sat on the other side of the chain and sweetly talked to me all the way down.

No Holding Me Back

I will say, that I’ve  never let my fear of heights stop me from doing the things I want to do.

I climbed up to the head of the Statue of Liberty. About a third of the way up I turned to Art, who was behind me, and said, “I can’t do this.” His reply, “There are people behind us, you can’t turn back now.” So, I slowly plodded my way up the remainder of the stairs. I’m sure the people behind us weren’t too happy, but I made it.

Inside of the Sagrada de Familia, we went into one of the towers with circular stairs inside. Of course, there are no handrails and the steps were narrow and uneven. I really started to worry when we heard people coming down the same set of stairs we were on. I just froze, and tried to melt into the wall, so they could pass.

Even though I don’t like it, I do climb stairs and ladders, if I must. I sweat profusely, and breath heavily. My heart races. Of course, now, I just tell people it’s because I am so overweight and out of shape. They don’t need to know the full reason I’m all sweaty and red in the face!

Let’s Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge!

When we decided to go to Australia, Art immediately said, “We have to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge.” My heart sank a bit. But I won’t give in. I can’t let my fears keep me from at least trying to do things.

We were taking back to back cruises. The first was from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia. The second was round trip from Sydney and went to several the islands. This meant we had the day in Sydney between the two cruises. We thought this would be the perfect time to do the BridgeClimb.

Believe it or not, I was excited to get to Sydney and awoke early to watch us pulling into the harbor. We had a great view of the Opera House from our stateroom, so I was able to take a few early morning photos

Early Arrival

Our bridge climb was not scheduled until about 11 am, so we took our time eating breakfast and then headed off the ship. We walked around Sydney for a while and finally, when it was closer to our scheduled time, walked over to an area known as The Rocks where we found the office for the BridgeClimb.

Although we were early, they had space available and moved us up to an earlier tour than the one we had reserved.

Getting Ready

As I’m sure you’d guess, you can’t just walk in and go climb up the bridge.

Briefing and Forms

The first requirement is to sit through a short briefing and then fill out the release and health and safety form. They ask a lot of health questions such as do you have high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and so on.

Art ticked off several of those boxes. If it looks like you might have issues, another  person goes over the information with you and asks additional questions. Basically, they need to know if your diseases are managed.

Our biggest concern was Art’s diabetes. The guides are trained to deal with just about anything from a medical emergency to a panic attack. They reassured us that the guides carry glucose gel with them incase someone’s blood glucose level should drop too low, so we didn’t need to carry any food with us.

Time to Change Clothes

After completing the required forms, you’re shown to the changing rooms. Here there are lockers where you must store and secure all your belongings.  Then everyone changes into the provided jumpsuit. You are not allowed to bring any personal items with you on the climb other than glasses or the provided ballcap, both of which will be tethered to your jumpsuit.

No Cameras

Sorry, but you’re not allowed to take your own camera up with you. The idea is that they don’t want you to have anything with you that would encumber your movement or that you could drop along the climb. Let’s face it, even a small camera could inflict a lot of damage when dropped 440 feet. But, not to worry, they will take a few photos for you.

Practice Run

Now it’s time for a practice run. You enter a large area where they have a mockup of the ladders that you will be climbing on the bridge. Here you experience getting tethered to the safety rod, and climbing up and transitioning from one ladder to the next.

I started up the ladder and could feel my heart begin to race. I kept going, one rung at a time until I reached the top of the first ladder and had to transition over to the next. (You see, the ladders are not directly above one another, you must step either left or right to the next ladder.)

That meant taking one hand off the ladder to slide my tether over to the next. Then, step over and move my body over to the second ladder. I could feel my hands sweating. Ever so slowly, I managed to get myself transitioned over to the other ladder and began climbing up the second ladder to the platform above. I did it!! High fives all around.

Onto the Bridge

Next, we walked through a series of openings and soon were out on the base of the bridge. We were actually walking on the metal structure under the roadway of the bridge. In no time we were over the water of the harbor. We were going up gradually at this point, and stepping through openings was as difficult as it got. I just kept my focus on where I was going and not what was, or wasn’t below me.

After a short time we reached the pylon, and our guide stopped so we could all regroup and then gave us some information about the bridge. Before we moved on, she checked to make sure that everyone was okay.

The Pylons

It’s in the pylons where you climb the ladders.

One foot up, adjust grip, other foot up. One foot up, adjust grip, other foot up. Up I went.

Since I was at the front of the group, everyone else had to go at my pace, so at least I didn’t feel rushed. I’m sure when I got to the top, I must have been red in the face. My heart was beating quickly, but I was okay. I did it.

On Top of the Arch

Now we were on top of the arch way of the bridge. If you ever see a picture of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, look for what look appear to be little ants on top of the arches. Those are the people climbing the bridge.

To me this was not quite as scary as you could see the deck of the bridge and the cars beneath us. If we had been looking all the way down to the water, that would have been a much different experience.

A Short Pause

About midway to the summit of the arch, our guide stopped to give us some additional information about Sydney, the harbour, and the bridge itself. This allowed us time to regroup and catch our breath. It also allowed the groups ahead of us time to have their photos taken.

Other than being a little out of breath, I was fine on this part of the climb. I did watch my feet to make sure I stepped squarely on each riser as we walked along. I was able to hold onto the railing, and I was fine. As we were on an arch we were still going up steps, but each one was only a few inches higher than the previous.

The Summit of Sydney Harbour Bridge

We got up near the top of the arch and stopped so our guide to take our photos. The view was pretty amazing!

Then we walked across the top, where we again had  a few more photos taken and even did a brief video. After crossing over, we began our descent down the arch in the same direction from which we came.

The Descent

Things started easily. The risers going down the arch were not an issue. And then, we came to the pylon. Now I had to go down the ladders.

The Dreaded Ladders

Going down ladders is a completely different experience than going up. When going up you merely step up from the ground. Going down, you actually step off the secure platform on which you are standing.

I looked down the opening to see where I needed to step. Oh my, it was a long way down.

I put one foot on the ladder and then clamped my hands onto the sides of the ladder. Then I had to unglue my foot from the solid platform, my last vestige of security, and place it on the rung of the ladder. I took a deep breath. I made it!

Now, I had to look at each rung of the ladder to see where to place my feet. Looking up is never as bad as looking down.

Thoughts were sprinting through my head, “OH MY GOODNESS, I COULD FALL AND KILL MYSELF! WHAT WAS I THINKING? I CAN’T DO THIS!”

Voice of Reason

Art called to me and said, “How are you doing?”

I replied shakily, “I don’t know.”

“You got this, Babes. You got up; you’ll get down,” he responded as a matter of fact.

I stopped and took a deep breath. Slowly, I began repeating to myself, “I can do this. I can do this.”

And then I had to switch over to the other ladder. Letting go of the first ladder was not something I wanted to do. “I can do this,” the mantra kept going through my mind. Carefully, I stepped over and transitioned my hands, and other foot.

Once again; I did it. “I can do this. I can do this,” I murmured. By this time, I was sweating from both fear and exertion. It seemed like there were twice as many ladders going down as there were going up.

Finally, I got to the platform.

I Did It!

Grinning from ear to ear, I turned to Art and said, “I did it. I DID it! Can you believe, I REALLY DID IT!”

We quickly walked along the road deck back into the building. We went back to our lockers and changed out of our jumpsuits.

I was ecstatic. We were presented with our certificate of completion and the photo of our group at the summit. (Both are included with the summit climb that we did.)  

We bought t-shirts and the entire optional photo package. I wanted proof that I really climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

To be honest, I was so euphoric at that point, if they had offered it, I probably would have bought the bridge!

BridgeClimbs

There are several different BridgeClimbs, requiring a minimum of 2 ½ hours. Children ages 8 – 15 and at least 1.2 meters tall are permitted to climb when accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Don’t even think about using age as an excuse not to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge there is no upper age limit. The oldest person to complete the climb was 100 years old.

As long as you are physically capable, there are no excuses. If you are 75 years or older you’ll need to have a certificate of health from your physician, but that’s it.

Here’s my challenge to you: If you’re heading to Sydney, climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Seriously, if I can do it, you can too.

How about you? Have you climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Did you find it a challenge? What did you like most about it? Any thoughts or tips you’d like to share? Don’t forget to sbuscribe and share this blog post with your friends!