There are some moments in life when you question what you are doing. I felt that way as I stood shivering on a rock ledge above a raging sea into which I was meant to jump. Being neither a fan of heights nor being told what to do, I felt particularly put out.

Jump or not to jump, that is the question

Let me rewind a little. You see the day had started brilliantly when I arrived at Lulworth Cove, Dorset, UK, filled with boyish enthusiasm and boundless energy. Some friends and I had booked a coasteering day course with the intention of getting back in the saddle after a two year absence from the sport.

With the sun on our shoulders and a full English in our guts (that hearty British breakfast which so clogs the arteries) we set off up the steep coastal path in search of our instructors.

Trekking along this stunning piece of jurassic coast, it was not hard to understand why it has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It is nature at it’s most grandiose, wild, ragged, and extreme. As such I think we all felt we’d lucked out on the location of our coasteering course–until tit began to rain that is.

And then the heavens open

There’s something mesmerising about watching a solid wall of rain come towards you from a great distance. You feel as if you’re watching a painting until said wall of rain hits you and soaks you to the bone. Still, its good fun standing at a 45 degree angle against the wind trying not to be blown off a cliff. It somehow makes you feel ready to plunge into the September sea.

So what is coasteering anyway?

Think swimming, scrambling, and then free climbing in a wetsuit without really going all that high. It’s more of a horizontal movement as you grip the rocks with your fingers and toes and manoeuvre across the face. Coasteering is landscape to free climbing’s portrait.

Follow that with a bit more swimming, being battered against rocks, and then jumping off cliff ledges into the sea and you’ve got it.

This neatly returns us full circle to the beginning of the course, a ledge, and the conundrum; to jump or not to jump. In my book you only live once, so GERONIMO!

With thanks to Mulan for documenting our day courtesy of a hangover and unwillingness to get wet! And thanks to Purbeck Adventures for a great day in the water.

About the Author
Josh and Mulan run the travel blog www.londonlaunchpad.com which deals with their adventures around London and the world beyond. Connect with them at any time for travel chat, tips and advice on the website or at London Launchpad Facebook.

West Lulworth Vacations

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