On Rappel

Marcus planted his boots at the lip of a sixty-foot sandstone cliff in Red River Gorge, Kentucky, rope threaded through his harness, hands white-knuckled on the brake line. His climbing instructor, Dave, stood fifteen feet away, feeding the belay. "Whenever you're ready," Dave called. "Just say the words." In climbing, there's a protocol. Before you lean back over the edge, you announce it.…