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Decalade, or face-forward rappelling, is an activity in which the participant is harnessed to a cable and makes a controlled descent facing forward off a vertical drop, like a building or a rock face. This technique was started by the Australian Army in the late 1960s, and is also called Australian rappelling. It was commercialized by an ex-military Australian named Peter “Macka” Mackail back in 1989. He’s the one that made jumping down buildings the popular activity we know today!
Did you know that ice skates date all the way back to 3000 BC? That’s over 5000 years ago! Ice skates were invented in Northern Europe, where there was a lot of ice back in the day. Early Europeans would strap bones to their footwear using leftover animal hides as a way of getting around faster and more efficiently. Can you imagine what that looked like?
There is always a lot of fun to be had behind the scenes on a TV show… here are just a couple of those moments from this episode – enjoy! 🙂
DREA is a 16-year-old Kanien’kehá:ka youth from Kahnawake, Quebec. Adventurous and athletic, Drea loves travelling, and is really into all kinds of sports, including basketball, but her passion is figure skating! Her favourite food is Indian tacos – our much beloved Indigenous twist on the classic Mexican fare! She loves music, and would one day like to learn how to play the piano. Drea also loves curling up with a good murder mystery novel, and writes in her spare time, but dreams of being a photographer when she grows up.
ERIC RADFORD has won not one, not two but THREE Olympic medals – one of each! He and his pairs skating partner Meagan Duhamel took home a gold and bronze at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, and a silver at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He may have retired from competition, but his love for skating hasn’t changed. Eric’s into skating choreography, and he’s also a music composer, who’s written music for his fellow Team Canada skaters to use in their performances. An entertainer at heart, Eric’s secret talent is juggling and he loves telling terrible jokes (much to the dismay of his friends!) He considers himself to be a bit of a daredevil, but also loves to hit the spa when he needs to relax.