Meredith, starting the 170 foot rappel. The reason the rope that Meredith is attached to (right) is running over a small bag is to minimize wear on the rope over the edge of the waterfall. We already put a core-shot on one rope on this trip so we take some extra measures to minimize wear and tear on the rope and make the rappel safer for us. It wasn't a particularly sharp edge, but on a 170 foot rappel, no one really wanted to take chances.