JESSICA ROCHA, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - Say you're a window washer who gets out on the side of an 11-story building only to find there are no windows to wash. And it's raining. And cold. And a Sunday.

While dangling from the side of the building, you might just think you've had enough -- that the boss doesn't pay enough for you to hang from buildings. You might just decide you weren't budging from the side of that building.

That's the scenario North Chatham Fire and Rescue Capt. Eddie Freeman came up with before rappelling off a building at UNC-Chapel Hill in a mock-rescue operation.

The practice rescue was part of a three-day high-angle rope training class, refreshing and teaching some of the technical rescue team of the South Orange Rescue Squad as well as two people from other departments. They practiced how to create a secure rope-and-pulley system from the top of a building. Such a system comes in handy to rescue people such as window washers or construction workers who might find themselves stuck in midair.

On the roof of the Mary Ellen Jones Building on Manning Drive, about 10 trainees built two rope systems. Each started with three

metal rods tied together to create an A-frame built against the roof's waist-high wall, but included ropes and fasteners to anchor the system, then rappelling ropes and belay ropes to help control a person's descent.

Most members of the volunteer squad took turns practicing the different stations: One person rappels, one watches at the edge of the building, and someone is at the belay rope -- which is the safety rope that catches and stops a person from falling. Other scenarios may require more people at other lines. For instance, if someone is lowered, then one person has to control the main line to control the descent.

Daniel Willner was one of the first to rappel down the building Sunday. The UNC-Chapel Hill biology major has been on the squad for a year, and this was his second training for rappelling.

"It's not too bad," he said. "I like the rain, though the ropes are a little heavier and slicker."

Sunday's practice was the first time rappelling over the side of a building for Erica Cabaleiro, an art history and biology major at UNC-CH.

"I think at summer camp I rappelled a rock," she said.

For Freeman, playing the window washer in distress, his knight in shining armor was South Orange Rescue Squad Chief Matthew Mauzy.

After being lowered by other volunteers, Mauzy skipped horizontally against the building, first in one direction, then the other. Like a pendulum, he gained momentum until reaching Freeman. Once there, Mauzy attached Freeman to his pulley, and both were lowered by the rest of the team on the roof.

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